Dynamically prompt for string without knowing string size - c

Question

In C, what is the best way of prompting and storing a string without wasted space if we cannot prompt for the string length. For example, normally I would do something like the following...
char fname[30];
char lname[30];
printf("Type first name:\n");
scanf("%s", fname);
printf("Type last name:\n");
scanf("%s", lname);
printf("Your name is: %s %s\n", fname, lname);
However, I'm annoyed with the fact that I have to use more space than needed so I do not want to use char fname[30], but instead dynamically allocate the size of the string. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

You can create a function that dynamically allocates memory for the input as the user types, using getchar() to read one character at a time.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
void* safeRealloc(void* ptr, size_t size) {
void *newPtr = realloc(ptr, size);
if (newPtr == NULL) { // if out of memory
free(ptr); // the memory block at ptr is not deallocated by realloc
}
return newPtr;
}
char* allocFromStdin(void) {
int size = 32; // initial str size to store input
char* str = malloc(size*sizeof(char));
if (str == NULL) {
return NULL; // out of memory
}
char c = '\0';
int i = 0;
do {
c = getchar();
if (c == '\r' || c == '\n') {
c = '\0'; // end str if user hits <enter>
}
if (i == size) {
size *= 2; // duplicate str size
str = safeRealloc(str, size*sizeof(char)); // and reallocate it
if (str == NULL) {
return NULL; // out of memory
}
}
str[i++] = c;
} while (c != '\0');
str = safeRealloc(str, i); // trim memory to the str content size
return str;
}
int main(void) {
puts("Type first name:\n");
char* fname = allocFromStdin();
puts("Type last name:\n");
char* lname = allocFromStdin();
printf("Your name is: %s %s\n", fname, lname);
free(fname); // free memory afterwards
free(lname); // for both pointers
return 0;
}

Answer 2

From man scanf:
• An optional 'm' character. This is used with string conversions (%s,
%c, %[), and relieves the caller of the need to allocate a
corresponding buffer to hold the input: instead, scanf() allocates a
buffer of sufficient size, and assigns the address of this buffer to
the corresponding pointer argument, which should be a pointer to a
char * variable (this variable does not need to be initialized before
the call). The caller should subsequently free(3) this buffer when it
is no longer required.
this however is a POSIX extension (as noted by fiddling_bits).
To be portable I think that in your usage case I would prepare a function like the following:
char *alloc_answer() {
char buf[1000];
fgets(buf,sizeof(buf),stdin);
size_t l = strlen(buf);
if (buf[l-1]=='\n') buf[l]=0; // remove possible trailing '\n'
return strdup(buf);
}
even if this solution will break lines longer than 1000 characters (but it prevents buffer overflow, at least).
A fully featured solution would need to read input in chunks and realloc the buffer on every chunk...