replacing a string in a char pointer

[Tim Quon]

Hi

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

How can I code the function if the string is of dynamic length?

Thanks
Tim

[Tom Zych]

Tim Quon wrote:

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

How can I code the function if the string is of dynamic length?

Your prototype looks like you don't want to touch any of the inputs,
just create a new string and return it. If so, "dynamic length" is
not a relevant concept. With this prototype you'd have to allocate
space and have the caller free it when done.

--
Tom Zych
This email address will expire at some point to thwart spammers.
Permanent address: echo 'g******@cbobk.pbz' | rot13

[Jirka Klaue]

Tim Quon wrote:

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

char *a = "abcdefghijkl", *b = "fg", *c = "xxx", *new = 0, *p;
size_t i = strlen(a), j = strlen(b), k = strlen(c);

if (p = strstr(a, b)) {
new = malloc(i - j + k + 1);
memcpy(new, a, p - a);
memcpy(new + (p - a), c, k + 1);
strcat(new + (p - a) + k, p + j);
}
return new;

Jirka

[Tim Quon]

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 15:35:55 GMT, Tom Zych <tz******@pobox.com> wrote:

Tim Quon wrote:

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

How can I code the function if the string is of dynamic length?

Your prototype looks like you don't want to touch any of the inputs,
just create a new string and return it. If so, "dynamic length" is
not a relevant concept. With this prototype you'd have to allocate
space and have the caller free it when done.

Your're right, better will be:
char *str_replace(char *theString, const char *toBeReplaced, const
char *replaceWith);

[Dan Pop]

In <kr********************************@4ax.com> Tim Quon <ti***@freesurf.ch> writes:

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

How can I code the function if the string is of dynamic length?

It doesn't matter: you know the lengths of all the strings involved,
therefore you can compute the length of the result string and dynamically
allocate it. The problem is slightly more difficult if multiple instances
of toBeReplaced have to be replaced by replaceWith, because you have to
(correctly) evaluate the number of substitutions before computing the
length of the output string.

strstr, memcpy and strcat are your friends when coding the function.

Dan
--
Dan Pop
DESY Zeuthen, RZ group
Email: Da*****@ifh.de

[Dan Pop]

In <ov********************************@4ax.com> Tim Quon <ti***@freesurf.ch> writes:

On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 15:35:55 GMT, Tom Zych <tz******@pobox.com> wrote:

Tim Quon wrote:

I have a pointer to char and need to replace a string inside with
another string. Something like that:

char* str_replace(const char* oldString, const char* toBeReplaced,
const char* replaceWith);

How can I code the function if the string is of dynamic length?

Your prototype looks like you don't want to touch any of the inputs,
just create a new string and return it. If so, "dynamic length" is
not a relevant concept. With this prototype you'd have to allocate
space and have the caller free it when done.

Your're right, better will be:
char *str_replace(char *theString, const char *toBeReplaced, const
char *replaceWith);

Would it? If strlen(replaceWith) > strlen(toBeReplaced) how do you
know whether the operation can be safely performed?

Dan
--
Dan Pop
DESY Zeuthen, RZ group
Email: Da*****@ifh.de