* Robin Kuzmin <kuzmin.robin@xxxxxxxxx>, 2018-07-11, 09:56:
I see:
The strncpy() function is similar, except that at most n **bytes**
of src are copied
I expected:
The strncpy() function is similar, except that at most n
**characters** of src are copied
The difference is important because if the `char` size (in bytes) is
different from 1 byte on some implementation then "the number of
characters" and "the number of bytes" are different.
This is a common misconception about the C language. No, the size of
char is always exactly one byte. (Now, that byte might be wider than 8
bits the people are used to, but that's a different story...)
The confirmation to my words is in C99:
7.21.2.4 The strncpy function
The strncpy function copies not more than n **characters** ...
In C99, "character" is another name for "single-byte character".
On the other hand, in POSIX lingo, "character" means multi-byte
character.
POSIX uses the term "byte" in their definitions of strncpy and similar
functions, which is compatible with C99 and unambiguous. Linux man pages
should do the same.
--
Jakub Wilk
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