Empty char variable

Question

How do I empty all the values inside a variable char array[256];?

I tried a for loop assigning an empty value at each iteration, but it doesn't compile.

• Nick Gammon: Please post this loop.
• Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams: You can't "empty" an array, you can only fill it with meaningless values.

Answer 1

char array[256];
...
int i;
for( i=0; i<256;i++ ) {
 array[i] = 0x00;
}

Answer 2

There is a single-line command you can use:

memset(array, 0, 256);

• Nick Gammon: Or memset(array, 0, sizeof array); preferably.
• Majenko: @NickGammon Assuming you are using "array" directly, and not in a function which has a pointer passed to it. Better is to use a #define or a const int for both the array size and the memset length.
• Nick Gammon: Quite right, for a pointer that is correct.