Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!polygen!pablo
From: pablo@polygen.uucp (Pablo Halpern)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: strcpy
Message-ID: <137@polygen.UUCP>
Date: 1 Apr 88 21:08:41 GMT
References: <725@xyzzy.UUCP>
Organization: Polygen Corporation, Waltham, MA
Lines: 19

From article <725@xyzzy.UUCP>, by throopw@xyzzy.UUCP (Wayne A. Throop):
> [ Refering to the manual entry for strcpy() ]
> I'm fairly certain that the only thing the phrasing of the manual
> guarantees, (or even is intended to guarantee)) is that the null is
> copied during the process, and not what the relative order is.

Fine.  To avoid incorrect inferences from readers, the entry should
be revised to just say that the copy INCLUDES the NUL terminator.
Also, since the length of the destination array cannot be determined
by strcpy() (because of C's array/pointer semantics), the manual entry
should explicitely state that no characters in the desination string
following the NUL are modified.  (Again, considering the array/pointer
semantics, perhaps someone could come up with an even more precise
rewording of my last sentence.)

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