C - Execv - incompatible pointer type-CodePudding

So what I'm trying to do is to send a simple ping command through Execv and print on terminal.

I have on my original problem an array of strings of unknown arguments. a[n][50] that is going to be filled throughout the execution of the process, accordingly to user input. I cant manage to use "execv" , I keep receiving "incompatible pointer type". Trying to illustrate the problem, I did only a simple "ping" "google.com"

int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{

    //That's what I have...
    char a[3][50];
    strcpy(a[0], "ping");
    strcpy(a[1], "google.com");
    
    //First try
    a[2] = NULL;
    execv(a[0], a);    
    
    //Second time, trying to fix, also didnt work 
    char *pointer[3];
    pointer[0] = a[0];
    pointer[1] = a[1];
    pointer[2] = NULL;

    execv(pointer[0], pointer);

    return 0;
}

Is there any workaround without having to change the a[n][50] format to save strings?

CodePudding user response：

The second version will work, but you need to use execvp() instead of execv, since the first argument isn't the full path of the ping program.