I wrote some code to allow the user to select parameters using the NXT buttons. It uses an array of structs (TParam) inside one struct (TParams).

All was good except the first two bytes of the first string in the TParam struct was getting trashed ("Blue" became "|3ue"). I could shift the problem to a different variable by changing the order of the variables in the struct typedef, e.g. putting string name first instead of string values[].

I resorted to inserting a sacrificial variable as the first variable in TParam (short dummy). But I am not comfortable with this. Is it me or is it RobotC?

Here's the pair of typedefs that are in menu.c. Enclosed are menu.c and another file that can be used to demo the problem. Comment out "short dummy" to see the problem.

What version of RobotC are you using? A bug that could explain what you saw was fixed in RobotC version 3.04.
Actually, looking at your code, you are using pointers all over. My understanding is that RobotC does not support pointers yet. I am surprise the compiler did not complain. I know that the RobotC folks have been working hard on supporting pointers in some future release but I am not sure if some partial support has made it out. Unless the RobotC folks can confirm this, I would avoid using pointers. You can pass the structure by reference.
We have implemented a similar menu module this way.
http://proj.titanrobotics.net/hg/Ftc/20 ... lib/menu.h

I'm using 3.04.

I think the only pointer I'm using is by passing the address of the TParams object into functions, e.g. And isn't "passing by reference" another way of saying "passing a pointer"?

There is a slight difference between passing by reference and pointers. It's mainly syntax. With pointers, you can do pointer arithmetics which will result in run away pointers that will cause fault in your code. With pass by reference, the syntax does not allow you to do pointer arithmetics. It's suppose to protect inexperience programmers from shooting their foot. If you search the forums, you will find a lot of discussions on RobotC did not support pointers but the desire of the user community on having pointer support. And the RobotC folks mentioning up coming pointer support in 3.x. That's why I am not sure if there is pointer support in 3.04. I did not see the RobotC folks announcing it. So I assume still no pointer support. But the fact that you can compile with pointer syntax gave me an impression that it may have partial support which usually means not everything is working and bugs free.

I rewrote the code to avoid pointers, and the problem went away. Thanks!