Re: Never use strncpy!

From	Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c++
Subject	Re: Never use strncpy!
Date	2022-09-22 19:00 -0700
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<tgj3vi$2eble$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	<tgenin$qc3$1@gioia.aioe.org> <tgfrsh$1t9lp$1@dont-email.me> <87o7v8zc4x.fsf@bsb.me.uk>

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On 9/21/2022 1:49 PM, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
> Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> writes:
> 
>> On 9/21/2022 3:04 AM, Juha Nieminen wrote:
>>> I always thought that std::strncpy() works exactly like std::strcpy(),
>>> except that it stops early if the specified count is reached. Turns out
>>> that I was gravely mistaken:
>>>
>>
>> The matter has been explained, explained and over-explained to death
>> already, including here in comp.lang.* newsgroups. It is well-known
>> that `strncpy` has never been intended as a "safe string copying"
>> function. It is a niche function introduced for so called
>> "fixed-width" string support.
>>
>> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2886931/difference-fixed-width-strings-and-zero-terminated-strings
>>
>> It has never been intended for use with zero-terminated strings.
> 
> Except for the quibble that a null in the source string is respected --
> i.e. the destination is considered to be a fixed-width field but not the
> source.
> 

Yes, by spec, it is a _conversion_ function. Its specific purpose is to 
convert a zero-terminated source string to a fixed-width target string.

In modern usage (under assumption that nobody needs fixed-width strings 
anymore), this function might still be usable for secure initialization 
of sensitive data fields, when one wants to make sure that the old 
string content of the data field is fully erased when the new string is 
copied in.

-- 
Best regards,
Andrey

Thread

Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-21 10:04 +0000
  Re: Never use strncpy! "Alf P. Steinbach" <alf.p.steinbach@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 15:06 +0200
  Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-21 15:24 +0200
    Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 15:30 +0200
      Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-21 19:20 +0200
        Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 19:33 +0200
          Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-21 23:14 +0200
            Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-22 04:40 +0200
              Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-22 08:56 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-22 12:02 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-23 13:23 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-23 13:49 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-23 15:25 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-23 16:03 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-23 14:34 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! Michael S <already5chosen@yahoo.com> - 2022-09-23 08:19 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-23 17:57 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-23 18:36 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-24 16:22 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 16:25 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-24 17:09 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 17:14 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-09-26 17:34 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-26 07:53 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-26 10:21 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-26 08:34 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-26 13:39 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-09-26 17:47 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-27 14:17 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-27 18:07 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-09-27 12:42 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-28 09:32 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-09-28 13:34 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-28 21:11 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-10-01 06:26 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-10-01 17:01 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! Michael S <already5chosen@yahoo.com> - 2022-10-02 15:32 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-10-03 14:01 +0000
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-03 13:49 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-02 12:46 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-10-03 04:14 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-02 19:43 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-02 19:48 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-10-03 04:53 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-02 19:58 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-10-03 08:27 +0200
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-03 13:49 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-04 10:53 -0700
                Re: Never use strncpy! "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-10-02 12:44 -0700
            Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-22 05:59 +0000
              Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-22 09:32 +0200
    Re: Never use strncpy! Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-09-21 15:42 +0000
      Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 18:10 +0200
        Re: Never use strncpy! Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-09-21 16:19 +0000
          Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 18:27 +0200
            Re: Never use strncpy! Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-09-23 14:47 +0000
      Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-21 16:12 +0000
    Re: Never use strncpy! Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2022-09-23 19:52 +0200
      Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-24 16:25 +0200
  Re: Never use strncpy! scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2022-09-21 14:00 +0000
    Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-22 06:03 +0000
      Re: Never use strncpy! Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2022-09-23 19:50 +0200
        Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-26 07:54 +0000
  Re: Never use strncpy! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-09-21 15:56 +0100
  Re: Never use strncpy! Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-09-21 15:36 +0000
  Re: Never use strncpy! Frederick Virchanza Gotham <cauldwell.thomas@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 08:59 -0700
  Re: Never use strncpy! Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-09-21 13:23 -0700
    Re: Never use strncpy! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-09-21 21:49 +0100
      Re: Never use strncpy! Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2022-09-21 19:18 -0400
        Re: Never use strncpy! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2022-09-22 00:39 +0100
          Re: Never use strncpy! Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2022-09-21 20:45 -0400
            Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 18:00 -0700
          Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 17:55 -0700
        Re: Never use strncpy! Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-09-22 06:09 +0000
          Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-22 11:44 -0700
          Re: Never use strncpy! Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2022-09-22 23:33 -0400
      Re: Never use strncpy! Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-09-22 19:00 -0700
        Re: Never use strncpy! Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-09-22 19:04 -0700
          Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-22 22:49 -0700
    Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 11:38 +0200
      Re: Never use strncpy! Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-09-24 09:43 +0000
        Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 11:59 +0200
      Re: Never use strncpy! Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2022-09-24 06:27 -0400
        Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 11:53 -0700
          Re: Never use strncpy! Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-09-24 20:58 +0200
  Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-21 16:01 -0700
    Re: Never use strncpy! David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-09-22 09:37 +0200
    Re: Never use strncpy! Manfred <noname@add.invalid> - 2022-10-01 01:24 +0200
      Re: Never use strncpy! Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-09-30 16:43 -0700
  Re: Never use strncpy! Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2022-09-22 21:03 -0500

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