Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 21:29:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Phelps <loverns AT welchlink DOT welch DOT jhu DOT edu>
To: Paul Derbyshire <ao950 AT FreeNet DOT Carleton DOT CA>
cc: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: general protection fault
In-Reply-To: <65tnbe$321@freenet-news.carleton.ca>
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.971201212805.5055A-100000@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Precedence: bulk


You're right--I guess my brain went on vacation there.  I apologize for
the incorrect information.

On 1 Dec 1997, Paul Derbyshire wrote:

> 
> Michael Phelps (loverns AT welchlink DOT welch DOT jhu DOT edu) writes:
> 
> >> static char *string;
> 
> ...
> 
> >>  string  = "Hello Bobby";
> > 
> > Looks like a problem here.  Try allocating memory for it:
> > 	string = (char *)malloc(strlen("Hello Bobby")+1);
> > 	strcpy(string, "Hello, Bobby");
> 
> What a waste of ram!
> String is declared a pointer to char, it will start off NULL.
> The assignment string="Hello Bobby"; does this: At compile time, "Hello
> Bobby\0" is embedded in the data segment of the object code, and into the
> executable at link time. The assignment becomes an instruction to get the
> address for that bit in the data segment (specifically wherever it loads
> into the address space at run time) and stuff it at the address for
> "string", meaning the pointer changes to point to the string in the data
> segment. Which is perfectly valid, allocated memory, and which has been
> nicely null-terminated for you at compile time. There's nothing wrong with
> that line of the original code and no reason to allocate yet more space at
> run time and put a duplicate of the string in there.
> 
> 
> --
>     .*.  Where feelings are concerned, answers are rarely simple [GeneDeWeese]
>  -()  <  When I go to the theater, I always go straight to the "bag and mix"
>     `*'  bulk candy section...because variety is the spice of life... [me]
> Paul Derbyshire ao950 AT freenet DOT carleton DOT ca, http://chat.carleton.ca/~pderbysh
>