I read more than I write in file - c

Question

I have a file, partitioned in fixed sized blocks. I am copying a test_file.txt into the 3rd block of the file. I read and copied 18 bytes.
Then I am trying to copy from the file that very same .txt file I just imported to a newly created .txt, but I am writing 256 bytes to the new file. Moreover, when I try to read it, it is full of garbage.
The first function is used to import the .txt and the second one to export it.
void copy_file(int mfs_desc, char* filename, Superblock* s, MDS mds) {
if(mds.size == 0)
return;
char buffer[s->block_size];
int i = 0;
for (; i < s->block_size; ++i) {
buffer[i] = '\0';
}
int source_desc = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
// error handling
if (source_desc == -1) {
perror("opening file in copy file");
exit(1);
}
ssize_t nread;
int total = 0;
off_t seek = lseek(mfs_desc,
sizeof(Superblock) + mds.datablocks[0] * s->block_size,
SEEK_SET);
printf("offset = %d\n", mds.datablocks[0]);
if (seek < 0) {
perror("seek");
exit(1);
}
total = 0;
while ((nread = read(source_desc, buffer, s->block_size)) > 0) {
total += nread;
write(mfs_desc, buffer, s->block_size);
}
printf("read and copied: %d bytes\n", total);
if (close(source_desc) == -1) {
perror("closing file in copy file");
exit(1);
}
}
int copy_file_export(int mfs_desc, char* filename, Superblock s, MDS mds) {
if(mds.size == 0) {
printf("File is empty, abort\n");
return 0;
}
char buffer[s.block_size];
int i = 0;
for (; i < s.block_size; ++i) {
buffer[i] = '\0';
}
int destination_desc = open(filename, O_CREAT | O_WRONLY);
// error handling
if (destination_desc == -1) {
printf("filename = |%s|\n", filename);
perror("opening file in copy file export");
exit(1);
}
ssize_t nread;
int total = 0;
off_t seek = lseek(mfs_desc,
sizeof(Superblock) + mds.datablocks[0] * s.block_size,
SEEK_SET);
printf("offset = %d\n", mds.datablocks[0]);
if (seek < 0) {
perror("seek");
exit(1);
}
for(i = 0; i < mds.size; ++i) {
nread = read(mfs_desc, buffer, s.block_size);
total += nread;
write(destination_desc, buffer, nread);
}
printf("wrote: %d bytes\n", total);
if (close(destination_desc) == -1) {
perror("closing file in copy file");
exit(1);
}
return 1;
}
Output:
import test_file.txt ... / <-- just a command
offset = 2
read and copied: 18 bytes
export test_file.txt ... ../../ <-- just a command
offset = 2
wrote: 256 bytes
What I am doing wrong?

Answer 1

I would replace
write(mfs_desc, buffer, s->block_size);
with
write(mfs_desc, buffer, nread);

Answer 2

In this chunk of code:
while ((nread = read(source_desc, buffer, s->block_size)) > 0) {
total += nread;
write(mfs_desc, buffer, s->block_size);
}
You're very likely handling the last write() incorrectly. You need to write only the bytes you read.
write(mfs_desc, buffer, nread);
Also, these lines are most likely bogus:
char buffer[s->block_size];
char buffer[s.block_size];
You're trying to use a variable sized allocation for an array on the stack. You Can't Do That™. Those allocations have to be fixed (compile time constant) sized.