dynamic array code keeps crashing - c

here's a really simple C program, and I just can't figure out why it crashes:
int main () {
size_t argc = 2;
char **argv = malloc(argc * sizeof(char *));
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
if (i >= argc) {
argc *= 2;
argv = realloc(argv, argc);
}
argv[i] = strdup("hello world!");
}
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
printf("argv[%d] = \"%s\"\n", i, argv[i]); // it crashes on this line
free(argv[i]);
}
free(argv);
}

argv = realloc(argv, argc);
The size is wrong; you want argc * sizeof(*argv) instead.

When you do your realloc, you're allocating space for N chars instead of N pointers to char.
Then again, given that you just want space for 20 items anyway, why not just start by allocating space for 20 items, putting the data there, and being done with it?
#define size 20
char **argv = malloc(size * sizeof(char *));
if (argv == NULL) {
fprintf(stderr, "Allocation failed!");
return 1;
}
for (int i=0; i<size; i++)
argv[i] = strdup("hello world!");
Also note that realloc can/will return a null pointer in case of failure, so you generally want to do something like:
char **temp = realloc(old_ptr, new_size);
if (temp != NULL)
old_ptr = temp;

Related

Why am i getting a segmentation fault in Page Rank code?

I'm trying to read a file containing wikipedia pages and turning them into a matrix of 0 and 1 depending on whether there is an arc between them. So that we call a function using this matrix to sort their [PageRank.][1] but it says segmentation fault. Any help would be much appreciated.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define SIZE 10000
int main(int argc, char
const * argv[]) {
int graphe[SIZE][SIZE] = {0};
FILE * file = NULL;
char chaine[SIZE] = "";//the line from fgets
char * page = malloc(SIZE * sizeof(char));//an array with all the first pages of the file
char ** tab = malloc(SIZE * SIZE * sizeof(char));//2D array containing all the pages
file = fopen("wiki-zulu.txt", "r");
if (file != NULL) {
int i = 0, j = 0, cpt = 0;
while (fgets(chaine, SIZE, file) != NULL) {
char * token = strtok(chaine, "|");
page[i] = * token;
while (token != NULL) {
tab[i][j] = * token;
token = strtok(NULL, "|");
j++;
cpt++;
i++;
}
for (int i = 0; i < cpt; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < cpt; j++) {
for (int k = 0; k < cpt; k++) {
if (tab[i][j] == page[k] && i != j) {//comparing all values in the 2D array with the array of pages
graphe[i][k] = 1;//1 if there is a link between them
}
printf("%d\t", graphe[i][j]);
}
}
printf("\n");
}
free(page);
free(tab);
fclose(file);
}
}
return 0;
}```
[1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/eITFZ.png
Your problem is most likely the way you allocate the tab matrix.
It is 1D array not a 2D one. And you cannot access it the way you are.
More standard, safer allocation of 2D matrix (you can change calloc with malloc):
// Allocate the first dimension and check for error
char **tab = (char **) calloc(SIZE, sizeof(char*));
if (!tab) {
perror("calloc");
}
// Loop through the first dim to allocate the second one.
// Don't forget to free the allocated memory if something goes wrong
for (size_t i = 0; i < SIZE; ++i) {
tab[i] = (char*) calloc(SIZE, sizeof(char));
if (!tab[i]) {
for (size_t j = i; j >= 0; --j) {
free(tab[j]);
}
free(tab);
perror("calloc");
}
}

C dynamically growing array realloc issue

I want to implement dynamically growing array in C.
I read the words from a file to a char** array and when the array is full grow its size by 2. But when I reallocate the memory, the first two elements of the array is lost. I tried with lines = realloc() but it's crashing. What am I doing wrong?
test.txt:
test1
test2
test3
test4
test5
test6
test7
test8
test9 (no end of line)
my output:
─
đ%
test3
test4
test5
test6
test7
test9
Code:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <malloc.h>
int size = 8;
char **read(FILE *input, char **lines, int *lSize) {
for (int i = 0; !feof(input); i++) {
*lSize += 1;
if (*lSize > size) {
realloc(lines, (size *= 2) * sizeof(char *));
for (int j = (*lSize) - 1; j < size; j++) {
lines[j] = (char *) malloc(1024 * sizeof(char));
}
}
fscanf(input, "%s", lines[i]);
}
return lines;
}
int main(){
FILE *file = fopen("test.txt", "r");
if (file == NULL) {
return -1;
}
char **lines = malloc(size * sizeof(char *));
for (int i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
lines[i] = malloc(1024 * sizeof(char));
}
int lsize = 0;
read(file, lines, &lsize);
printf("lSize:%d\n", lsize);
printf("size:%d\n", size);
for (int i = 0; i < lsize; ++i) {
printf("%s\n", lines[i]);
}
for (int i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
free(lines[i]);
}
free(lines);
return 0;
}
given char **read(FILE *input, char **lines, int *lSize)
what does: realloc(lines, (size *= 2) * sizeof(char *)) do?
Well it changes the sizes of the memory block pointed to by lines, possibly by moving it.
That is why it returns a new pointer. Just assigning that new pointer back to lines won't help much (on its own) as that only updates the local variable lines in this function.
But luckily lines is also returned from the function. But its return value is ignored in main so after read returns, the lines in main may be a bogus pointer.
do lines = read(file, lines, &lsize) in main as well.

Print last few lines of a text file

Currently, I am trying to create a C program that prints the last few lines of a text file, read in through the command line. However, it is currently causing a segmentation error when I try to copy the strings from fgets into the main array. I have been unable to fix this, and so have not been able to test the rest of my code. How would I begin to fix the segmentation error? I have posted the code below:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int i=1,j,printNumber;
char **arr = (char **) malloc (100 * sizeof(char *));
char *line = (char *) malloc (80 * sizeof(char));
if (argc == 1) {
printNumber = 10;
}
else {
printNumber = atoi(argv[1]);
}
while (fgets(line,80,stdin) != NULL) {
if (line != NULL) {
line[strlen(line)-1] = '\0';
strcpy(arr[i],line); //SEGMENTATION ERROR!!!!
}
else {
free(line);
strcpy(arr[i],NULL);
}
i++;
printf("%d ",i);
}
free(arr);
for (j = i-printNumber-1; j < i-1; j++) {
printf("%s ", arr[j]);
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
You are allocating space for arr, which is a pointer to a pointer to char, but not allocating any individual char * pointers within arr.
Since you allocated arr with the size of 100 * sizeof(char *), I assume you want 100 sub-entries in arr. Sure:
for(i = 0; i < 100; i++)
arr[i] = malloc(80 * sizeof(char));
Then, when you free arr:
for(i = 0; i < 100; i++)
free(arr[i]);
free(arr);
Note that it is good practice to always check malloc for failure (return value of NULL) and handle it, and to set pointers to NULL after freeing them once to avoid double-free bugs.
You don't always know the length of the longest line (not until you try to read) OR how many last lines you are expected to keep track of (but is given at runtime). Thus, both of these values need to be known before you allocate memory or delegated to a function that does it for you.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
struct Line {
char *line; // content
size_t storage_sz; // allocation size of line memory
ssize_t sz; // size of line, not including terminating null byte ('\0')
};
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
int max_lines = 10;
if (argc > 1) {
max_lines = atoi(argv[1]);
}
if (max_lines < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", "Sorry, no defined behaviour of negative values (yet)\n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// keep an extra slot for the last failed read at EOF
struct Line *lines = (struct Line *) calloc(max_lines + 1, sizeof(struct Line));
int end = 0;
int size = 0;
// only keep track of the last couple of lines
while ((lines[end].sz = getline(&lines[end].line, &lines[end].storage_sz, stdin)) != -1) {
end++;
if (end > max_lines) {
end = 0;
}
if (size < max_lines) {
size++;
}
}
// time to print them back
int first = end - size;
if (first < 0) {
first += size + 1;
}
for (int count = size; count; count--) {
// lines might contain null bytes we can't use printf("%s", lines[first].line);
fwrite(lines[first].line, lines[first].sz, 1u, stdout);
first++;
if (first > size) {
first = 0;
}
}
// clear up memory after use
for (int idx = 0; idx <= max_lines; idx++) {
free(lines[idx].line);
}
free(lines);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

How can I change an array of string pointers in another function?

I have been trying to figure out how to modify an array of char pointers but no matter what I do there appears to be no change below are the three arrays I'm trying to change including the call to the function I'm using.
char*cm1[5];
char*cm2[5];
char*cm3[5];
setupCommands(&cm1,commands,file,0);
setupCommands(&cm2,commands,file,1);
setupCommands(&cm3,commands,file,2);
The code below is the function itself.I was thinking that maybe it involves a double pointer but if I try *cmd to change the array I get a segmentation fault.
void setupCommands(char **cmd[], char* commands[],char file[],int index){
char str1[255];
strcpy(str1,commands[index]);
char newString [5][255];
int j = 0;
int ctr = 0;
int i;
//printf("str1 %s\n" ,str1);
for(i = 0; i <= strlen(str1); i++){
if(str1[i] == ' '|| str1[i] =='\0'){
newString[ctr][j] = '\0';
ctr++;//next row
j=0;// for next word, init index to 0
}else{
newString[ctr][j]=str1[i];
j++;
}
}
for(i = 0; i < ctr; i++){
//printf(" test2 %s \n", newString[i]);
cmd[i] = newString[i];
//printf(" test2 %d %s \n", i,cmd[i]);
}
//printf("index %d", i);
cmd[i]= file;
cmd[i + 1] = NULL;
//execvp(cmd[0],cmd);
//cmd
}
There are a few issues with your code:
you are trying to return references to the local 'char newString [5][255]' when the function exits. In simple worlds - never return anything locally allocated on the stack. This is the reason you are getting the segmentation fault.
char **cmd[] must be declared char *cmd[] - even though you will get a warning from the compiler assignment from incompatible pointer type, the code would run and execute correctly(essentially **cmd[] would do the same work as *cmd[], even though it's not of correct type) if you didn't return references to the local object;
Easy and simple optimization is just to remove the array str1 and directly operate on the array commands.
Apart from this simple optimization I have changed your code to overcome the segmentation fault, by allocating on the heap, instead on stack(will live until the program terminates) the multidimensional array, and I also calculate it's size so I will know how much memory to allocate. Now it's safe to return references to it.
Note that more optimizations could be made, but for the sake of the simplicity this is the bare minimal for this code to work.
int setupCommands(char *cmd[], char *commands[], char file[], int index)
{
int j = 0;
int ctr = 0;
int i = 0;
int rows = 0;
int cols = 0;
char **newString = NULL;
while(commands[index][i])
{
if (commands[index][i] == ' ')
{
++rows;
}
++i;
}
++rows;
cols = strlen(commands[index]) + 1;
newString = malloc(rows * sizeof(*newString));
if (newString == NULL)
{
return -1;
}
for (i = 0; i < rows; ++i)
{
newString[i] = malloc(cols * sizeof(*newString));
if (newString[i] == NULL)
{
return -1;
}
}
for(i = 0; i <= strlen(commands[index]); i++){
if(commands[index][i] == ' '|| commands[index][i] =='\0'){
newString[ctr][j] = '\0';
ctr++;//next row
j=0;// for next word, init index to 0
}else{
newString[ctr][j]=commands[index][i];
j++;
}
}
for(i = 0; i < ctr; i++){
cmd[i] = newString[i];
}
cmd[i]= file;
cmd[i + 1] = NULL;
return 0;
}
First of all - being the three stars pointer programmer is not good :)
You assign it with pointer to the local variable which is not longer available after the function return
But if you still want the three stars pointers:
char **cm1;
char **cm2;
char **cm3;
setupCommands(&cm1,commands,file,0);
setupCommands(&cm2,commands,file,1);
setupCommands(&cm3,commands,file,2);
#define MAXWORD 256
int setupCommands(char ***cmd, const char *commands,const char *file,int index){
char str1[255];
strcpy(str1,commands[index]);
int j = 0;
int ctr = 0;
int i;
//printf("str1 %s\n" ,str1);
*cmd = malloc(sizeof(char *));
**cmd = malloc(MAXWORD);
if(!*cmd || !**cmd)
{
/* do spmething if mallocs failed*/
return -1;
}
for(i = 0; i <= strlen(str1); i++){
if(str1[i] == ' '|| str1[i] =='\0'){
(*cmd)[ctr][j] = '\0';
ctr++;//next row
*cmd = realloc((ctr + 1) * sizeof(int));
(*cmd)[ctr] = malloc(MAXWORD);
if(!*cmd || !*cmd[ctr])
{
/* do spmething if mallocs failed*/
return -1;
}
j=0;// for next word, init index to 0
}else{
(*cmd)[ctr][j]=str1[i];
j++;
}
}
*cmd = realloc(sizeof(char *) * ctr + 2)
(*cmd)[ctr - 2] = malloc(MAX);
if(!*cmd || !*cmd[ctr - 2])
{
/* do spmething if mallocs failed*/
return -1;
}
strcpy((*cmd)[ctr - 2], file);
(*cmd)[ctr - 1] = NULL;
return 0;
//execvp(cmd[0],cmd);
//cmd
}
you can improve many things (for example do not realloc every time but in the larger chunks) and I did not change anything in your code logic.

need help in understanding passing char* [] to function

I am trying to pass a array of pointers to string to a function where I need to set the values. In the passing function I do not know the number of strings I will get, the called function is calling some other function which returns list of strings.
Sample code below:
int main() {
char** list;
create(list);
}
int create(char **array) {
char* str[] = { "hello", "dear" };
int len;
int i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
len = strlen(str[i]);
printf("%d\n", len);
*(array + i) = (char*) malloc(len * sizeof(char*));
strcpy(*(array + i), str[i]);
i++;
}
return 1;
}
This gives me segmentation fault.
What wrong am I doing here. Please help.
Thanks
EDIT
Updated code from below comments:
int main() {
char** list;
create(list);
int i = 0;
for (i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
printf("%s\n", list[i]); // segmentation fault
}
}
int create(char **array) {
char* str[] = { "hello", "dear" };
int len;
int i = 0;
array = malloc(2 * sizeof(char*));
for (i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
len = strlen(str[i]);
printf("%d\n", len);
*(array + i) = (char*) malloc(len * sizeof(char));
strcpy(*(array + i), str[i]);
printf("%s\n", array[i]); // this prints
}
return 1;
}
Now getting segmentation fault in main while printing the list.
Actual code where I am reading the strings
int i;
for ( i=0; i<reply->elements; i++ )
{
printf( "Result: %d---%s\n", i,reply->element[i]->str );
*array[i] = (char*)malloc(strlen(reply->element[i]->str));
printf("***");
strcpy(array[i],reply->element[i]->str);
printf( "Array[%d]: %s\n", i,array[i] );
}
You correctly alloc memory for the individual strings, but fail to alloc some for the array itself.
You should use:
int main() {
char* list[8] = {0}; /* initialize pointers to NULL */
create(list);
/* free allocated memory - free(NULL) is legal and is a noop */
for (i=0; i<sizeof(list)/sizeof(list[0]); i++) free(list[i]);
return 0; /* never return random value from main */
}
And you should remove the i++ at the end of the loop in function create because it leads to a double increment.
Alternatively you could alloc the array itself in the function create:
int create(char ***array) {
char* str[] = { "hello", "dear" };
int len;
int i = 0;
*array = malloc(1 + sizeof(str)/sizeof(str[0]));
for (i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
len = strlen(str[i]) + 1;
printf("%d\n", len);
(*array)[i] = malloc(len * sizeof(char*));
strcpy((*array)[i], str[i]);
}
(*array)[i] = NULL;
return i;
}
int main() {
char** list;
create(&list);
}
In above code, the length of the array is the return value from create, and the last element of list is a NULL (in the same logic as argc/argv).
You need to allocate some space for list or undefined behavior occurs:
char* list[2];
You increment i twice; therefore, remove the i++ from the bottom of the for loop.
Minor notes:
refer to string literals as const char*
use array[i] instead of *(array + i)
don't cast the result of malloc
malloc allocates too much space as you allocate len char*s, even though you need just chars. Also, as #CoolGuy noted, you need one extra byte for the null byte. Replace the allocation with
array[i] = malloc(len * sizeof(char) + sizeof(char));
or
array[i] = malloc(len + 1);
call free after malloc
you assign 0 twice to i; remove the initialization
You allocate two arrays (char*) to store the strings "hello" and "dear" but does not allocate the array (char**) containing those two string array.
I would suggest you to change declaration of function create to this -
int create(char ***array);
And call it like this -
create(&list);
In function create allocate memory like this -
*array = malloc(2 * sizeof(char*));
for (i = 0; i < 2; i++)
{
len = strlen(str[i]);
printf("%d\n", len);
(*array)[i] =malloc(len * sizeof(char*)+1);
strcpy((*array)[i], str[i]);
}
And do the printing as you do in main.
Note - free memory that you allocate.
And you should declare len as type size_t -> size_t len;
and print it with %zu specifier in printf .
See working code here -https://ideone.com/GX2k9T

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