Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.lang.c > #22708

Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc

Show all headers | View raw

On 6/25/2012 3:47 PM, Myth__Buster wrote:
> On Monday, June 25, 2012 12:30:12 PM UTC-7, Eric Sosman wrote:
>> On 6/25/2012 3:08 PM, Myth__Buster wrote:
>>>[...]
>>> Yeah, had thought of it earlier(struct-approach being feasible due to data pointer involvement). But, wanted to accomplish the same with a malloc call by passing the sizeof a function pointer. So, malloc's documentation should include a note on this, isn't it?
>>
>>       Wouldn't that be sort of like "Warning: May Contain Nuts" on
>> a bag of peanuts?
>>
>>       Aiming a function pointer at allocated memory (at any data object,
>> for that matter) is non-portable, as you've observed.  But filling the
>> allocated memory with something that can be called like a function is
>> also non-portable.  Seems to me that anyone playing such games already
>> needs a good deal of non-portable knowledge about the implementation:
>> He's purchased his packet of peanuts, on purpose.
>
> The programmer might be well aware of this inability of malloc in returning a function pointer. However, shouldn't there be a relevant note under malloc's documentation for the sake of clarity and completeness of malloc's behavior?

     If the programmer is "well aware" that function pointers and data
pointers are incommensurate, what purpose would the note serve?  How
would you word such a note?  "NOTE: You already know this?"

     Programs exist (I have maintained -- and debugged! -- a few)
that allocate memory, fill it with magic values, aim a function
pointer at it, and perform a call through the pointer.  I suggest
that anyone writing such code is already keenly aware that it is
non-portable, also keenly aware of specific characteristics of his
C implementation that are not part of the C language.  He already
knows whether his system's function pointers are bare addresses or
more structured "function descriptors," he knows about special
prologue and epilogue sequences that wrap the instructions, he
knows about cache-coherency incantations that must be performed
between filling the memory and calling its content, and so on, and
so on.

     But perhaps I'm missing something, some other purpose for aiming
a function pointer at data.  What do you intend to *do* with the data?

-- 
Eric Sosman
esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid

Back to comp.lang.c | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 09:08 -0700
  Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc "christian.bau" <christian.bau@cbau.wanadoo.co.uk> - 2012-06-25 09:16 -0700
    Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 12:08 -0700
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-25 15:27 -0400
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-06-25 15:30 -0400
        Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 12:47 -0700
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-06-25 16:10 -0400
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-25 20:42 +0100
        Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 13:14 -0700
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine --   void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-26 08:30 +1200
            Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 13:53 -0700
              Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine --   void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-26 09:00 +1200
              Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-25 17:13 -0400
              Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 13:58 -0700
                Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Owen Jacobson <angrybaldguy@gmail.com> - 2012-06-26 00:03 -0400
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-25 16:47 -0400
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc gordonb.vk4xa@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) - 2012-06-25 16:06 -0500
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-25 14:17 -0700
          Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-06-25 17:24 -0400
  Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-25 12:52 -0400
    Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Myth__Buster <raghavanil4m@gmail.com> - 2012-06-25 12:28 -0700
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-25 15:59 -0400
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-25 14:08 -0700
      Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2012-06-26 21:29 +0100
  Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-25 13:13 -0700
  Re: Different sizes of data and function pointers on a machine -- void* return type of malloc, calloc, and realloc Paul N <gw7rib@aol.com> - 2012-06-25 13:17 -0700

csiph-web