Problem with strings >.<

Hey everyone, I'm kinda stuck in this: The purpose of the program is to crop a string between two given keywords. Example: if the keywords are "<dt>" and "</dt>" and the string is "<dt>TESTE</dt>" the program should print "TESTE".

The prg is like this

Code:

---

int main(){
    char *string1="<dt>TESTE</dt>";
    char *string2;
    int inicio,final;
    inicio = searchString(string1,"<dt>");
    final = searchString(string1,"</dt>");
    cropString(string2,string1,inicio+4,final-1);
    printf("%s\n%s",string1,string2);
    return 0;
}

---

I've implemented a cropString(string2,string1,n1,n2) function that copies from string1[n1] until string2[n2] (included) and returns the given string in string2, and I guess it's working ok, but i think it doesnt put the '\0' at the end of my string.

Code:

---

void cropString(char* string2, char* string1,int n1,int n2){
    if ( (n1<0) || (n2<0) || (n2<n1) || (n1>strlen(string1)) || (n2>strlen(string1)) )
    {
        printf("Invalid arguments...");
        abort();
    }


    strncpy(string2,string1+n1,n2-n1+1);
    strcat(string2,"\n\n\n");
}

---

And the searchString(char* string1,char* keyWord)
returns a integer value that represents where the string keyWord starts in string1 (returns -1 if not found or null keyWord)

But when I call printf it shows me this:
Attachment 11210

The second line should be TESTE
That seems like undefined behavior... Any1 knows what's happening?

I believe you have it! Put in the end of string char, and see what you get.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adak

I believe you have it! Put in the end of string char, and see what you get.

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That may sound a little noob but how do I put a '\0' at the end of a string? I've tried strcat(string2,"\0") but the '\0' goes to the end of that long string that appears on the prompt.

Code:

---

void cropString(char* string2, char* string1,int n1,int n2){
    if ( (n1<0) || (n2<0) || (n2<n1) || (n1>strlen(string1)) || (n2>strlen(string1)) )
    {
        printf("Invalid arguments...");
        abort();
    }


    strncpy(string2,string1+n1,n2-n1+1);
    strcat(string2,"\0");
}

---

Hello everyone, I've tried this now:

Code:

---

int main(){


    char *string1="<dt>TESTE</dt>";
    char *string2 = malloc(55*sizeof(int));
    int ini,fin;
    ini = searchString(string1,"<dt>");
    fin = searchString(string1,"</dt>");
    cropString(string2,string1,ini+4,fin-1);
    printf("%s\n%s",string1,string2);
    return 0;
}

---

So that string2 could hold at least 55 chars without overlapping anyone's adress...
the result was this:
Attachment 11211

I've noticed that those 2 last characters were changing everytime I compiled the program. Then I changed string1 to string literals of various lengths... the output was even worse when the substring between <dt> and </dt> had a length greater than 7:
Attachment 11212

That's undefined behavior for sure, so I must be writing or reading something off-bounds.

My last shot was changing the declaration of string2 to:

Code:

---

char string2[55];

---

and adding a final line in the cropString function:

Code:

---

string2[n2-n1+1]='\0';

---

That worked great, and the output is as expected for any size of substring between <dt> and </dt>

The big question is, what on earth happened in the other declarations of string2?? :confused:

I'm thinking you don't quite understand what a string is in C...

C actually has no native string type and thus the compiler has absolutely no ability to deal with them. What we call "strings" in C are actually arrays of characters. Library functions both place and look for the \0 (char value of 0) at the end of the used portions of the char buffers to mark the end of the string. C library functions have no other means to know where the valid part of a string ends.

It works like this...

PHP Code:

---

char string[10] = "Hello";

memory...
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
H e l l o 0 $ ^ q 7 


---

Now if that \0 isn't there you get what you got... the printf() (or whatever) function running on and on looking for it... In some cases I've seen the console screen scroll screen after screen after screen looking for that null... which might not even be there.

So... in C a "string" is an array of characters with a sentinal value of 0 to indicate the end of the used portion.

If you are manipulating strings, as you are, it falls to you --the programmer-- to put that nul terminator in there on your own.

(See my suggestion in post #4)

Just a nit:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by h3now

Hello everyone, I've tried this now:

Code:

---

char *string2 = malloc(55*sizeof(int));

---

So that string2 could hold at least 55 chars without overlapping anyone's adress...

---

That allocates memory for 55*sizeof(int)/sizeof(char) characters. Since an int is probably 4 or 8 bytes depending on your system, we are actually looking at space for 220 or 440 characters.

---

Another nit:

Code:

---

char *string1="<dt>TESTE</dt>";

---

That should be const char* as you are pointing to a string literal. Also, the second argument to cropString (the one for string1) should be const char* as well.