gcc warning: braces around scalar initializer

Question

I have look-up-table as defined below and I'm making use of GCC. When I compile I get warnings as

warning: braces around scalar initializer

What does this warning mean? How should I initialize this LUT? Am I making a mistake in initializing this structures?

Help!!

---

typedef struct TECH
{

    float velocity1, velocity2;
    float temp;
    float measure;

    int id;
    float storage[64];

}TECH;

struct TECH lut_model_1[2] = {{{296.001465},
        {74.216972},
        {2.025908},
        {1.516384},
        {1},
        {0.001746,
        0.000256, 0.006216, 0.005249, -0.001668, -0.001377, 0.009865, 0.010454, -0.000288, -0.005853, 0.010584, 0.015440, 0.000465, -0.000602, 0.004330, 0.005700, 0.017120,
        0.233015, 0.034154, 0.244022, 0.007644, 0.385683, 0.042960, 0.406633, -0.007811, 0.346931, 0.040123, 0.387361, 0.007030, 0.225309, 0.017897, 0.241024, 0.003700,
        0.103601, 0.060748, 0.121059, -0.045041, 0.076974, 0.070647, 0.148810, -0.022399, 0.074007, 0.054797, 0.141794, 0.010376, 0.052482, 0.045013, 0.078443, -0.019940,
        -0.057353, 0.044285, 0.066622, -0.058232, -0.093817, 0.064753, 0.126611, -0.008286, -0.085634, 0.029582, 0.140443, 0.009189, -0.052974, 0.036057, 0.087536}},

        {{309.270569},
        {74.520226},
        {2.088673},
        {1.595730},
        {1},
        {-0.003261,
        0.001452, 0.006673, 0.007092, 0.001020, 0.002904, 0.009037, 0.009587, -0.001494, 0.000296, 0.009327, 0.010013, -0.000301, -0.002727, 0.005875, 0.008888, -0.016850,
        0.231185, 0.029758, 0.241629, 0.009411, 0.382748, 0.057553, 0.407984, -0.019496, 0.393691, 0.045355, 0.411033, -0.019787, 0.185746, 0.027101, 0.216863, 0.010189,
        0.050463, 0.041380, 0.059462, 0.009747, 0.093188, 0.089831, 0.132579, -0.049612, 0.058789, 0.075130, 0.122026, -0.022185, 0.017041, 0.035450, 0.074255, -0.002068,
        -0.061219, 0.040752, 0.087084, -0.013021, -0.106098, 0.066566, 0.140099, -0.041966, -0.073433, 0.055231, 0.125908, -0.003481, -0.050690, 0.017257, 0.085251}}};

Answer 1

You should remove the braces: { and } around single values.

struct TECH lut_model_1[2] = {{296.001465,
        74.216972,
        2.025908,
        1.516384,
        1,
        {0.001746,
        0.000256, 0.006216, 0.005249, -0.001668, -0.001377, 0.009865, 0.010454, -0.000288, -0.005853, 0.010584, 0.015440, 0.000465, -0.000602, 0.004330, 0.005700, 0.017120,
        0.233015, 0.034154, 0.244022, 0.007644, 0.385683, 0.042960, 0.406633, -0.007811, 0.346931, 0.040123, 0.387361, 0.007030, 0.225309, 0.017897, 0.241024, 0.003700,
        0.103601, 0.060748, 0.121059, -0.045041, 0.076974, 0.070647, 0.148810, -0.022399, 0.074007, 0.054797, 0.141794, 0.010376, 0.052482, 0.045013, 0.078443, -0.019940,
        -0.057353, 0.044285, 0.066622, -0.058232, -0.093817, 0.064753, 0.126611, -0.008286, -0.085634, 0.029582, 0.140443, 0.009189, -0.052974, 0.036057, 0.087536}},

        {309.270569,
        74.520226,
        2.088673,
        1.595730,
        1,
        {-0.003261,
        0.001452, 0.006673, 0.007092, 0.001020, 0.002904, 0.009037, 0.009587, -0.001494, 0.000296, 0.009327, 0.010013, -0.000301, -0.002727, 0.005875, 0.008888, -0.016850,
        0.231185, 0.029758, 0.241629, 0.009411, 0.382748, 0.057553, 0.407984, -0.019496, 0.393691, 0.045355, 0.411033, -0.019787, 0.185746, 0.027101, 0.216863, 0.010189,
        0.050463, 0.041380, 0.059462, 0.009747, 0.093188, 0.089831, 0.132579, -0.049612, 0.058789, 0.075130, 0.122026, -0.022185, 0.017041, 0.035450, 0.074255, -0.002068,
        -0.061219, 0.040752, 0.087084, -0.013021, -0.106098, 0.066566, 0.140099, -0.041966, -0.073433, 0.055231, 0.125908, -0.003481, -0.050690, 0.017257, 0.085251}}};

will give no warning.

Answer 2

In C language it is perfectly legal to use extra braces when initializing a scalar value, as in

int x = { 5 };

even though you won't normally see this in real-life code. In your case you are doing the same thing, except that in your case the scalar value is a member of a larger aggregate.

GCC generates warnings for code like that. It believes that it is possible that you wrote something you didn't intend to write, since braces are most of the time are used to start a multi-part initializer for an aggregate, not a standalone initializer for a scalar.

<rant>GCC is definitely screwing things up with its warnings about braces in aggregate initializers. In C language the { 0 } has always been used as an idiomatic universal zero-initializer. At least { 0 } should have been made exempt from brace-related warnings for its idiomatic value.</rant>

Answer 3

This is a scalar initializer: int foo = 3;
This is a scalar initializer with braces around it: int foo = {3};
This is an initializer of an array, which isn't scalar: int foo[] = {1, 2, 3};

The warning says that your struct has scalar initializers with braces around them:

typedef struct TECH
{

    float velocity1, velocity2;
...

struct TECH lut_model_1[2] = {{{296.001465},
    {74.216972},
...

Your code will work, it just has superfluous braces around its scalar initializers. If you take the braces out and format it a little more nicely (I'd put the first initializer on its own line) there will be nothing objectionable about it.

Answer 4

This means you needn't put braces in places like:

    {74.216972},

Basically, all the braces you have there are optional (except the outer ones), however, you will get a different warning for not embracing nested structs in the initializer. Basically, if you mind the warning, put braces around nested structs and arrays only; if not, use them to improve readability as you like.