strncat_s, _strncat_s_l, wcsncat_s, _wcsncat_s_l, _mbsncat_s, _mbsncat_s_l

Article
11/16/2012

Append characters to a string. These are versions of strncat, _strncat_l, wcsncat, wcsncat_l, _mbsncat _mbsncat_l with security enhancements as described in Security Enhancements in the CRT.

errno_t strncat_s(
   char *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const char *strSource,
   size_t count
);
errno_t _strncat_s_l(
   char *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const char *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
);
errno_t wcsncat_s(
   wchar_t *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const wchar_t *strSource,
   size_t count 
);
errno_t _wcsncat_s_l(
   wchar_t *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const wchar_t *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
);
errno_t _mbsncat_s(
   unsigned char *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const unsigned char *strSource,
   size_t count
);
errno_t _mbsncat_s_l(
   unsigned char *strDest,
   size_t numberOfElements,
   const unsigned char *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
);
template <size_t size>
errno_t strncat_s(
   char (&strDest)[size],
   const char *strSource,
   size_t count
); // C++ only
template <size_t size>
errno_t _strncat_s_l(
   char (&strDest)[size],
   const char *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
); // C++ only
template <size_t size>
errno_t wcsncat_s(
   wchar_t (&strDest)[size],
   const wchar_t *strSource,
   size_t count 
); // C++ only
template <size_t size>
errno_t _wcsncat_s_l(
   wchar_t (&strDest)[size],
   const wchar_t *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
); // C++ only
template <size_t size>
errno_t _mbsncat_s(
   unsigned char (&strDest)[size],
   const unsigned char *strSource,
   size_t count
); // C++ only
template <size_t size>
errno_t _mbsncat_s_l(
   unsigned char (&strDest)[size],
   const unsigned char *strSource,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
); // C++ only

Parameters

[out] strDest
Null-terminated destination string.
[in]numberOfElements
Size of the destination buffer.
[in]strSource
Null-terminated source string.
[in]count
Number of characters to append, or _TRUNCATE.
[in] locale
Locale to use.

Return Value

Returns 0 if successful, an error code on failure.

Error Conditions

strDestination	numberOfElements	strSource	Return value	Contents of strDestination
NULL or unterminated	any	any	EINVAL	not modified
any	any	NULL	EINVAL	not modified
any	0, or too small	any	ERANGE	not modified

Remarks

These functions try to append the first D characters of strSource to the end of strDest, where D is the lesser of count and the length of strSource. If appending those D characters will fit within strDest (whose size is given as numberOfElements) and still leave room for a null terminator, then those characters are appended, starting at the original terminating null of strDest, and a new terminating null is appended; otherwise, strDest[0] is set to the null character and the invalid parameter handler is invoked, as described in Parameter Validation.

There is an exception to the above paragraph. If count is _TRUNCATE then as much of strSource as will fit is appended to strDest while still leaving room to append a terminating null.

For example,

char dst[5];

strncpy_s(dst, _countof(dst), "12", 2);

strncat_s(dst, _countof(dst), "34567", 3);

means that we are asking strncat_s to append three characters to two characters in a buffer five characters long; this would leave no space for the null terminator, hence strncat_s zeroes out the string and calls the invalid parameter handler.

If truncation behavior is needed, use _TRUNCATE or adjust the size parameter accordingly:

strncat_s(dst, _countof(dst), "34567", _TRUNCATE);

strncat_s(dst, _countof(dst), "34567", _countof(dst)-strlen(dst)-1);

In all cases, the resulting string is terminated with a null character. If copying takes place between strings that overlap, the behavior is undefined.

If strSource or strDest is NULL, or is numberOfElements is zero, the invalid parameter handler is invoked, as described in Parameter Validation . If execution is allowed to continue, the function returns EINVAL without modifying its parameters.

wcsncat_s and _mbsncat_s are wide-character and multibyte-character versions of strncat_s. The string arguments and return value of wcsncat_s are wide-character strings; those of _mbsncat_s are multibyte-character strings. These three functions behave identically otherwise.

The output value is affected by the setting of the LC_CTYPE category setting of the locale; see setlocale for more information. The versions of these functions without the _l suffix use the current locale for this locale-dependent behavior; the versions with the _l suffix are identical except that they use the locale parameter passed in instead. For more information, see Locale.

In C++, using these functions is simplified by template overloads; the overloads can infer buffer length automatically (eliminating the need to specify a size argument) and they can automatically replace older, non-secure functions with their newer, secure counterparts. For more information, see Secure Template Overloads.

The debug versions of these functions first fill the buffer with 0xFD. To disable this behavior, use _CrtSetDebugFillThreshold.

Generic-Text Routine Mappings

TCHAR.H routine	_UNICODE & _MBCS not defined	_MBCS defined	_UNICODE defined
_tcsncat_s	strncat_s	_mbsnbcat_s	wcsncat_s
_tcsncat_s_l	_strncat_s_l	_mbsnbcat_s_l	_wcsncat_s_l

_strncat_s_l and _wcsncat_s_l have no locale dependence; they are only provided for _tcsncat_s_l.

Requirements

Routine	Required header
strncat_s	<string.h>
wcsncat_s	<string.h> or <wchar.h>
_mbsncat_s, _mbsncat_s_l	<mbstring.h>

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Example

// crt_strncat_s.cpp
// compile with: /MTd

// These #defines enable secure template overloads
// (see last part of Examples() below)
#define _CRT_SECURE_CPP_OVERLOAD_STANDARD_NAMES 1 
#define _CRT_SECURE_CPP_OVERLOAD_STANDARD_NAMES_COUNT 1

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <crtdbg.h>  // For _CrtSetReportMode
#include <errno.h>

// This example uses a 10-byte destination buffer.

errno_t strncat_s_tester( const char * initialDest,
                          const char * src,
                          int count )
{
   char dest[10];
   strcpy_s( dest, _countof(dest), initialDest );

   printf_s( "\n" );

   if ( count == _TRUNCATE )
      printf_s( "Appending '%s' to %d-byte buffer dest with truncation semantics\n",
               src, _countof(dest) );
   else
      printf_s( "Appending %d chars of '%s' to %d-byte buffer dest\n",
              count, src, _countof(dest) );

   printf_s( "    old contents of dest: '%s'\n", dest );

   errno_t err = strncat_s( dest, _countof(dest), src, count );

   printf_s( "    new contents of dest: '%s'\n", dest );

   return err;
}


void Examples()
{
   strncat_s_tester( "hi ", "there", 4 );
   strncat_s_tester( "hi ", "there", 5 );
   strncat_s_tester( "hi ", "there", 6 );

   printf_s( "\nDestination buffer too small:\n" );
   strncat_s_tester( "hello ", "there", 4 );

   printf_s( "\nTruncation examples:\n" );

   errno_t err = strncat_s_tester( "hello ", "there", _TRUNCATE );
   printf_s( "    truncation %s occur\n", err == STRUNCATE ? "did"
                                                       : "did not" );

   err = strncat_s_tester( "hello ", "!", _TRUNCATE );
   printf_s( "    truncation %s occur\n", err == STRUNCATE ? "did"
                                                       : "did not" );

   printf_s( "\nSecure template overload example:\n" );

   char dest[10] = "cats and ";
   strncat( dest, "dachshunds", 15 );
   // With secure template overloads enabled (see #define
   // at top of file), the preceding line is replaced by
   //    strncat_s( dest, _countof(dest), "dachshunds", 15 );
   // Instead of causing a buffer overrun, strncat_s invokes
   // the invalid parameter handler.
   // If secure template overloads were disabled, strncat would
   // append "dachshunds" and overrun the dest buffer.
   printf_s( "    new contents of dest: '%s'\n", dest );
}

void myInvalidParameterHandler(
   const wchar_t* expression,
   const wchar_t* function, 
   const wchar_t* file, 
   unsigned int line, 
   uintptr_t pReserved)
{
   wprintf_s(L"Invalid parameter handler invoked: %s\n", expression);
}

int main( void )
{
   _invalid_parameter_handler oldHandler, newHandler;

   newHandler = myInvalidParameterHandler;
   oldHandler = _set_invalid_parameter_handler(newHandler);
   // Disable the message box for assertions.
   _CrtSetReportMode(_CRT_ASSERT, 0);

   Examples();
}

Appending 4 chars of 'there' to 10-byte buffer dest old contents of dest: 'hi ' new contents of dest: 'hi ther' Appending 5 chars of 'there' to 10-byte buffer dest old contents of dest: 'hi ' new contents of dest: 'hi there' Appending 6 chars of 'there' to 10-byte buffer dest old contents of dest: 'hi ' new contents of dest: 'hi there' Destination buffer too small: Appending 4 chars of 'there' to 10-byte buffer dest old contents of dest: 'hello ' Invalid parameter handler invoked: (L"Buffer is too small" && 0) new contents of dest: '' Truncation examples: Appending 'there' to 10-byte buffer dest with truncation semantics old contents of dest: 'hello ' new contents of dest: 'hello the' truncation did occur Appending '!' to 10-byte buffer dest with truncation semantics old contents of dest: 'hello ' new contents of dest: 'hello !' truncation did not occur Secure template overload example: Invalid parameter handler invoked: (L"Buffer is too small" && 0) new contents of dest: ''

.NET Framework Equivalent

System::String::Concat

Change History

Date	History	Reason
March 2009	Corrected link in introductory paragraph.	Customer feedback.

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