Copying 2D arrays in C - c

I'm trying to copy some 2D arrays of strings into an another one.
I have 2 arrays that look like this:
char *tabA[SIZE];
char *tabB[SIZE];
I want to copy tabA[indexA] to tabB[indexB] but strcpy(tabB[indexB], tabA[indexA]) doesn't work at all, program gets crashed (but compiler doesn't return any errors).

strcpy(tabB[indexB], tabA[indexA]) doesn't work at all, program gets
crashed
Possibly because tabB[indexB] is not initialized and contain NULL or invalid pointer.
Solution
Allocate memory to tabB statically using a 2D array as char tabB[SIZE1][SIZE2] = {{0}}; or dynamically as for(i = 0; i < SIZE; ++i) tabB[i] = malloc(...); or using strdup. In case of dynamic allocation, make sure you free and don't leak the memory.

I'm using memcpy from string.h, prototyped like this:
void *memcpy(void *dest, const void *src, size_t n);
The memcpy() function copies n bytes from memory area src to memory
area dest.
For more detail read the manual of memcpy using the command man memcpy on a terminal.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
const size_t SIZE=8;
int main()
{
char *data[] = {"jan", "fev", "mar", "apr", "mai", "jun", "jul", "aug"};
char *data2[SIZE];
memcpy(data2, data, sizeof(char*) * SIZE);
for (int i = 0; i < 8; ++i)
printf("data = %s, data2 = %s\n", data[i], data2[i]);
return (0);
}

tabB[indexB] = strdup(tabA[indexA]);
works perfectly :)

Related

Why is the structure causing a memory error?

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
struct bank
{
char *name [3];
char *ha[3];
int bal[3];
};
typedef struct bank bank;
int main()
{
bank *SBI;
SBI=(bank*) malloc(sizeof(bank));
strcpy(SBI->ha[0], "1234");
printf("SUCCESS");
return 0;
}
Why is the above code generating a memory write error? When I run the code it generates some error relating to memory. I am beginner in C programming. Can anyone help me about what is wrong in the code that is causing the error.
You also need to allocate space for your three strings ha[0], ha[1], ha[2]. Your malloc allocates memory for the bank structure, including three pointers, but these pointers need to be allocated too, with malloc or strdup for example:
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
bank->ha[i] = malloc(MY_STRING_MAXLENGTH);
}
which you later free:
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
free(bank->ha[i]);
}
free(SBI);
You are copying your string into unallocated memory.
strcpy(SBI->ha[0], "1234")
Use strdup instead of strcpy. Strdup will allocate the memory for you.

Convert int to string, then fill the array with the converted elements

Iam trying to fill array with numbers that i converted from int to string. The output iam trying to get is {"0", "1", "2"...} but my array is filled with the last number that i converted {"19", "19", "19"..} idk why is that. Could you please help me guys ?
My code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char *arr[20] = {};
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
char str[20];
itoa(i, str, 10);
arr[i] = str;
}
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
printf("%s\n", arr[i]);
}
}
Problem
char str[20]; arranges that str is a pointer to the first element of a chunk of memory containing 20 chars. Since the str is a local variable to the for loop, you cannot be sure what happens to that memory after the current iteration finishes. It is undefined behaviour.
With that in mind, think about what arr will be at the the end of the first for loop.
It will be an array of 20 pointers to some bit of memory. But you can no longer be sure what the memory contains. It may be, as in your case, that they all point to the same bit of memory, which is filled with the last string that itoa put there. This might not happen in general though.
Solution
To fix this, you should probably use malloc to allocate new memory for each string you want to keep, within the first for loop. The memory is then heap allocated, and you can be sure that each call to malloc will give you a chunk of unused memory, such that you won't be overwriting previous strings. Try for example:
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
char *str = (char *) malloc(sizeof(char) * 20);
itoa(i, str, 10);
arr[i] = str;
}
Note that it is also good practice to explicitly free memory you have allocated with malloc.
char str[20]; creates a single location in memory where str is stored. It does not create a new location each time the loop is run.
arr[i] = str; points each element of arr at that one location, which by the end of the loop contains just "19".
Instead of arr[i] = str; you need to do something like strcpy(arr[i], str) to copy the current contents of str to the appropriate element of arr.
Also, as Scott Hunter pointed out, you should declare arr using char arr[20][20] to have 20 unique char arrays to actually write the strings into.
I tested the following code (changed itoa to sprintf) and it worked for me:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char arr[20][20] = {};
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
char str[20];
sprintf(str, "%i", i);
strcpy(arr[i], str);
}
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
printf("%s\n", arr[i]);
}
}
Unrolling the loop, you get
arr[0] = str;
....
arr[1] = str;
....
arr[2] = str;
.... // etc
Which is basically:
arr[0] = arr[1] = arr[2] = arr[3] (...) = str;
So yeah, they all point to the same string. There is only one str.
There's also some undefined behaviour here. Firstly, all of your pointers arr[0] etc are being dereferenced here:
printf("%s\n", arr[i]);
when the thing they point to, str, has gone out of scope, there is no guarantee what might happen when you access it. Infact, the first "instance" of str goes out of scope at the end of the first iteration of the first loop. When you assign arr[1]=str, arr[0] is techincially invalid already. However, it likely that there is just one str that remains on the stack for the duration of the function, which would be consistent with the observed behaviour, but not guaranteed.
Try this
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char arr[20][20] = {}; // Allocate the space to store the results
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
char str[20]; // Temp store
itoa(i, str, 10);
strcpy (arr[i], str); // Copy the string from the temp store
// str goes out of scope NOW at the end of the loop, you cannot
// any pointer that points to it either outside this loop or the next time
// around the loop
}
// etc
you need to allocate memory for each place in the array, arr. you can do this on the stack or on the heap. In this approach i have allocated the strings on the heap. So i called malloc() for allocating buffers of size int (no need to allocate more).
In my approach i have used sprintf() from stdio.h to convert the numbers to string format.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define MAX_INT_DIGITS_NUM 20
int main() {
char* arr[20]; /*this is an array of 20 char pointers*/
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
arr[i] = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char) * MAX_INT_DIGITS_NUM);
sprintf(arr[i], "%d", i);
}
for(int i = 0;i < 20;i++){
printf("%s\n", arr[i]);
/*now you need to free all previous allocated buffers*/
free(arr[i]);
}
return 0;
}
what is wrong with your code?
arr is only an array to char pointers! its not really holding string buffers that you can use for copy or scan to it! its only pointers that points to some address.
inside the for loop, you are declaring str buffer and you keep override it (itoa keeps copying to it) to the same place!! hence you exit the for loop in last iteration with only the last converted i!
now, just to aware you, after existing the for loop all the local variables marked by the os as released! so this can lead to memory corruption or override later in the program!
keep in mind that in my solution i always allocates MAX_INT_DIGITS_NUM bytes, no matter the i deget length. this is waste of memory! keep in mind that itoa() is not standard in C or ansi c!

Copying strings from extern char environ in C

I have a question pertaining to the extern char **environ. I'm trying to make a C program that counts the size of the environ list, copies it to an array of strings (array of array of chars), and then sorts it alphabetically with a bubble sort. It will print in name=value or value=name order depending on the format value.
I tried using strncpy to get the strings from environ to my new array, but the string values come out empty. I suspect I'm trying to use environ in a way I can't, so I'm looking for help. I've tried to look online for help, but this particular program is very limited. I cannot use system(), yet the only help I've found online tells me to make a program to make this system call. (This does not help).
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
extern char **environ;
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
char **env = environ;
int i = 0;
int j = 0;
printf("Hello world!\n");
int listSZ = 0;
char temp[1024];
while(env[listSZ])
{
listSZ++;
}
printf("DEBUG: LIST SIZE = %d\n", listSZ);
char **list = malloc(listSZ * sizeof(char**));
char **sorted = malloc(listSZ * sizeof(char**));
for(i = 0; i < listSZ; i++)
{
list[i] = malloc(sizeof(env[i]) * sizeof(char)); // set the 2D Array strings to size 80, for good measure
sorted[i] = malloc(sizeof(env[i]) * sizeof(char));
}
while(env[i])
{
strncpy(list[i], env[i], sizeof(env[i]));
i++;
} // copy is empty???
for(i = 0; i < listSZ - 1; i++)
{
for(j = 0; j < sizeof(list[i]); j++)
{
if(list[i][j] > list[i+1][j])
{
strcpy(temp, list[i]);
strcpy(list[i], list[i+1]);
strcpy(list[i+1], temp);
j = sizeof(list[i]); // end loop, we resolved this specific entry
}
// else continue
}
}
This is my code, help is greatly appreciated. Why is this such a hard to find topic? Is it the lack of necessity?
EDIT: Pasted wrong code, this was a separate .c file on the same topic, but I started fresh on another file.
In a unix environment, the environment is a third parameter to main.
Try this:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[], char **envp)
{
while (*envp) {
printf("%s\n", *envp);
*envp++;
}
}
There are multiple problems with your code, including:
Allocating the 'wrong' size for list and sorted (you multiply by sizeof(char **), but should be multiplying by sizeof(char *) because you're allocating an array of char *. This bug won't actually hurt you this time. Using sizeof(*list) avoids the problem.
Allocating the wrong size for the elements in list and sorted. You need to use strlen(env[i]) + 1 for the size, remembering to allow for the null that terminates the string.
You don't check the memory allocations.
Your string copying loop is using strncpy() and shouldn't (actually, you should seldom use strncpy()), not least because it is only copying 4 or 8 bytes of each environment variable (depending on whether you're on a 32-bit or 64-bit system), and it is not ensuring that they're null terminated strings (just one of the many reasons for not using strncpy().
Your outer loop of your 'sorting' code is OK; your inner loop is 100% bogus because you should be using the length of one or the other string, not the size of the pointer, and your comparisons are on single characters, but you're then using strcpy() where you simply need to move pointers around.
You allocate but don't use sorted.
You don't print the sorted environment to demonstrate that it is sorted.
Your code is missing the final }.
Here is some simple code that uses the standard C library qsort() function to do the sorting, and simulates POSIX strdup()
under the name dup_str() — you could use strdup() if you have POSIX available to you.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
extern char **environ;
/* Can also be spelled strdup() and provided by the system */
static char *dup_str(const char *str)
{
size_t len = strlen(str) + 1;
char *dup = malloc(len);
if (dup != NULL)
memmove(dup, str, len);
return dup;
}
static int cmp_str(const void *v1, const void *v2)
{
const char *s1 = *(const char **)v1;
const char *s2 = *(const char **)v2;
return strcmp(s1, s2);
}
int main(void)
{
char **env = environ;
int listSZ;
for (listSZ = 0; env[listSZ] != NULL; listSZ++)
;
printf("DEBUG: Number of environment variables = %d\n", listSZ);
char **list = malloc(listSZ * sizeof(*list));
if (list == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Memory allocation failed!\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
for (int i = 0; i < listSZ; i++)
{
if ((list[i] = dup_str(env[i])) == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr, "Memory allocation failed!\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
}
qsort(list, listSZ, sizeof(list[0]), cmp_str);
for (int i = 0; i < listSZ; i++)
printf("%2d: %s\n", i, list[i]);
return 0;
}
Other people pointed out that you can get at the environment via a third argument to main(), using the prototype int main(int argc, char **argv, char **envp). Note that Microsoft explicitly supports this. They're correct, but you can also get at the environment via environ, even in functions other than main(). The variable environ is unique amongst the global variables defined by POSIX in not being declared in any header file, so you must write the declaration yourself.
Note that the memory allocation is error checked and the error reported on standard error, not standard output.
Clearly, if you like writing and debugging sort algorithms, you can avoid using qsort(). Note that string comparisons need to be done using strcmp(), but you can't use strcmp() directly with qsort() when you're sorting an array of pointers because the argument types are wrong.
Part of the output for me was:
DEBUG: Number of environment variables = 51
0: Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.tQHOVHUgys/Render
1: BASH_ENV=/Users/jleffler/.bashrc
2: CDPATH=:/Users/jleffler:/Users/jleffler/src:/Users/jleffler/src/perl:/Users/jleffler/src/sqltools:/Users/jleffler/lib:/Users/jleffler/doc:/Users/jleffler/work:/Users/jleffler/soq/src
3: CLICOLOR=1
4: DBDATE=Y4MD-
…
47: VISUAL=vim
48: XPC_FLAGS=0x0
49: XPC_SERVICE_NAME=0
50: _=./pe17
If you want to sort the values instead of the names, you have to do some harder work. You'd need to define what output you wish to see. There are multiple ways of handling that sort.
To get the environment variables, you need to declare main like this:
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **env);
The third parameter is the NULL-terminated list of environment variables. See:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv, char **environ)
{
for(size_t i = 0; env[i]; ++i)
puts(environ[i]);
return 0;
}
The output of this is:
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/shaoran/opt/node-v6.9.4-linux-x64/lib:
LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:m
...
Note also that sizeof(environ[i]) in your code does not get you the length of
the string, it gets you the size of a pointer, so
strncpy(list[i], environ[i], sizeof(environ[i]));
is wrong. Also the whole point of strncpy is to limit based on the destination,
not on the source, otherwise if the source is larger than the destination, you
will still overflow the buffer. The correct call would be
strncpy(list[i], environ[i], 80);
list[i][79] = 0;
Bare in mind that strncpy might not write the '\0'-terminating byte if the
destination is not large enough, so you have to make sure to terminate the
string. Also note that 79 characters might be too short for storing env variables. For example, my LS_COLORS variable
is huge, at least 1500 characters long. You might want to do your list[i] = malloc calls based based on strlen(environ[i])+1.
Another thing: your swapping
strcpy(temp, list[i]);
strcpy(list[i], list[i+1]);
strcpy(list[i+1], temp);
j = sizeof(list[i]);
works only if all list[i] point to memory of the same size. Since the list[i] are pointers, the cheaper way of swapping would be by
swapping the pointers instead:
char *tmp = list[i];
list[i] = list[i+1];
list[i+1] = tmp;
This is more efficient, is a O(1) operation and you don't have to worry if the
memory spaces are not of the same size.
What I don't get is, what do you intend with j = sizeof(list[i])? Not only
that sizeof(list[i]) returns you the size of a pointer (which will be constant
for all list[i]), why are you messing with the running variable j inside the
block? If you want to leave the loop, the do break. And you are looking for
strlen(list[i]): this will give you the length of the string.

Using realloc to concat strings

I'm trying to concat two strings, supposing the "dest" string hasn't enough space to add another one, so I'm using dynamic arrays to solve it.
The problem is a mremap_chunk error when trying to compile the code.
I don't know what I'm missing since the realloc call has all the right params place in.
Error:
malloc.c:2869: mremap_chunk: Assertion `((size + offset) & (GLRO (dl_pagesize) - 1)) == 0' failed.
Aborted (core dumped)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
char *strcatt(char *s1, char *s2)
{
int a = strlen(s1);
int b = strlen(s2);
int i, size_ab = a+b;
s1 = (char *) realloc (s1, size_ab*sizeof(char));
for(i=0; i<b; i++) {
s1[i+a]=s2[i];
}
s1[size_ab]='\0';
return s1;
}
int main()
{
char s1[]="12345";
char s2[]="qwerty";
strcatt(s1,s2);
printf("%s\n", s1);
return 0;
}
First, you are treating non-heap memory as heap memory, don't do that.
Second you're not including space for the terminator in the calculation.
Here are some more points:
Don't name functions starting with str, that's a reserved name space.
Buffer sizes should be size_t, not int.
Don't cast the return value of malloc() in C.
Use memcpy() to copy blocks of memory when you know the size.
The "right hand side" strings should be const.
Deal with the possibility of allocation error.
I consider it bad practice to scale by sizeof (char), that's always 1.
Here's how I would write it, assuming the same logic:
char * my_strcatt(char *s1, const char *s2)
{
const size_t a = strlen(s1);
const size_t b = strlen(s2);
const size_t size_ab = a + b + 1;
s1 = realloc(s1, size_ab);
memcpy(s1 + a, s2, b + 1);
return s1;
}
You can not realloc or free a memory that is not allocated with a call to malloc or is not NULL.
From section 7.22.3.5. The realloc function in C11 draft
The realloc function deallocates the old object pointed to by ptr and
returns a pointer to a new object that has the size specified by size.
The contents of the new object shall be the same as that of the old
object prior to deallocation, up to the lesser of the new and old
sizes. Any bytes in the new object beyond the size of the old object
have indeterminate values.
So, s1 = (char *) realloc (s1, size_ab*sizeof(char)); is plainly wrong for your inputs (automatic arrays), never do that.
And then there are many more problems which can be fixed with some help from a debugger.
The clang debugger gives a very clear error description:
malloc: error for object 0x7fff6fbb16d6: pointer being realloc'd was not allocated
set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
Both of your arrays are initialized as string literals. Further on, your function tries to modify a string literal by reallocing it, which is wrong by C standard because you can't reallocate what you haven't allocated, and then copying the members of the second string literal to the "object" you intended to modify by misusing realloc() on a string literal.
The code would work if you had dynamically defined a third string in which you would have summed the contents of both:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
char *mystrcatt(char *s1, char *s2)
{
int a = strlen(s1);
int b = strlen(s2);
int i, size_ab = a+b;
char *s3 = malloc (size_ab*sizeof(char)); //sizeof(char) is always 1
for(i=0; i<a; i++) { //inefficient
(s3[i])=s1[i];
}
for(i=0; i<b; i++) { //inefficient
(s3[i+a])=s2[i];
}
s3[size_ab]='\0';
return s3;
}
int main()
{
char s1[]="12345";
char s2[]="qwerty";
char *s3 = mystrcatt(s1,s2);
printf("%s\n", s3);
free(s3);
return 0;
}
Please, also note that you don't cast the return of malloc() in C.

Why this program is crashing did i wrongly allocated memory

This program is crashing. Please tell me what's wrong with it. When I use an array instead of a pointer like Name[12] in the structure it doesn't crash. I guess there is some problem in dynamic memory allocation. Help please.
#include <stdio.h>
struct struct_tag
{
int number;
char *Name;
} struct_name;
main()
{
struct_name.number = 34;
char *Name = (char *) malloc(sizeof(char));
strcpy(struct_name.Name,"A");
printf("%d", struct_name.number);
}
You're allocating a single character:
char *Name = (char *) malloc(sizeof(char));
And then never using that memory for anything. You meant to allocate memory for struct_name.Name, undoubtedly. But even if you had done so, you're then filling it with two characters ('a' and '\0'):
strcpy(struct_name.Name,"A");
which will cause an entirely different bug.
You want to say:
struct_name.Name = malloc( 2 );
Since (a) you shouldn't cast the result of malloc() and (b) sizeof(char) is always 1 and (c) you need room for the 0 at the end of your string.
For errors:
You are allocating memeory for *Name however you are not allocating
memory for struct_name.Name. So first thing is you need to allocate memory for struct_name.Name
As you already know that you'll be storing "A" in
struct_name.Name you should allocate memory for 2 char.("A" is string i.e 'A' and '\0')
For warnings:
If you want to use strcpy function include string.h in your code.
Also if you are using malloc include stdlib.h in your code.
Try this fixed code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
struct struct_tag
{
int number;
char *Name;
}struct_name;
int main()
{
struct_name.number = 34;
struct_name.Name = malloc(sizeof(char)*2); // As you will store "A"
strcpy(struct_name.Name,"A");
printf("%d \t", struct_name.number);
printf("%s \n", struct_name.Name);
return 0;
}
first look code carefully.
char *Name = (char *) malloc(sizeof(char));
strcpy(struct_name.Name,"A");
Hare for what you allocated memory (char *Name) and in which you copied string(struct_name.Name)?
here you not allocate memory for struct_name.Name. Also you have allocate memory for one character and you tried to copy two characters.('A' and '\0').
It should be
struct_name.Name = malloc(2);

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