Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!ncar!tank!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald
From: mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: retiring gets(3)
Message-ID: <225800090@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 11 Nov 88 20:34:00 GMT
References: <54845@<1988Nov8>
Lines: 19
Nf-ID: #R:<1988Nov8:54845:uxe.cso.uiuc.edu:225800090:000:875
Nf-From: uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald    Nov 11 14:34:00 1988



>gets() is deliberately required for ANSI C standard conformance because
>a LOT of existing code relies on it.  Any vendor who omits this function
>will not be standard conforming and will not sell its compiler to those
>(expected to be MANY customers) who specify standard conformance.

How about fixing this, and the scanf and strcpy problems as well,
by a little outside-the-standard kludge? (Okay, I realize that every
time I suggest something like this, somebody tries to roast me,
but I am flameproof.) That is

#pragma _MAX_STRING_LENGTH=256  /*or some other suitable number*/

and the compiler would call special versions of gets, strcpy,
and cohorts, that stopped at such a maximum. Now I am not sure whether
the result of overrun would have to be a fatal error or whether
it could just stop copying, but that would at least prevent 
old bugs from biting too bad.