Extend parser functionality without realloc

Code:

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#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main(void) {
        const char* line = "user1,user2,&,user4 group1,group2,group3 string1 string2 string3";
        const char* user = "user3";
        const char* end = line;
        const char* start;
        char* field;
        size_t len;

        while (isspace(*end)) ++end;
        start = end;
        while (*end != '\0' && !isspace(*end)) ++end;
        len = end - start;
        field = malloc(len + 1);
        sprintf(field, "%.*s", len, start);
        printf("%s\n", field);
        free((void*)field);
}

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At the moment, the above program outputs "user1,user2,&,user4." How can I modify it so that it replaces & with char* user (preferably in the while block) without using realloc? Or if it cannot work without realloc, how can I correctly use it in this situation? The output should look like "user1,user2,user3,user4." Thanks in advance for any help.

Code:

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free((void*)field);

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You don't need to cast that, but you do need to include <stdlib.h>.

You could use a combination of strstr()/strchr() and memmove()/whatever and realloc()/malloc(). (You can do it without realloc() by calculating how much memory you need for the initial malloc(). len - 1 ["&"] + 5 ["user5"] + 1 [NULL].)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dwks

Code:

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free((void*)field);

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You don't need to cast that, but you do need to include <stdlib.h>.

You could use a combination of strstr()/strchr() and memmove()/whatever and realloc()/malloc(). (You can do it without realloc() by calculating how much memory you need for the initial malloc(). len - 1 ["&"] + 5 ["user5"] + 1 [NULL].)

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Thanks, dwks. I understand how to implement the memory allocation part now, but I'm still stumped when it comes to implementing the actual replacement. Could you please clarify that a bit?

Think about creating a few separate helper functions which do one very specific task.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Salem

Think about creating a few separate helper functions which do one very specific task.

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That's definitely not difficult to change, but I'm having trouble coming up with the actual implementation and code for the '&' swap, even with the correct memory allocation.

Something to look at. Or

Code:

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#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

void parse(const char *line, const char *user)
{
  const char* end = line;
  const char* start;
  char* field;
  size_t len, replen;

  while ( isspace(*end) ) ++end;
  start = end;
  while ( *end != '\0' && !isspace(*end) ) ++end;
  len = end - start;
  replen = strlen(user);
  field = malloc(replen + len);
  if ( field )
  {
      char *ampersand;
      sprintf(field, "%.*s", len, start);
      ampersand = strchr(field, '&');
      if ( ampersand )
      {
        memmove(ampersand + replen, ampersand + 1, strlen(ampersand + 1));
        memcpy(ampersand, user, replen);
      }
      printf("\"%s\"\n", field);
      free(field);
  }
}

int main(void)
{
  parse("user1,user2,&,user4 group1,group2,group3 string1 string2 string3", "user3");
  return 0;
}

/* my output
"user1,user2,user3,user4"
*/

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[edit]Maybe a better one to look at.

Thanks, Dave_Sinkula, for the actual implementation. One quick question:

Code:

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field = malloc(replen + len);

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should look more like

Code:

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field = malloc(replen + len + 1);

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because of the null terminator, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Queue

Thanks, Dave_Sinkula, for the actual implementation. One quick question:

Code:

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field = malloc(replen + len);

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should look more like

Code:

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field = malloc(replen + len + 1);

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because of the null terminator, right?

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Sure, but you're getting rid of one character.

I just realized that each field could possibly have more than just one ampersand. How would I take this into account if I were to modify post #6? A simple while loop would not work, as the memory needs to be reallocated as well. The following is my attempt; please correct me if I did something wrong.

Code:

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#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

void parse(const char *line, const char *user)
{
  const char* end = line;
  const char* start;
  char* field;
  int ampersand_count = 0;
  size_t len, replen;

  while ( isspace(*end) ) ++end;
  start = end;
  while ( *end != '\0' && !isspace(*end) ) ++end;
  len = end - start;
  replen = strlen(user);
  field = malloc(len + 1);
  if ( field )
  {
      char *ampersand;
      sprintf(field, "%.*s", len, start);
      ampersand_count = 0;
      const char* traverse = start;
      while (traverse != end) {
        if (*traverse == '&') ++ampersand_count;
        ++traverse;
      }
      free(field);
      field = malloc(len + ampersand_count * (userlen - 1) + 1);
      if (field) {
        sprintf(field, "%.*s", len, start);
        while ((ampersand = strchr(field, '&'))) {
            memmove(ampersand + replen, ampersand + 1, strlen(ampersand + 1));
            memcpy(ampersand, user, replen);
        }
      }
      printf("\"%s\"\n", field);
      free(field);
  }
}

int main(void)
{
  parse("user1,user2,&,user4 group1,group2,group3 string1 string2 string3", "user3");
  return 0;
}

/* my output
"user1,user2,user3,user4"
*/

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I'm not particularly fond of this solution, primarily because I must traverse the string twice (once through char* traverse, the other through strchr). Can anyone post a cleaner or faster solution?

Unless you use realloc, you're going to have to go through your string twice anyway. Once to get its length, once to remove anything. Why don't you just count the number of characters you're removing when you go through to count its length? The only way to avoid going through it twice is to have a buffer that you copy characters into as you count its length. I'll let you figure out how to get around the possibility that your buffer is smaller than the passed string, and how to get around it without going through the string more than once, without using realloc.


Quzah.