C and C++ compatibility issue

[Prashant]

Hi, i'm having an issue with combining functions from C and C++. I'm
trying to create a logging function that displays the file, function
and line number of the code that wants to log a certain message. The
function is called MainDisplay and outputs to a file called mylog.log.
For some reason, I SOMETIMES get a segmentation fault when I try and
open an output stream to the file. The code looks something like
this:

//file display.h
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream.h>
using namespace std;

#define MainDisplay(msg, ...) Show(__FILE__,\
__PRETTY_FUNCTION__, \
__LINE__, msg, ## __VA_ARGS___);
void Show(const char* file,
const char* fcn,
int line,
char* display, ...) {

va_list va;
va_start(va, display);

char display2[256];
vsprintf(display2, display, va);
va_end(va);

char linestr[10];
sprintf(linestr, "%d", line);

string s = file;
s += ": function ";
s += fcn;
s += ": line ";
s += linestr;
s += ": ";
s += display2;

log_stream.open("my_log.log", ios::app);
log_stream << s;
log_stream.close();
}

//end display.h

The above would be called from any file as follows:

//file randomfile.cpp

#include "display.h"

void randomfunction() {
char* name = "bob";
MainDisplay("Hi, my name is %s\n", name);
}

//end randomfile.cpp

But, sometimes, and not always, I get a segmentation fault when I try
and do
log_stream.open("my_log.log", ios::app);
From debugging i've found that this happens if i'm calling MainDisplay
from a function that does a lot of C-style string manipulation.

Whats going on here?

[Alf P. Steinbach]

* Prashant:

The code looks something like this:

It doesn't.

Anyway, don't use "..." for variable number of arguments.

In particular it is UB with respect to non-POD C++ objects,
but it's a nasty hack anyway and the root cause of the fault.

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

[Kelsey Bjarnason]

[snips]

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:03:12 -0700, Prashant wrote:

//file display.h
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream.h>
using namespace std;

Okay, step one: pick a language. <stdio.h> suggests you're using C here,
<iostream> suggests you're using C++ and <fstream.h> suggests you're using
something else entirely - Delphi? Java? I don't know, but that header is
neither C nor C++, so it's impossible to even attempt to sort out your
problem since we don't even know what language you're using, let alone its
particular requirements, oddities, etc.

[David Hilsee]

"Prashant" <pj***@ualberta.ca> wrote in message
news:f1**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi, i'm having an issue with combining functions from C and C++. I'm
trying to create a logging function that displays the file, function
and line number of the code that wants to log a certain message. The
function is called MainDisplay and outputs to a file called mylog.log.
For some reason, I SOMETIMES get a segmentation fault when I try and
open an output stream to the file. The code looks something like
this: <snip> But, sometimes, and not always, I get a segmentation fault when I try
and do
log_stream.open("my_log.log", ios::app);
From debugging i've found that this happens if i'm calling MainDisplay
from a function that does a lot of C-style string manipulation.

Whats going on here?

The code you posted uses legacy C functions that are considered dangerous by
most C and C++ programmers (vsprintf and sprintf). They are known to be
unsafe because they have no way of confining their results to the array
passed. If you use them, you may accidentally corrupt your application's
state. This could be causing your problem, but it's hard to determine if
that is the culprit since the code is incomplete and possibly not even the
code that you're using.

In any situation, it would be a good idea to stop using them. I see three
reasonable options for eliminating these calls:

a) Implement a typesafe interface (not varargs and a format string) to the
Show function. Templates might be an option. This way, you can use the
typesafe stream operators on log_stream. No temporary buffer is needed for
this option.

b) Use a FILE * and vfprintf to write to the file. No temporary buffer is
needed for this option.

c) Use the (non-standard in C++) sprintf()-like methods that take a buffer
size as an argument and will not write past the end of the destination array
passed.

Options b) and c) will not protect you from a malformed format string, but
it's still an improvement.

BTW, why would you want to open and close the file repeatedly? Why not keep
it open for the lifetime of the application?

--
David Hilsee

[Prashant]

Kelsey Bjarnason <ke*****@xxnospamyy.lightspeed.bc.ca> wrote in message news:<pa****************************@xxnospamyy.li ghtspeed.bc.ca>...

[snips]

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:03:12 -0700, Prashant wrote:

//file display.h
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream.h>
using namespace std;

Okay, step one: pick a language. <stdio.h> suggests you're using C here,
<iostream> suggests you're using C++ and <fstream.h> suggests you're using
something else entirely - Delphi? Java? I don't know, but that header is
neither C nor C++, so it's impossible to even attempt to sort out your
problem since we don't even know what language you're using, let alone its
particular requirements, oddities, etc.

fstream.h is a C++ library....
the others are C libraries.
They're both compatible with each other. Well at least to the extent
that the compiler is concerned.
The reason I'm using C here is because I wanted to use the
__PRETTY_FUNCTION__, __FILE__, and __LINE__ macros. I couldn't find a
C++ equivalent. I know for sure this works with purely C code without
any problems.

[Prashant]

"David Hilsee" <da*************@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<3e********************@comcast.com>...

"Prashant" <pj***@ualberta.ca> wrote in message
news:f1**************************@posting.google.c om...

Hi, i'm having an issue with combining functions from C and C++. I'm
trying to create a logging function that displays the file, function
and line number of the code that wants to log a certain message. The
function is called MainDisplay and outputs to a file called mylog.log.
For some reason, I SOMETIMES get a segmentation fault when I try and
open an output stream to the file. The code looks something like
this:

<snip>

But, sometimes, and not always, I get a segmentation fault when I try
and do
log_stream.open("my_log.log", ios::app);
From debugging i've found that this happens if i'm calling MainDisplay
from a function that does a lot of C-style string manipulation.

Whats going on here?

The code you posted uses legacy C functions that are considered dangerous by
most C and C++ programmers (vsprintf and sprintf). They are known to be
unsafe because they have no way of confining their results to the array
passed. If you use them, you may accidentally corrupt your application's
state. This could be causing your problem, but it's hard to determine if
that is the culprit since the code is incomplete and possibly not even the
code that you're using.

In any situation, it would be a good idea to stop using them. I see three
reasonable options for eliminating these calls:

a) Implement a typesafe interface (not varargs and a format string) to the
Show function. Templates might be an option. This way, you can use the
typesafe stream operators on log_stream. No temporary buffer is needed for
this option.

b) Use a FILE * and vfprintf to write to the file. No temporary buffer is
needed for this option.

c) Use the (non-standard in C++) sprintf()-like methods that take a buffer
size as an argument and will not write past the end of the destination array
passed.

Options b) and c) will not protect you from a malformed format string, but
it's still an improvement.

BTW, why would you want to open and close the file repeatedly? Why not keep
it open for the lifetime of the application?

I want to avoid using C code altogether if possible. I just want to
be able to get the information that can be provided by
__PRETTY_FUNCTION__, __LINE__ and __FILE__. Are these still safe to
use in C++?
I was opening and closing the file repeatedly because for some reason
it wasn't writing to it if I kept it open the whole time. This is a
continuously running application, and I want to be able to read the
file at anytime without having to stop the app.
And no, this isn't the actual code I was using. This is just a
shorter version that I posted up because the actual code has a lot of
error checking and file parsing that I omitted. But I isolated the
problem to this segment of code, and posted it up just as an example.
If you want I can post the entire file.

[Default User]

Prashant wrote:

Kelsey Bjarnason <ke*****@xxnospamyy.lightspeed.bc.ca> wrote in message news:<pa****************************@xxnospamyy.li ghtspeed.bc.ca>...

[snips]

On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:03:12 -0700, Prashant wrote:

//file display.h
#include <stdarg.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream.h>
using namespace std;
Okay, step one: pick a language. <stdio.h> suggests you're using C here,
<iostream> suggests you're using C++ and <fstream.h> suggests you're using
something else entirely - Delphi? Java? I don't know, but that header is
neither C nor C++, so it's impossible to even attempt to sort out your
problem since we don't even know what language you're using, let alone its
particular requirements, oddities, etc.

fstream.h is a C++ library....

No, it's not. It's not anything in C++. <fstream> (no .h) is a HEADER in
C++.
the others are C libraries.
C headers, not libraries. They are (most importantly) also C++ headers,
although deprecated.

They're both compatible with each other. Well at least to the extent
that the compiler is concerned.
The reason I'm using C here is because I wanted to use the
__PRETTY_FUNCTION__,
This is gcc extension, not a C construct.

__FILE__, and __LINE__ macros. I couldn't find a C++ equivalent.

Those are part of C++ as well.

What you were missing is that people were saying to use the new C++ form
of those headers:

<cstdarg>
<cstdio>
Brian Rodenborn

Brian Rodenborn

[Prashant]

Default User <fi********@boeing.com.invalid> wrote in message news:<41**************@boeing.com.invalid>...

What you were missing is that people were saying to use the new C++ form
of those headers:

<cstdarg>
<cstdio>

Okay I guess I missed that. Anyway, it makes no difference, I still
have the same problems. The documentation says that all cstdarg does
is this:

namespace std {
#include <stdarg.h>
}

same with <cstdio>