Setting key=value pairs using C

[philonto]

Hi,

I was wondering if there was a simpler way to use key=value pairs in C programming. I have a parser for an ini file that will create the pairs. I also need default values at run time

Here's my actual snippet.

snippet.h:

struct SettingsKeys {
    const char key_1[56];
    const char key_2[56];
    const char key_3[56];
} SettingsKey;

struct SettingsValues {
    int value_1;
    long int value_2;
    char value_3[56];
} SettingsValue;

main.c

// initialize defaults
struct SettingsKeys SettingsKey = {
    "key_3",
    "key_2",
    "key_1",
};

struct SettingsValues SettingsValue = {
    0,
    56,
    "my_value"
};

// main code to use:
//  - parse ini file to see if we have to modify the default values
//  - run with retained values
// if (SettingsKey.value_1 == x)... 

This works perfectly but a bit complicated to maintain 4 declarations in both files...

Is there an easier way to declare AND initialize defaults for the pairs?
The other thing that complicates it is that values are of different types

[tejashs]

Since you will be reading from a file you can make a pair struct of 2 strings and convert the value based on the key.

struct settingPair
{
     char *Key;
     char *Value;
}

settingPair sp[10];

[philonto]

In that case, to initialize defaults, I have to do:

struct settingPair pair_1 = {
    "key_1",
    "value_1"
};

struct settingPair pair_2 = {
    "key_2",
    "value_2"
};

and so on for each entry, then same thing in the header file by declaring each pair

Was hoping for a simpler approach...