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| From | Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: Pointers as error values |
| Date | 2015-10-19 08:59 -0700 |
| Organization | None to speak of |
| Message-ID | <lnlhayzw6g.fsf@kst-u.example.com> (permalink) |
| References | <bb26d1c2-246b-45cd-8434-583530881c88@googlegroups.com> |
"Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> writes:
> I was thinking the other day, that NULL pointers indicate an error.
> That got me wondering, is it possible to use a low number range as
> valid error indicators?
A null pointer doesn't necessarily indicate an error. Sometimes it's a
valid result.
> That is, could for example numbers from 1 to 7 be safely used as error
> indicators from a function that should return a pointer?
Not 100% portably. A small non-zero integer converted to a pointer
type is unlikely to match a valid pointer value, but there's no
guarantee. Even accessing an invalid pointer (without dereferencing
it) can have undefined behavior.
If possible, I suggest not trying to store any error code separately
from any pointer value. A common scheme is:
int func(char **result);
where the function returns 0 on success and some non-zero error
code on error, with *result (a char*) being set to the value you
want if the function was successful.
If you really do want to use distinguished pointer values other
than NULL to denote errors, you can define them as opaque constants.
The caller can check whether a result is equal to one of the error
values without having to know or care how it's represented. The C
standard uses this scheme in <signal.h>. SIG_DFL, SIG_ERR, and
SIG_IGN are macros that expand to expressions of pointer-to-function
type. A given implementation might define them as small integers
converted to the pointer type if that happens to work for that
implementation.
You can also define static objects of the appropriate type, and
use their addresses as your special pointer value. The address
of any object is guaranteed to be distinct from the address of any
other object.
--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this."
-- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"
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Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-19 00:53 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2015-10-19 08:26 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-19 02:27 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-10-19 23:38 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values jacobnavia <jacob@jacob.remcomp.fr> - 2015-10-19 10:34 +0200
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-19 02:29 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values mark.bluemel@gmail.com - 2015-10-19 05:53 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-19 10:00 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-10-19 14:00 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values gwowen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2015-10-19 08:02 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-10-19 11:53 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values Ken Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2015-10-19 11:25 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-19 08:41 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-19 08:59 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-21 07:32 +0200
Re: Pointers as error values Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-10-21 19:17 +1300
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-21 08:31 +0200
Re: Pointers as error values Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-10-21 12:46 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-10-21 09:35 -0500
Re: Pointers as error values Ken Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2015-10-21 15:24 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-22 05:44 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-21 10:41 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-21 11:28 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values John Temples <usenet@xargs-spam.com> - 2015-10-21 17:45 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-10-21 14:15 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-29 16:59 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-29 12:35 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-10-29 21:45 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-30 06:09 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Rosario19 <Ros@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 08:59 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Rosario19 <Ros@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 09:07 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Rosario19 <Ros@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 09:38 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Rosario19 <Ros@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 09:40 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-10-30 04:56 -0500
Re: Pointers as error values Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-10-30 11:00 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-10-29 23:48 -0500
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-30 11:05 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-10-30 07:45 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-10-30 05:04 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-30 16:09 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-30 11:16 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-30 20:58 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2015-10-30 17:12 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-30 14:54 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-10-30 18:48 -0500
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-11-01 04:00 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-11-01 01:24 -0500
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-31 20:35 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-31 13:33 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-10-30 22:19 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-30 08:22 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 13:11 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-30 13:23 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-21 11:13 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-10-21 20:31 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2015-10-22 07:13 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-26 07:16 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-10-26 09:37 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-22 05:38 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-10-22 13:51 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-22 08:29 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-22 09:21 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-22 10:52 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values "Morten W. Petersen" <morphex@gmail.com> - 2015-10-26 07:20 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-10-26 08:09 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-26 08:40 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-26 20:02 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-26 13:56 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-22 21:58 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-10-22 19:12 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values asetofsymbols@gmail.com - 2015-10-22 18:36 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values asetofsymbols@gmail.com - 2015-10-29 12:47 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values Lőrinczy Zsigmond <nospam@for.me> - 2015-10-20 17:06 +0200
Re: Pointers as error values Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-10-20 19:45 +0100
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-20 14:19 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-21 05:28 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-10-21 05:48 -0700
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-22 05:52 +0000
Re: Pointers as error values Ken Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2015-10-21 15:19 -0400
Re: Pointers as error values glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-10-22 06:06 +0000
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