How do I return a string in C?

Question

So I was trying to do a problem set on the Harvard CS50 course. I was able to create the program but wanted to make it cleaner in terms of design. I decided to use a function.

The goal was to create a program that takes the height value that is between 1 and 8. If the height was 1, then the output would be # #. If the height increased, then the output would include 2 more players with 1 extra # to the left and right.

When I tried to return a value and create a function with a return type of string, I kept getting errors.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <cs50.h>

char *mario();

int main(void){

    printf("%c", mario());

}


char *mario(){

    int stop = 0;

    while(stop == 0){

        unsigned int height = get_int("Height: ");
        char *result = " ";

        if(height == 1){

            printf("\n# #\n");
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 2){

            result = "\n # #\n## ##\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 3){

            result = "\n  # #\n ## ##\n### ###\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 4){

            result = "\n   # #\n  ## ##\n ### ###\n#### ####\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 5){

            result = "\n    # #\n   ## ##\n  ### ###\n #### ####\n##### #####\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 6){

            result = "\n     # #\n    ## ##\n   ### ###\n  #### ####\n ##### #####\n###### ######\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 7){

            result = "\n      # #\n     ## ##\n    ### ###\n   #### ####\n  ##### #####\n ###### ######\n####### #######\n";
            stop = 1;

        }else if(height == 8){

            result = "\n       # #\n      ## ##\n     ### ###\n    #### ####\n   ##### #####\n  ###### ######\n ####### #######\n######## ########\n";
            stop = 1;
        }

    }

    return result;
}

Error:

mario.c:33:7: error: conflicting types for 'mario'
char *mario(){
      ^
mario.c:5:5: note: previous declaration is here
int mario(void);
    ^
mario.c:88:12: error: use of undeclared identifier 'result'
    return result;
           ^
2 errors generated.
<builtin>: recipe for target 'mario' failed
make: *** [mario] Error 1

How can I fix this?

I am using CS50's library as seen and the IDE.

Answer 1

1. Change int mario(void); to char *mario(void);

2. Change printf("%c", mario()); to printf("%s", mario());

3. Move char *result = " "; to the start of the mario() function so it is in-scope for return.