Re: [RFA] win32-nat printf and sprintf removal

Andrew Cagney
2002-02-14T15:31:40Z

>>@@ -1763,9 +1763,9 @@ cygwin_pid_to_str (ptid_t ptid)
>
>> > int pid = PIDGET (ptid);
>> > > > if ((DWORD) pid == current_event.dwProcessId)
>> >- sprintf (buf, "process %d", pid);
>> >+ xaprintf (buf, "process %d", pid);
>> > else
>> >- sprintf (buf, "thread %ld.0x%x", current_event.dwProcessId, pid);
>> >+ xasprintf (buf, "thread %ld.0x%x", current_event.dwProcessId, pid);
>> > return buf;
>
>
> As this is a static buffer, xasprintf can't be used here....
> Andrew, why are the target_pid_to_str functions supposed to return static buffers?
> Isn't that a big waste of memory?

Different coding styles. People use static buffers (making the code
non-reentrant) and sprintf() (making the code prone to buffer overruns)
for a number of reasons. One is that the programmer does know the
lenght of the buffer and does know it won't be called re-entrantly so,
rather than contend with cleanups, they use a static buffer.

Suggest adding a comment just above each sprintf() call indicating that
buf is static (at least that way the next person won't be puzzled by this).

Andrew