StringCbCopyEx (Windows CE 5.0)

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Developing an Application > Safe String Functions > Safe String Reference > StrSafe.h Byte-Count Functions

This function is a replacement for strcpy.

The size, in bytes, of the destination buffer is provided to the function to ensure that StringCbCopyEx does not write past the end of this buffer.

StringCbCopyEx adds to the functionality of StringCbCopy by returning a pointer to the end of the destination string, and by returning the number of bytes left unused in that string.

Flags can also be passed to the function for additional control.

HRESULT StringCbCopyEx(          LPTSTR pszDest,
    size_t cbDest,
    LPCTSTR pszSrc,
    LPTSTR *ppszDestEnd,
    size_t *pcbRemaining,
    DWORD dwFlags);

Parameters

  • pszDest
    [out] Pointer to a buffer that receives the copied string.

  • cbDest
    [in] Size of the destination buffer, in bytes.

    This value must consider the length of pszSrc plus the terminating null character.

    The maximum number of bytes allowed is STRSAFE_MAX_CCH * sizeof(TCHAR).

  • pszSrc
    [in] Pointer to a buffer containing the source string.

    This source string must be null-terminated.

  • ppszDestEnd
    [out] Address of a pointer to the end of pszDest.

    If ppszDestEnd is non-NULL and data is copied into the destination buffer, this points to the terminating null character at the end of the string.

  • pcbRemaining
    [out] Pointer to a variable that indicates the number of unused bytes in pszDest, including those used for the terminating null character.

    If pcbRemaining is NULL, the count is not kept or returned.

  • dwFlags
    [in] One or more of the following values.

    Value Description
    STRSAFE_FILL_BEHIND_NULL If the function succeeds, the low byte of dwFlags (0) is used to fill the uninitialized portion of pszDest following the terminating null character.
    STRSAFE_IGNORE_NULLS Treat null string pointers like empty strings (TEXT("")).

    This flag is useful for emulating functions such as lstrcpy.

    STRSAFE_FILL_ON_FAILURE If the function fails, the low byte of dwFlags (0) is used to fill the entire pszDest buffer, and the buffer is null-terminated.

    In the case of a STRSAFE_E_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER failure, any truncated string returned is overwritten.

    STRSAFE_NULL_ON_FAILURE If the function fails, pszDest is set to an empty string (TEXT("")).

    In the case of a STRSAFE_E_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER failure, any truncated string is overwritten.

    STRSAFE_NO_TRUNCATION As in the case of STRSAFE_NULL_ON_FAILURE, if the function fails, pszDest is set to an empty string (TEXT("")).

    In the case of a STRSAFE_E_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER failure, any truncated string is overwritten.

Return Value

This function returns an HRESULT, as opposed to strcpy, which returns a pointer.

It is strongly recommended that you use the SUCCEEDED and FAILED macros to test the return value of this function.

Value Description
S_OK Source data was present, fully copied without truncation, and the resultant destination buffer is null-terminated.
STRSAFE_E_INVALID_PARAMETER Either pszDest is NULL when there is source data present to copy, or an invalid flag was passed.
STRSAFE_E_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER The copy operation failed due to insufficient buffer space.

Depending on the value of dwFlags, the destination buffer might contain a truncated, null-terminated version of the intended result.

Where truncation is acceptable, this is not necessarily a failure condition.

Remarks

StringCbCopyEx provides additional processing for proper buffer handling in your code.

Poor buffer handling is implicated in many security issues that involve buffer overruns. StringCbCopyEx always null-terminates a nonzero-length destination buffer.

StringCbCopyEx can be used in its generic form, or specifically as StringCbCopyExA (for ANSI strings) or StringCbCopyExW (for Unicode strings). The form to use is determined by your data.

String data type String literal Function
char "string" StringCbCopyExA
TCHAR TEXT("string") StringCbCopyEx
WCHAR L"string" StringCbCopyExW

StringCbCopyEx and its ANSI and Unicode variants are replacements for these functions:

Behavior is undefined if the strings pointed to by pszSrc and pszDest overlap.

Neither pszSrc nor pszDest should be NULL unless the STRSAFE_IGNORE_NULLS flag is specified; in which case both might be NULL.

However, an error due to insufficient space might still be returned even though null values are ignored.

Requirements

OS Versions: Windows CE 5.0 and later.
Header: strsafe.h.
Link Library: strsafe.lib.

See Also

StringCbCopy | StringCchCopyEx

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