Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hoptoad!tim
From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Quick ThinkC String question...
Message-ID: <10274@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 16 Feb 90 09:12:12 GMT
References: <77108@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <20011@bellcore.bellcore.com> <1990Feb14.210352.28118@oracle.com>
Reply-To: tim@hoptoad.UUCP (Tim Maroney)
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 43

In article <1990Feb14.210352.28118@oracle.com> omullarn@oracle.com
(Oliver Mullarney) writes:
>>procedureX()
>>{ 	char *myString;
>>	myString = "\pExample string";
>>}
>>
>
>This is just a little dubious; no space is being allocated anywhere, so
>this should not be used in a general case. It will work for the given
>situation, but not once you drop up one level on the stack from where
>the assignment is made (literals are defined on the stack, right?).

No, generally speaking, they're allocated in global space.  You can
give a compiler directive in MPW to make them allocated in code space,
though; this is useful mostly in XCMDs and XFCNs.  I don't know of any
Mac C compilers that put string literals on the stack.  Think about the
code the compiler would have to generate and you'll see why.

Of course, all the discussion here has missed the real point, which is
that you almost always should avoid string literals on the Mac (except
in XCMDs and XFCNs, where they're considered kosher, because someone
moving the XCMD into another stack may forget to move any associated
'STR ' and 'STR#' resources, and they may have to be renumbered to avoid
conflicts).  Instead, use GetString and GetIndString to get your string
constants; this will make it much easier to move your code to other
languages.

However, in the immortal words of Amanda Walker, if you're making mud
pies, it doesn't matter how much sugar you use; if you're just doing a
quick and dirty utility or something which you are reasonably sure will
always be local to your site, go ahead and use the literals.

Finally, the most useful string manipulation utility is BlockMove.  Use
it often and without compunction.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com

FROM THE FOOL FILE:
"The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the
 freest people in the world.  The children and the aged and infirm work not
 at all, and yet have all the comforts and neccessaries of life provided for
 them." -- George Fitzhugh, CANNIBALS ALL! OR, SLAVES WITHOUT MASTERS, 1857