std::strncpy(3)

okay so bestie, this is the std::strncpy(3) page from the C++ Standard Libary manual 💅✨ buckle up, because copying strings has lore.

🌸 NAME 🌸

std::strncpy — std::strncpy (yes, it’s giving “the name is the name,” iconic 🎀)

✨ Synopsis ✨

Defined in header <cstring>
char* strncpy( char* dest, const char* src, std::size_t count );

okay so what it does: copies at most count characters of the byte string pointed to by src — and yes, that includes the terminating null character — to the character array pointed to by dest 💖

• If count is reached before the entire string src was copied, the resulting character array is not null-terminated. Periodt, that’s the rule 😭
• If, after copying the terminating null character from src, count is not reached, additional null characters are written to dest until the total of count characters have been written ✨
• If the strings overlap, the behavior is undefined. Like, do not. No cap. 💀

🫶 Parameters 🫶

• dest — pointer to the character array to copy to 💅
• src — pointer to the byte string to copy from 🦋
• count — maximum number of characters to copy 🎀

💖 Return value 💖

dest — that’s it, that’s the return value, bestie 👑

🎀 Example 🎀

       // Run this code

        #include <cstring>
        #include <iostream>

        int main()
        {
            const char* src = "hi";
            char dest[6] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f'};
            std::strncpy(dest, src, 5);

            std::cout << "The contents of dest are: ";
            for (char c : dest)
            {
                if (c)
                    std::cout << c << ' ';
                else
                    std::cout << "\\0" << ' ';
            }
            std::cout << '\n';
        }

🌀 Output 🌀

The contents of dest are: h i \0 \0 \0 f

👀 See also 👀

• strcpy — copies one string to another (function) 🌈
• memcpy — copies one buffer to another (function) ⭐
• C documentation for strncpy — the C docs for strncpy, right there in the see-also list 💜

💖 source/version: http://cppreference.com · date: 2024.06.10 · page: std::strncpy(3) — that’s the footer, bestie, and we ate 💅✨