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Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault?

From candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault?
Date 2024-08-02 05:30 +0000
Organization the-candyden-of-code
Message-ID <slrnvaorkl.34j6.candycanearter07@candydeb.host.invalid> (permalink)
References <IoGcndcJ1Zm83zb7nZ2dnZfqnPWdnZ2d@brightview.co.uk> <20240801174026.00002cda@yahoo.com> <v8gi7i$29iu1$1@dont-email.me>

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David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote at 17:56 this Thursday (GMT):
> On 01/08/2024 16:40, Michael S wrote:
>> On Thu, 01 Aug 2024 08:06:57 +0000
>> Mark Summerfield <mark@qtrac.eu> wrote:
>> 
>>> This program segfaults at the commented line:
>>>
>>> #include <ctype.h>
>>> #include <stdio.h>
>>>
>>> void uppercase_ascii(char *s) {
>>>      while (*s) {
>>>          *s = toupper(*s); // SEGFAULT
>>>          s++;
>>>      }
>>> }
>>>
>>> int main() {
>>>      char* text = "this is a test";
>>>      printf("before [%s]\n", text);
>>>      uppercase_ascii(text);
>>>      printf("after  [%s]\n", text);
>>> }
>>>
>> 
>> The answers to your question are already given above, so I'd talk about
>> something else. Sorry about it.
>> 
>> To my surprise, none of the 3 major compilers that I tried issued the
>> warning at this line:
>>    char* text = "this is a test";
>> If implicit conversion of 'const char*' to 'char*' does not warrant
>> compiler warning than I don't know what does.
>> Is there something in the Standard that explicitly forbids diagnostic
>> for this sort of conversion?
>> 
>> BTW, all 3 compilers issue reasonable warnings when I write it slightly
>> differently:
>>    const char* ctext = "this is a test";
>>    char* text = ctext;
>> 
>> I am starting to suspect that compilers (and the Standard?) consider
>> string literals as being of type 'char*' rather than 'const char*'.
>> 
>
> Your suspicions are correct - in C, string literals are used to 
> initialise an array of char (or wide char, or other appropriate 
> character type).  Perhaps you are thinking of C++, where the type is 
> "const char" (or other const character type).
>
> So in C, when a string literal is used in an expression it is converted 
> to a "char *" pointer.  You can, of course, assign that to a "const char 
> *" pointer.  But it does not make sense to have a warning when assigning 
> it to a non-const "char *" pointer.  This is despite it being undefined 
> behaviour (explicitly stated in the standards) to attempt to write to a 
> string literal.
>
> The reason string literals are not const in C is backwards compatibility 
> - they existed before C had "const", and making string literals into 
> "const char" arrays would mean that existing code that assigned them to 
> non-const pointers would then be in error.  C++ was able to do the right 
> thing and make them arrays of const char because it had "const" from the 
> beginning.
>
> gcc has the option "-Wwrite-strings" that makes string literals in C 
> have "const char" array type, and thus give errors when you try to 
> assign to a non-const char * pointer.  But the option has to be 
> specified explicitly (it is not in -Wall) because it changes the meaning 
> of the code and can cause compatibility issues with existing correct code.


-Wwrite-strings is included in -Wpedantic.
-- 
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Mark Summerfield <mark@qtrac.eu> - 2024-08-01 08:06 +0000
  Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Mark Summerfield <mark@qtrac.eu> - 2024-08-01 08:24 +0000
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-01 11:53 +0100
  Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2024-08-01 09:38 +0100
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Mark Summerfield <mark@qtrac.eu> - 2024-08-01 08:54 +0000
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-01 11:12 +0100
      Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-01 13:59 -0700
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-01 22:07 +0100
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-01 14:28 -0700
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-01 20:20 -0400
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> - 2024-08-02 01:06 +0000
            Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-02 10:43 +0100
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Damon <richard@damon-family.org> - 2024-08-02 11:03 -0400
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-02 14:19 -0400
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-02 19:33 +0100
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-08-03 01:31 +0000
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Damon <richard@damon-family.org> - 2024-08-02 22:01 -0400
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2024-08-03 08:32 -0600
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-08-04 01:05 +0000
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 02:52 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-13 17:46 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-13 18:44 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-15 16:00 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-15 16:27 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-14 10:33 -0400
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-15 16:05 -0700
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2024-08-04 15:52 +0200
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 14:11 -0700
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Vir Campestris <vir.campestris@invalid.invalid> - 2024-08-13 15:34 +0100
            Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-13 13:08 -0700
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-13 17:41 -0700
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-14 10:40 +0200
            Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-13 17:40 -0700
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-13 18:47 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> - 2024-08-14 03:16 +0000
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-13 20:49 -0700
  Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2024-08-01 13:28 +0000
  No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Michael S <already5chosen@yahoo.com> - 2024-08-01 17:40 +0300
    Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-01 19:56 +0200
      Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> - 2024-08-02 05:30 +0000
        Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-02 03:02 -0700
          Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Harnden <richard.nospam@gmail.invalid> - 2024-08-02 13:04 +0100
            Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-02 09:59 -0400
            Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-02 11:24 -0700
              Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Damon <richard@damon-family.org> - 2024-08-02 14:42 -0400
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-02 14:58 -0400
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Damon <richard@damon-family.org> - 2024-08-02 15:11 -0400
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 08:32 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 08:27 -0700
              Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-02 12:27 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-02 23:29 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-02 16:11 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-05 02:06 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-04 19:37 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-04 19:38 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-05 12:03 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-05 13:35 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-05 21:54 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-05 15:39 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-06 12:29 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-06 12:48 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-06 23:59 +0100
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-12 16:18 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2024-08-05 15:44 -0700
              Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 14:38 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-12 14:55 -0700
          Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 14:33 -0700
            Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-12 14:45 -0700
              Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 16:05 -0700
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-13 13:08 +0200
                Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-13 13:00 -0700
        Re: No warning at implicit removal of const. Was: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-03 19:54 +0200
  Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2024-08-01 12:02 -0400
  Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> - 2024-08-01 19:39 +0000
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-01 21:42 +0100
      Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-01 14:13 -0700
      Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Ben Bacarisse <ben@bsb.me.uk> - 2024-08-01 22:40 +0100
      Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> - 2024-08-02 00:37 +0000
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-02 11:36 +0100
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 13:47 -0700
      Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-03 00:14 +0200
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2024-08-03 17:07 +0000
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-03 17:11 -0700
        Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-03 17:07 -0700
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-08-04 01:08 +0000
            Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-03 19:58 -0700
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Richard Damon <richard@damon-family.org> - 2024-08-04 07:22 -0400
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-12 02:55 -0700
              Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-08-05 06:33 +0000
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-04 23:38 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2024-08-05 21:27 +0000
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-05 15:40 -0700
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2024-08-06 16:57 +0100
                Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-06 20:40 +0200
          Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2024-08-04 17:20 +0200
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2024-08-01 14:06 -0700
    Re: relearning C: why does an in-place change to a char* segfault? Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2024-08-13 17:43 -0700

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