expected specifier-qualifier-list before

I have this struct type definition:

typedef struct { char *key; long canTag; long canSet; long allowMultiple; confType *next; } confType; 

When compiling, gcc throws this error:

conf.c:6: error: expected specifier-qualifier-list before ‘confType’ 

What does this mean? It doesn't seem related to other questions with this error.

2 Answers

You used confType before you declared it. (for next). Instead, try this:

typedef struct confType { char *key; long canTag; long canSet; long allowMultiple; struct confType *next; } confType; 

JoshD's answer now is correct, I usually go for an equivalent variant:

typedef struct confType confType; struct confType { char *key; long canTag; long canSet; long allowMultiple; confType *next; }; 

When you only want to expose opaque pointers, you put the typedef in your header file (interface) and the struct declaration in your source file (implementation).