Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!uunet!taumet!steve
From: steve@taumet.com (Stephen Clamage)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: const vs. void
Message-ID: <631@taumet.com>
Date: 21 Mar 91 18:48:50 GMT
References: <1991Mar20.164518.19928@intelhf.hf.intel.com>
Organization: Taumetric Corporation, San Diego
Lines: 20

ajw@watson.hf.intel.com (Alan Waldock) writes:

>If, to protect data, I point to it with a 'char const *', the
>compiler prevents me from using that pointer as the first (destination)
>argument to 'strncpy()', which requires a 'char *'.

>However, I'm free to pass it (as destination) to 'memcpy()', which
>specifies a 'void *' as its first argument.

>It's as if a 'void *' will accept any pointer, const or no.  Is this right?

Until recently, any pointer could be implicitly converted to void*,
including a pointer to const.

The ARM now specifies that the conversion will not occur, and the call
to memcpy() will fail without an explicit cast.  I believe cfront 2.1
enforces this new restriction.
-- 

Steve Clamage, TauMetric Corp, steve@taumet.com