Thread: Changing string value via function

Here is my simple working program:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

#define CHANGE_STR(old_str, new_str) (old_str = new_str)

int main(void)
    {
    char *msg = "This is old message.";

    printf("%s\n", msg);
    CHANGE_STR(msg, "This is my new message.");
    printf("%s\n", msg);

    return 0;
    }

But I have a question: how to make it work if macro would be replaced with an average function?

Like this:

Code:

void CHANGE_STR(char *old_str, char *new_str)
    {
    /*
    Some code here.
    I have tried several tricks but so far nothing seems to work.
    */
    }

I completely understand that using CHANGE_STR as function is completely irrational (since macro does the trick perfectly). But still, is it possible at all? If yes, then how to make it work? I'd just like to understand the logic of the C as deeply as possible.

Is strcpy what you are looking for?

I completely understand that using CHANGE_STR as function is completely irrational (since macro does the trick perfectly).

Someone is teaching you incredibly wrong things. A function to replace this is not irrational: A pointer assignment is not an overwrite.

Yes it really works! All the other tricks I tried caused whether errors or segmentation faults.
Thank you so much.

Originally Posted by heinz55

But I have a question: how to make it work if macro would be replaced with an average function?

Not how you wrote it. If you're trying to write a function that changes the values of passed arguments, it needs to be given a pointer to the said argument:

Code:

void CHANGE_STR (char **old_str, char **new_str);

/* ... */

CHANGE_STR(&msg, &new_msg); /* new_msg being another pointer to some segment of read-only memory */

The macro doesn't need to do this, because the text inside the macro is simply substituted in with no passing of arguments. You could even "pass" two integers to your macro and it would work.

Originally Posted by heinz55

I completely understand that using CHANGE_STR as function is completely irrational (since macro does the trick perfectly). But still, is it possible at all? If yes, then how to make it work? I'd just like to understand the logic of the C as deeply as possible.

Macros and functions each have their own purposes, and avoiding functions because "macros do the trick" tends to be a bad way to program. Either way, it's unnecessary to write your own encapsulating function or macro that simply assigns one variable to another.

Originally Posted by std10093

Is strcpy what you are looking for?

No, you can't use strcpy with read-only memory.