Name prefix for arrays

Kernel
1

What’s the name prefix for array variables? It seems like there’s a mix of p (pointer) prefix and no pointer prefix.

I’d link to the sources but it seems like new users can’t post links, so here are some examples (commit hash 7215c89aa81501f60af8df68dfa99fc2c118a293):

tasks.c (p prefix)

377     #endif
378     char pcTaskName[ configMAX_TASK_NAME_LEN ];
379

tasks.c (no prefix)

3507     BaseType_t xCoreID;
3508     char cIdleName[ configMAX_TASK_NAME_LEN ];
3509     TaskFunction_t pxIdleTaskFunction = NULL;
2

I think that char cIdleName[] should be written as a char pcIdleName[], because it is a point to a character array.

3

I guess that should apply to all arrays of any type? FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP seems to use a mix too:

FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/source/include/FreeRTOS_IP.h (line 330-334)

BaseType_t FreeRTOS_IPInit( const uint8_t ucIPAddress[ ipIP_ADDRESS_LENGTH_BYTES ],
                            const uint8_t ucNetMask[ ipIP_ADDRESS_LENGTH_BYTES ],
                            const uint8_t ucGatewayAddress[ ipIP_ADDRESS_LENGTH_BYTES ],
                            const uint8_t ucDNSServerAddress[ ipIP_ADDRESS_LENGTH_BYTES ],
                            const uint8_t ucMACAddress[ ipMAC_ADDRESS_LENGTH_BYTES ] );

FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/source/include/FreeRTOS_DHCPv6.h (line 111)

        uint8_t pucID[ DHCPv6_MAX_CLIENT_SERVER_ID_LENGTH ]; /**< Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) format. */

I agree that the p makes more sense - it makes it apparent that it’s not just a single value.

4

Hi, the style guide is here: Coding Standard, Testing and Style Guide - FreeRTOS™

It doesn’t mention arrays directly, but seems like it should be p. Unfortunately there are some inconsistencies, and some of the prefixes may be incorrect.