Segmentation fault with PSet 3 - Breakout!

Question

I'm currently working on the PSet 3 - Breakout.

As of now, I'm getting an error that says "Segmentation fault" and I'm not able to figure out that why is it giving so. I'm little bit sure that probably the part that listens to mouse events and moves the paddle accordingly is at fault, but I'm not sure. So please let me know that where I'm making the mistake.

And btw, the code isn't yet complete.

// Computer Science 50
// Problem Set 3

// standard libraries
#define _XOPEN_SOURCE
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <time.h>

// Stanford Portable Library
#include <spl/gevents.h>
#include <spl/gobjects.h>
#include <spl/gwindow.h>

// height and width of game's window in pixels
#define HEIGHT 600
#define WIDTH 400

// number of rows of bricks
#define ROWS 5

// number of columns of bricks
#define COLS 10

// radius of ball in pixels
#define RADIUS 10

// lives
#define LIVES 3

// prototypes
void initBricks(GWindow window);
GOval initBall(GWindow window);
GRect initPaddle(GWindow window);
GLabel initScoreboard(GWindow window);
void updateScoreboard(GWindow window, GLabel label, int points);
GObject detectCollision(GWindow window, GOval ball);

int main(void)
{
    // seed pseudorandom number generator
    srand48(time(NULL));

    // instantiate window
    GWindow window = newGWindow(WIDTH, HEIGHT);

    // instantiate bricks
    initBricks(window);

    // instantiate ball, centered in middle of window
    GOval ball = initBall(window);

    // instantiate paddle, centered at bottom of window
    GRect paddle = initPaddle(window);

    // instantiate scoreboard, centered in middle of window, just above ball
    GLabel label = initScoreboard(window);

    // number of bricks initially
    int bricks = COLS * ROWS;

    // number of lives initially
    int lives = LIVES;

    // number of points initially
    int points = 0;

    // keep playing until game over
    while (lives > 0 && bricks > 0)
    {
        waitForClick();

        // follow mouse forever
        while (true)
        {
            // check for mouse event
            GEvent event = getNextEvent(MOUSE_EVENT);

            // if we heard one
            if (event != NULL)
            {
                // if the event was movement
                if (getEventType(event) == MOUSE_MOVED)
                {
                    // ensure circle follows top cursor
                    double x = getX(event) - getWidth(paddle) / 2;
                    double y = getY(paddle);
                    setLocation(paddle, x, y);
                }
            }
        }        

    }

    // wait for click before exiting
    waitForClick();

    // game over
    closeGWindow(window);
    return 0;
}

/**
 * Initializes window with a grid of bricks.
 */
void initBricks(GWindow window)
{
    int x = 6;
    int y = 50;
    for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++)
    {
        string color = "RED";

        if (i == 1)
        color = "ORANGE";

        if (i == 2)
        color = "YELLOW";

        if (i == 3)
        color = "GREEN";

        if (i == 4)
        color = "CYAN";

        for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++)
        {
            GRect rect = newGRect(x, y, 35, 10);
            setFilled(rect, true);
            setColor(rect, color);
            add(window, rect);
            printf(" \n ");
            x = x + 39;            
        }
        y = y + 14;
        x = 6;
    }
}

/**
 * Instantiates ball in center of window.  Returns ball.
 */
GOval initBall(GWindow window)
{
    GOval ball = newGOval(200, 300, 20, 20);
    setFilled(ball, true);
    setColor(ball, "BLACK");
    add(window, ball);
    return NULL;
}

/**
 * Instantiates paddle in bottom-middle of window.
 */
GRect initPaddle(GWindow window)
{
    GRect paddle = newGRect(185, 550, 56, 10);
    setFilled(paddle, true);
    setColor(paddle, "BLACK");
    add(window, paddle);
    return NULL;
}

/**
 * Instantiates, configures, and returns label for scoreboard.
 */
GLabel initScoreboard(GWindow window)
{
    GLabel label = newGLabel("0");
    setFont(label, "SansSerif-18");
    double x = (getWidth(window) - getWidth(label)) / 2;
    double y = (getHeight(window) + getFontAscent(label)) / 2;
    setLocation(label, x, y);
    add(window, label);
    return NULL;
}

/**
 * Updates scoreboard's label, keeping it centered in window.
 */
void updateScoreboard(GWindow window, GLabel label, int points)
{
    // update label
    char s[12];
    sprintf(s, "%i", points);
    setLabel(label, s);

    // center label in window
    double x = (getWidth(window) - getWidth(label)) / 2;
    double y = (getHeight(window) - getHeight(label)) / 2;
    setLocation(label, x, y);
}

/**
 * Detects whether ball has collided with some object in window
 * by checking the four corners of its bounding box (which are
 * outside the ball's GOval, and so the ball can't collide with
 * itself).  Returns object if so, else NULL.
 */
GObject detectCollision(GWindow window, GOval ball)
{
    // ball's location
    double x = getX(ball);
    double y = getY(ball);

    // for checking for collisions
    GObject object;

    // check for collision at ball's top-left corner
    object = getGObjectAt(window, x, y);
    if (object != NULL)
    {
        return object;
    }

    // check for collision at ball's top-right corner
    object = getGObjectAt(window, x + 2 * RADIUS, y);
    if (object != NULL)
    {
        return object;
    }

    // check for collision at ball's bottom-left corner
    object = getGObjectAt(window, x, y + 2 * RADIUS);
    if (object != NULL)
    {
        return object;
    }

    // check for collision at ball's bottom-right corner
    object = getGObjectAt(window, x + 2 * RADIUS, y + 2 * RADIUS);
    if (object != NULL)
    {
        return object;
    }

    // no collision
    return NULL;
}

Answer 1

Your initPaddle() function returns null which means you can not use any variable in that function in other parts of the program. Modify your function to return something you need in the main body.