strncat() And strncpy()

strncat

Name

strcat, strncat - concatenate two strings

Synopsis

#include <string.h>

char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src);
 
char *strncat(char *dest, const char *src, size_t n);

Description

The strcat() function appends the src string to the dest string, overwriting the terminating null byte('\0') at the end of dest, and then adds a terminating null byte.The strings may not overlap, and the dest string must have enough space for the result. If dest is not large enough,program behavior is unpredictable; buffer overruns are a favorite avenue for attacking secure programs.

The strncat() function is similar, exceptthat

*

it will use at most n bytes from src;and

*

src does not need to be null-terminated if it contains n or more bytes.

As with strcat(), the resulting string in dest is always null-terminated.

If src contains n or more bytes, strncat() writes n+1 bytes to dest (n from src plus the terminating null byte). Therefore, the size of dest must be at least strlen(dest)+n+1.

A simple implementation of strncat() might be:

char*
strncat(char *dest, const char *src, size_tn)
{
   size_t dest_len = strlen(dest);
   size_t i;
 
   for(i = 0 ; i < n && src[i] != '\0' ; i++)
       dest[dest_len + i] = src[i];
   dest[dest_len + i] = '\0';
 
  return dest;
}

Return Value

The strcat() and strncat() functions return a pointer to the resulting string dest.

 

strncpy

Name

strcpy, strncpy - copy a string

Synopsis

#include <string.h>

char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src);
 
char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t n);

Description

The strcpy() function copies the string pointed to by src, including the terminating null byte ('\0'), to the buffer pointed to by dest. The strings may not overlap, and the destination string dest must be large enough to receive the copy. Beware of buffer overruns! (See BUGS.)

The strncpy() function is similar, except that at most n bytes of src are copied. Warning:If there is no null byte among the first n bytes of src,the string placed in dest will not be null-terminated.

If the length of src is less than n, strncpy() writes additional null bytes to dest to ensure that a total of n bytes are written.

A simple implementation of strncpy() might be:

char *
strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_tn)
{
   size_t i;
 
   for(i = 0; i < n && src[i] != '\0'; i++)
       dest[i] = src[i];
    for( ; i < n; i++)
       dest[i] = '\0';
 
  return dest;
}

Return Value

The strcpy() and strncpy() functions return a pointer to the destination string dest.