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echo: aust_c_here
to: Paul Wankadia
from: Joshua Marshall
date: 1996-10-21 20:18:52
subject: Re: Auto string-length determination

Hello Paul,
 In a message dated 15 Oct 96 you wrote to me :

 JM>> My suggestion would be to declare the function to return a char *
 JM>> rather than an int.  This way it doesn't matter how big the array is
 JM>> since you're not copying to it.

 PW> EH?  Please explain what you mean in that last sentence (I don't quite
 PW> get what you're trying to say) ...?

e.g.

declaration:
  char *Get_Input( blah blah )
  {
    char *string;
  /*  code to get the string */
    return (string);
  }

usage:
  #define STRING_SIZE 100
  
  char s[STRING_SIZE];
  strncpy(s, Get_Input(blah blah), STRING_SIZE);
  s[STRING_SIZE]=0;


This will make sure that the user cannot input a string larger than what
you declared STRING_SIZE to be.  It will also make the code a little
simpler to understand with less pointers in there to confuse you in six
months time when you come back to fix the bugs!

Josh Marshall                        FidoNet   3:640/201.14
Member TEAM AMIGA                    AmigaNet 41:400/869.14

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