//ive just included what is needed:

struct coords_3d {
     double x, y,r;
};

struct Surface_Array{
     int num_points;
     struct coords_3d *points;
};

struct angle_grid {
     struct Surface_Array *radii;
};


main()
{
     struct angle_grid *depth_array;
     int iang,k;
     FILE *output,*surface;
     char linereading[200];
     float temp_x, temp_y, temp_z;
     double pptxoff, pptyoff, pptzoff;
     
     output=fopen("the filename", "w");
     surface=fopen("suface pts file", "r");   //this file contains a whole bunch of datapts
     
     //usually calculated using steps but given as constants to make understanding and readability easier
     num_circle_steps=72;
     num_rads=28;
     
     //allocate 72 structures that depth_array points to
     depth_array = (struct angle_grid *) malloc(num_circle_steps*sizeof(struct angle_grid));
     
     //go thru each angle and initialise so there are 28 radii pointed to in each of the angle structures
     //then initialise the number of points to be 1 and get a lil space for hte first points, then intialise those points
     for (iang=0; iang<num_circle_steps; iang++)
     {
          (depth_array+iang)->radii = (struct Surface_Array *) malloc((num_rads)*sizeof(struct Surface_Array));

          for(k=0; k<=num_rads-1; k++)
          {
               (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].num_points=1;
               (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points = (struct coords_3d *) malloc(((depth_array+iang)->radii[k].num_points+1)*sizeof(struct coords_3d));
               (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.x= (double) iang*k;
               (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.y= (double) iang*k;
               (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.r= (double) iang*k;
               
               //this prints out all the CORRECT values to the file OUTPUT, just as a test it proves that everything is initialised correctly
               fprintf(output, "depth_array[%d][%d]   %d   %f %f %f\n", iang,k, (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].num_points, (depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.x,(depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.y,(depth_array+iang)->radii[k].points.r);
          }
     }


     if(surface) //if it opened correctly
     {
          while(fgets(linereading,198,surface))
          {
               sscanf(linereading, "%f %f %f", &temp_x, &temp_y, &temp_z);
               put_in_depth_array((double) temp_x-pptxoff, (double) temp_y-pptyoff,(double) temp_z-pptzoff, &depth_array);
          }
     }
}

//*********************************

void
put_in_depth_array(double x, double y, double z, struct angle_grid *array)
{
     int angle_low, rad_low;
     int cur_point;

     //usually found using a few steps here, using constants for easier readability
     angle_low=1;
     rad_low=13;     

     cur_point=(array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].num_points;
     printf("%d\n", cur_point);   

     //THIS IS WHERE THE ERROR IS... WHEN I OUTPUT THIS.. I GET: 1701670958 as the output.. it should be 1, like it is given above!.. 
     //i need this value so as i need to add more and more points passed to this function (stored in x,y,z) for a specific angle and radii
     //i just get hte number of points, increment it, then REALLOC enough space for the points structure... ie:

     cur_point++;
     (array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].points= (struct coords_3d *) realloc((array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].points, (cur_point+1)*sizeof(struct coords_3d));
     (array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].points[cur_point].x=x;
     (array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].points[cur_point].y=y;
     (array+angle_low)->radii[rad_low].points[cur_point].r=z;
}

put_in_depth_array((double) temp_x-pptxoff, (double) temp_y-pptyoff,(double) temp_z-pptzoff, &depth_array);