[RESOLVED] Segmentation fault and also bad initalization

[jedipenguin]

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
 






#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1

int main(void)
{

char* s;


  char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
  int fd[2];
  pid_t pid;
  
   FILE *fp; 
   FILE *fp2;
  
   fp = fopen(FILEPATH, "r"); 
   
   if(!fp){
     fprintf(stderr, "File - %s - could not be opened.\n", FILEPATH);
     return -1;
   }
   
s = fgets(s, 32766, fp); //ERROR HERE!!!

  /* create the pipe */
  if (pipe(fd) == -1){
    fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
    return 1;
  }
  char write_msg[BUFFER_SIZE] = s;  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
  /* fork a child process */
  pid = fork();

  if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
    fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
    return 1;
  }

  if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);

    /* write to the pipe */
    write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);
  }

  else { /* child process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);

    /* read from the pipe */
    read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, BUFFER_SIZE);
 //   printf("read %s", read_msg);
fclose(fp);
fp2 = fopen(FILEPATH2, "w");


   fwrite(read_msg, 32767, 32767, fp2);
   

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);
     fclose(fp2);
  }

  return 0;
}

The problem is probably the fact that I'm using the variable s in the wrong way, but as I'm very bad at C and C++, at least so far anyway, I've no clue what's wrong.

Is it my size that I passed in the marked method?

Also, how do I tell it, later, once this starts to work, to pass the file name of the file it'll copy to as the first param and the file it reads from to the pipe as the second param?

I'm supposed to be reading from a file, and as I was given some help code, but it's probably in C and not C++, even if it is, I'm still not that great at C++ either, but anyway, I'm to have the program read from the file and write to the pipe and have the child read from the pipe and write to the output file.

FileCopy copy.txt input.txt

[Lindley]

At the moment s is just an uninitialized pointer. It does not point to a valid block of memory, therefore you can't safely write anything to it.

You will find it much, much easier to define s as a std::string and use the <iostream> library for reading/writing, than to fix the problem with s. Fixing the problem with s as it is would be pretty easy for someone who knows C well, but it doesn't sound like you do and thus you are likely to have trouble. The C++ string and IO methods are much more intuitive.

[jedipenguin]

Well, unfortunately I'd need to find all the C++ header files that would correspond to the C ones that I got provided. But I wouldn't know what they were.

Unless you could tell me all the libraries to correspond to the ones I have in C for C++, I can't go the C++ route. At least, I don't think I can......

Is there another way I could intialize it without the circular logic?

i.e.

s = gets(s, int, File);

[jedipenguin]

Ok, so I set the value of s just to see what happens. Still getting the segmentation fault. Is it my value of fp? I've no way to tell as when I tried to print out its value, I got like $ and weird blurs or something. Probably because fp is a pointer, but I even tried dereferencing it and it still showed those weird symbols. What's going wrong?

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
 






#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1

int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{

char* s = "Empty";

if (argc !=3)
{
printf("You're forgetting some of the arguments.");
exit(1);
}
  char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
  int fd[2];
  pid_t pid;
  
   FILE *fp; 
   FILE *fp2;
  
   fp = fopen(argv[2], "r"); 
   
   
   if(!fp){
     fprintf(stderr, "File - &#37;s - could not be opened.\n", FILEPATH);
     return -1;
   }
   
   
   printf(s);
   exit(1);
   
s = fgets(s, strlen(s), fp); //ERROR HERE!!!

  /* create the pipe */
  if (pipe(fd) == -1){
    fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
    return 1;
  }
  char write_msg[BUFFER_SIZE] = "Testing";  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
  /* fork a child process */
  pid = fork();

  if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
    fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
    return 1;
  }

  if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);

    /* write to the pipe */
    write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);
  }

  else { /* child process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);

    /* read from the pipe */
    read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, BUFFER_SIZE);
 //   printf("read %s", read_msg);
fclose(fp);
fp2 = fopen(FILEPATH2, "w");


   fwrite(read_msg, strlen(read_msg), 1, fp2);
   

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);
     fclose(fp2);
  }

  return 0;
}

Right now it is set to exit before it hits the segmentation fault.

[Paul McKenzie]

Well, unfortunately I'd need to find all the C++ header files that would correspond to the C ones that I got provided. But I wouldn't know what they were.

The same headers are used. The only additional header file is for the string class.

#include <string>

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[Paul McKenzie]

Ok, so I set the value of s just to see what happens. Still getting the segmentation fault.

That is because "s" is a string-literal, and you cannot write to string literals.

Here is a much simpler program:

int main()
{
   char *s = "abc123";
   s[0] = 'x';
}

This program also crashes, and for the same reason your program crashes. The s is a string-literal, and I'm attempting to change the first character from 'a' to 'x'. Crash.

Only writeable char arrays, and memory allocated from the heap can be modified.

int main()
{
   char s[] = "abc123";
   s[0] = 'x';
}

This code now doesn't crash, since s is a writeable array of char.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[jedipenguin]

What if I don't know the length of the array?

I take it you mean I should use an array rather than a pointer...?

[Paul McKenzie]

What if I don't know the length of the array?

Then you use std::vector.

I take it you mean I should use an array rather than a pointer...?

When you pass an array to a function, the name of the array acts as a pointer to the first element in the array.

The bottom line is that you can't use string-literals and then later on change or overwrite that literal in any way.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[jedipenguin]

It's saying exit(1) is not declared in this scope....

I told it to exit if it can't find the input files or things like that.

Also, how what will the string do?

Will I need to convert it to a cstring at some point?

Also, the c++ library online is sometimes having server errors and I can't always access the documentation.

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include<string>
#include<vector>
#include<iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <sstream>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
 






#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{

ifstream input(argv[2]);
string s2;

vector<char> s;

if (argc !=3)
{
printf("You're forgetting some of the arguments.");
return 1;
}




  char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE]; // need to redefine this as it might be causing the ouput to the file to be empty
  int fd[2];
  pid_t pid;
  
   FILE *fp; 
   FILE *fp2;
  
  //  fp = fopen(argv[2], "r"); 
   
   
  /* if(!fp){
     fprintf(stderr, "File - &#37;s - could not be opened.\n", FILEPATH);
     return -1;
   }
   */
   getline(input, s2);
   
   while (!input.eof())
   {
   getline(input, s2);
   
   }
   
   
   
   
// s = fgets(s, strlen(s), fp); //ERROR HERE!!!

  /* create the pipe */
  if (pipe(fd) == -1){
    fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
    return 1;
  }
  const char* write_msg = s2.c_str();  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
  /* fork a child process */
  pid = fork();

  if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
    fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
    return 1;
  }
string pipeMessage;
const char* pm2;
  if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);

    /* write to the pipe */
    write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);
  }


  else { /* child process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);

    /* read from the pipe */
   pm2 =  read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, strlen(read_msg) + 1);
    printf("read %s", read_msg);
    
 //   printf("read %s", read_msg);
// fclose(fp);

ofstream output(argv[1]);



   output << read_msg;
   
   output.close();
   

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);
     // fclose(fp2);
  }

  return 0;
}

It's creating copy.txt but there's nothing in it.

Also, it won't let me read in the value for read message or whatever from the pipe. What's going wrong?

[jedipenguin]

This writes only 1 character. When I tell it to read in multiple times, i.e. many getlines, it gets nothing at all. I'm very frustrated!

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include<string>
#include<vector>
#include<iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <sstream>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
 






#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{

ifstream input(argv[2]);

if (!input.is_open())
{
printf("File is busted!");
return 1;
}
string s2;

vector<char> s;

if (argc !=3)
{
printf("You're forgetting some of the arguments.");
return 1;
}




  char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
  int fd[2];
  pid_t pid;
  
   FILE *fp; 
   FILE *fp2;
  
  //  fp = fopen(argv[2], "r"); 
   
   
  /* if(!fp){
     fprintf(stderr, "File - &#37;s - could not be opened.\n", FILEPATH);
     return -1;
   }
   */
   
   
 getline(input, s2);
 cout << s2;
   
   
   
   
   
   
// s = fgets(s, strlen(s), fp); //ERROR HERE!!!

  /* create the pipe */
  if (pipe(fd) == -1){
    fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
    return 1;
  }
  
  printf(s2.c_str());
  const char* write_msg = s2.c_str();  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
  /* fork a child process */
  pid = fork();

  if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
    fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
    return 1;
  }
string pipeMessage;
const char* pm2;
  if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);
    printf(write_msg);
    /* write to the pipe */
    write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);
    printf(write_msg);
    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);
  }


  else { /* child process */
    /* close the unused end of the pipe */
    close(fd[WRITE_END]);

    /* read from the pipe */
    
    read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, strlen(read_msg) + 1);
    printf("read %s", read_msg);
    
 //   printf("read %s", read_msg);
// fclose(fp);

ofstream output(argv[1]);



   output << read_msg;
   
   output.close();
   

    /* close the write end of the pipe */
    close(fd[READ_END]);
     // fclose(fp2);
  }

  return 0;
}

[Paul McKenzie]

This writes only 1 character. When I tell it to read in multiple times, i.e. many getlines, it gets nothing at all.

First, it would help if your code was formatted much better, as it is hard to read as it stands now.

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include<string>
#include<vector>
#include<iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <sstream>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1
using namespace std;

int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
{
    ifstream input(argv[2]);
    if (!input.is_open())
    {
        printf("File is busted!");
        return 1;
    }
    string s2;
    vector<char> s;

    if (argc !=3)
    {
        printf("You're forgetting some of the arguments.");
        return 1;
    }

    char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
    int fd[2];
    pid_t pid;
      
    FILE *fp; 
    FILE *fp2;
  
    getline(input, s2);
    cout << s2;

    /* create the pipe */
    if (pipe(fd) == -1)
    {
       fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
       return 1;
    }

    printf(s2.c_str());
    const char* write_msg = s2.c_str();  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
    /* fork a child process */
    pid = fork();

    if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
      fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
      return 1;
    }
    string pipeMessage;
    const char* pm2;
    if (pid > 0) 
    { 
        close(fd[READ_END]);
        printf(write_msg);
        /* write to the pipe */
        write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);
        printf(write_msg);
        /* close the write end of the pipe */
        close(fd[WRITE_END]);
    }
    else 
    { /* child process */
        close(fd[WRITE_END]);
        read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, strlen(read_msg) + 1);
        printf("read &#37;s", read_msg);
        ofstream output(argv[1]);
        output << read_msg;
        output.close();
        close(fd[READ_END]);
    }
    return 0;
}

Look at these lines:

    char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
    //...
    read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, strlen(read_msg) + 1);

The strlen() is a function that requires that the array is null-terminated. The strlen() counts characters starting from the beginning of the buffer until NULL is encountered. Where is the NULL in an uninitialized char array such as read_msg? Who knows? It could be first character, or it could be the 1,000th character.

Basically, you're calling strlen() on something that isn't initialized. To get the actual size of that array:

const int numChars = sizeof(read_msg) / sizeof(read_msg[0]);

Then you use numChars instead of strlen().

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[jedipenguin]

Actually, the issue is probably where the s2 is read in at the beginning. The value of s2 is ok after the first getline() but after that, it suddenly becomes empty.
Also, should I use the numChars also for the write() part as well?

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include<string>
#include<vector>
#include<iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <sstream>

#define FILEPATH "./input.txt"
#define FILEPATH2 "./copy.txt"
 






#define BUFFER_SIZE 25
#define READ_END 0
#define WRITE_END 1
   using namespace std;
   int main(int argc, const char* argv[])
   {
   
      ifstream input(argv[2]);
   
      if (!input.is_open())
      {
         printf("File is busted!");
         return 1;
      }
      string s2;
   
      vector<char> s;
   
      if (argc !=3)
      {
         printf("You're forgetting some of the arguments.");
         return 1;
      }
   
   
   
   
      char read_msg[BUFFER_SIZE];
      int fd[2];
      pid_t pid;
   
      FILE *fp; 
      FILE *fp2;
   
   //  fp = fopen(argv[2], "r"); 
   
   
   /* if(!fp){
     fprintf(stderr, "File - &#37;s - could not be opened.\n", FILEPATH);
     return -1;
   }
   */
   
   
      getline(input, s2);
   
      cout << s2;
      while (!input.eof())
      {
         getline(input, s2);
      }
   
   
   
   
   
   // s = fgets(s, strlen(s), fp); //ERROR HERE!!!
   
   /* create the pipe */
      if (pipe(fd) == -1){
         fprintf(stderr, "Pipe failed");
         return 1;
      }
   
      printf(s2.c_str());
      const char* write_msg = s2.c_str();  //How do I get this value of s into the right format?
      printf(write_msg);
      printf("\n");
   /* fork a child process */
      pid = fork();
   
      if (pid < 0) { /* error occurred */
         fprintf(stderr, "Fork Failed");
         return 1;
      }
      string pipeMessage;
      const char* pm2;
      if (pid > 0) { /* parent process */
      /* close the unused end of the pipe */
         close(fd[READ_END]);
         printf(write_msg);
      /* write to the pipe */
         write(fd[WRITE_END], write_msg, strlen(write_msg) + 1);
         printf(write_msg);
      /* close the write end of the pipe */
         close(fd[WRITE_END]);
      }
      
      
      else { /* child process */
      /* close the unused end of the pipe */
         close(fd[WRITE_END]);
      
      /* read from the pipe */
         const int numchars = sizeof(read_msg)/sizeof(read_msg[0]);
         read(fd[READ_END], read_msg, numchars);
         printf("read %s", read_msg);
      
      //   printf("read %s", read_msg);
      // fclose(fp);
      
         ofstream output(argv[1]);
      
      
         printf(read_msg);
      
         output << read_msg;
      
         output.close();
      
      
      /* close the write end of the pipe */
         close(fd[READ_END]);
      // fclose(fp2);
      }
   
      return 0;
   }

The thing I'm using to compile only did formatting at a certain point in emacs. Once I stopped emacs, it woouldn't do it, even when I went back to emacs.

I can't get C++ through netbeams as I don't know how to upload the files in order to run C++. the format can't really be improved. The above formatting is the best I can do.

[Paul McKenzie]

Actually, the issue is probably where the s2 is read in at the beginning. The value of s2 is ok after the first getline() but after that, it suddenly becomes empty.

 getline(input, s2);
 cout << s2;
 while (!input.eof())
    getline(input, s2);

So what is in that input file that makes s2 empty? Instead of trying different things and hoping something sticks, you should be using the debugger to debug your code, and then diagnose the problem from there.

I can't get C++ through netbeams as I don't know how to upload the files in order to run C++. the format can't really be improved. The above formatting is the best I can do.

Get yourself better tools, since I was able to format it within a few seconds. Or spend the time to post legible code since you want others to read it.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie

[jedipenguin]

I've no earthly idea. Especially as it has read the string in at first but loses it after the while loop.

All the file contains is:

This is a message.
This is a message.

My first printf ouputs: This is a message.

My second printf ouputs nothing.

It's not a compiler error so the debugger won't get it.

I don't have a fancy IDE. I have a simple LINUX program. Netbeams won't work and anyway, I'd have to export it to the LINUX thing to submit the assignment anyway.

I don't have a debugger. Ok.

[Paul McKenzie]

It's not a compiler error so the debugger won't get it.

Do you know what the debugger is? A debugger has nothing to do with the compiler.

The debugger allows you to step through your program one line at a time. Then you can watch variables, set breakpoints, etc.

Regards,

Paul McKenzie