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Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt);

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Malcolm McLean wrote:
> On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 11:55:02 PM UTC, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>> Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> writes:
>> <snip>
>>> Consider this.
>>>
>>>
>>> char line[1024]; /* modifiable */
>>> const char * end;
>>> double x;
>>>
>>> fgets(line, 1024, stdin);
>>> x = strtod(line, &end);
>>> /* we want to null terminate the numerical part of line */
>>> if(end != line)
>>>    *end = 0;
>>> /* we can't do that if end is a const char * */
>>>
>>> It illustrates the problems with const.
>>
>> What problem does it illustrate? -- that you've used the wrong type by
>> adding const?  Why is that a problem with const?  (There are problems
>> with const in C, but I don't see which one you are illustrating here.)
>>
> strtod take a const char *, so the "end" pointer should also
> be a const pointer. Otherwise if you can defeat the const system
> by passing strtod a const string, and writing to the end pointer.

This is a well known flaw of the C standard library function, not of const.

> (C++ can actually crash if you try to call an analagous function
> on the c_str() return from a const std::string. That happened to
> me today. I had to copy the string to a temporary. This is despite
> never writing to the pointer).

Which one?

> But we can't declare the end pointer to be const qualified, because
> if we do that, you can't write through it, which you'll often
> legitimately want to do.

In the case of C++, it would fail to compile.  In the case of C, I would 
expect most compilers to emit a warning.

-- 
Ian Collins

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double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2015-11-11 22:55 -0800
  Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-11-12 07:24 +0000
    Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2015-11-11 23:42 -0800
  Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 08:31 -0800
    Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-11-12 08:52 -0800
    Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2015-11-12 09:43 -0800
      Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-11-12 17:59 +0000
      Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2015-11-12 13:10 -0500
      Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-11-12 13:19 -0500
      Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 11:32 -0800
        Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-11-12 12:17 -0800
          Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 12:48 -0800
            Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-11-12 13:39 -0800
              Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-11-12 23:24 +0000
              Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 17:14 -0800
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-11-12 17:42 -0800
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 18:20 -0800
            Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-11-12 23:15 +0000
              Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2015-11-12 18:30 -0500
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-11-12 16:47 -0800
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 18:07 -0800
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-11-13 02:41 +0000
                Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-11-13 02:53 +0000
        Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); G G <gdotone@gmail.com> - 2015-11-12 12:17 -0800
  Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-11-12 12:34 -0800
    Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-11-12 23:54 +0000
      Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-11-12 16:23 -0800
        Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-11-13 14:09 +1300
          Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-11-12 17:31 -0800
            Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-11-13 14:46 +1300
        Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-11-13 02:07 +0000
        Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-11-13 08:48 +0100
    Re: double strtod( const char *nPtr, char **endPrt); Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-11-12 16:57 -0800

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