In c, strcpy(), but be careful to ensure you have enough space in the array.

test mytest;strcpy(myTest.chName,"MyName");

In c++, std::string.

#include <string>struct test{    std::string chName;};test mytest;myTest.chName = "MyName";

[in response to your edit]

That shouldnt work. You cannot assign to an array. Also you are leaking the memory after the malloc().

struct test
{
char[20] chName;
};


Firstly, that should be

char chName[20];

-- I'm surprised that even compiles!

Second, you need to copy the string in using strcpy... but that's a bit dodgy since you need to check that the string you are copying is 19 characters long or less (you need to allow 1 char for the null terminator). strncpy is safer but might not be standard.

If you are programming in C++ (I suspect you might be since you have no typedef in your struct declaration), you should really use std::string before learning about arrays of char, since you are only just starting off. That's the easier way.

This code...

test mytest;

char *buffer = (char*)malloc(20);
buffer = "Arial";

mytest.chName = buffer;

... is very wrong... you are doing a malloc and then throwing away the allocated memory... so how can you free it? You can't assign a char* to a char array either without strcpy, since myTest.chName has a constant address... so there is something wrong with that as well.

It's a little irresponsible to propagate the use of the deprecated strcpy function.

jpbb, I strongly suggest you use std::string for your purposes. It is safer, easier and laden with wonderful features.

If that's not possible, then you should use strncpy. It's not without its problems, but it can help to avoid buffer overruns and hence exploitable code.

Regards
Admiral