xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/string/strcpy.3 (revision 58d38e25205c6ee5ef0796ffa2cd8e2ca6c6e7f3)
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36.\"     @(#)strcpy.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
37.\" $FreeBSD$
38.\"
39.Dd August 9, 2001
40.Dt STRCPY 3
41.Os
42.Sh NAME
43.Nm strcpy , strncpy
44.Nd copy strings
45.Sh LIBRARY
46.Lb libc
47.Sh SYNOPSIS
48.In string.h
49.Ft char *
50.Fn strcpy "char * restrict dst" "const char * restrict src"
51.Ft char *
52.Fn strncpy "char * restrict dst" "const char * restrict src" "size_t len"
53.Sh DESCRIPTION
54The
55.Fn strcpy
56function
57copies the string
58.Fa src
59to
60.Fa dst
61(including the terminating
62.Ql \e0
63character).
64.Pp
65The
66.Fn strncpy
67function copies not more than
68.Fa len
69characters from
70.Fa src
71into
72.Fa dst ,
73appending
74.Ql \e0
75characters if
76.Fa src
77is less than
78.Fa len
79characters long, and
80.Em not
81terminating
82.Fa dst
83otherwise.
84.Sh RETURN VALUES
85The
86.Fn strcpy
87and
88.Fn strncpy
89functions
90return
91.Fa dst .
92.Sh EXAMPLES
93The following sets
94.Va chararray
95to
96.Dq Li abc\e0\e0\e0 :
97.Bd -literal -offset indent
98char chararray[6];
99
100(void)strncpy(chararray, "abc", sizeof(chararray));
101.Ed
102.Pp
103The following sets
104.Va chararray
105to
106.Dq Li abcdef :
107.Bd -literal -offset indent
108char chararray[6];
109
110(void)strncpy(chararray, "abcdefgh", sizeof(chararray));
111.Ed
112.Pp
113Note that it does
114.Em not
115.Tn NUL
116terminate
117.Va chararray
118because the length of the source string is greater than or equal
119to the length parameter.
120.Pp
121The following copies as many characters from
122.Va input
123to
124.Va buf
125as will fit and
126.Tn NUL
127terminates the result.
128Because
129.Fn strncpy
130does
131.Em not
132guarantee to
133.Tn NUL
134terminate the string itself, this must be done explicitly.
135.Bd -literal -offset indent
136char buf[1024];
137
138(void)strncpy(buf, input, sizeof(buf) - 1);
139buf[sizeof(buf) - 1] = '\e0';
140.Ed
141.Pp
142This could be better achieved using
143.Xr strlcpy 3 ,
144as shown in the following example:
145.Pp
146.Dl "(void)strlcpy(buf, input, sizeof(buf));"
147.Pp
148Note that because
149.Xr strlcpy 3
150is not defined in any standards, it should
151only be used when portability is not a concern.
152.Sh SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
153The
154.Fn strcpy
155function is easily misused in a manner which enables malicious users
156to arbitrarily change a running program's functionality through a
157buffer overflow attack.
158(See
159the FSA
160and
161.Sx EXAMPLES . )
162.Sh SEE ALSO
163.Xr bcopy 3 ,
164.Xr memccpy 3 ,
165.Xr memcpy 3 ,
166.Xr memmove 3 ,
167.Xr strlcpy 3
168.Rs
169.%T "The FreeBSD Security Architecture"
170.Re
171(See
172.Pa "/usr/share/doc/{to be decided}" . )
173.Sh STANDARDS
174The
175.Fn strcpy
176and
177.Fn strncpy
178functions
179conform to
180.St -isoC .
181