Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!taumet!steve
From: steve@taumet.com (Stephen Clamage)
Newsgroups: comp.std.c
Subject: Re: system() length bound?
Message-ID: <287@taumet.com>
Date: 2 Jul 90 16:22:16 GMT
References: <3346@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au>
Reply-To: steve@taumet.UUCP (Stephen Clamage)
Organization: Taumetric Corporation, San Diego
Lines: 15

In article <3346@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au> ok@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes:
>The system() function is in ANSI C.  How long can its argument be?
>How can a conforming program find out?

The standard says:

"If the argument is not a null pointer, the _system_ function returns
an implementation-defined value."

IMHO, this means that the implementor must document any limitations on
string length, if only implicitly.  Can your program portably find out at
run-time how long a string may be?  No.
-- 

Steve Clamage, TauMetric Corp, steve@taumet.com