StringCchCopyNExW function (strsafe.h)
Copies the specified number of characters from one string to another. The size of the destination buffer is provided to the function to ensure that it does not write past the end of this buffer.
StringCchCopyNEx adds to the functionality of StringCchCopyN by returning a pointer to the end of the destination string as well as the number of characters left unused in that string. Flags may also be passed to the function for additional control.
StringCchCopyNEx is a replacement for the following functions:
STRSAFEAPI StringCchCopyNExW(
[out] STRSAFE_LPWSTR pszDest,
[in] size_t cchDest,
[in] STRSAFE_PCNZWCH pszSrc,
[in] size_t cchToCopy,
[out, optional] STRSAFE_LPWSTR *ppszDestEnd,
[out, optional] size_t *pcchRemaining,
[in] DWORD dwFlags
);
[out] pszDest
Type: LPTSTR
The destination buffer, which receives the copied string.
[in] cchDest
Type: size_t
The size of pszDest, in characters. This value must be at least large enough to hold the copied characters (the length of pszSrc or the value of cchSrc, whichever is smaller) plus 1 to account for the terminating null character. The maximum number of characters allowed is STRSAFE_MAX_CCH.
[in] pszSrc
Type: LPCTSTR
The source string. This string must be readable up to cchSrc characters or a null terminator, whichever comes first.
[in] cchToCopy
Type: size_t
The maximum number of characters to be copied from pszSrc to pszDest.
[out, optional] ppszDestEnd
Type: LPTSTR*
The address of a pointer to the end of pszDest. If ppszDestEnd is non-NULL and any data is copied into the destination buffer, this points to the terminating null character at the end of the string.
[out, optional] pcchRemaining
Type: size_t*
The number of unused characters in pszDest, including the terminating null character. If pcchRemaining is NULL, the count is not kept or returned.
[in] dwFlags
Type: DWORD
One or more of the following values.
Type: HRESULT
This function can return one of the following values. It is strongly recommended that you use the SUCCEEDED and FAILED macros to test the return value of this function.
Return code | Description |
---|---|
|
Source data was present, fully copied without truncation, and the resultant destination buffer is null-terminated. |
|
Either pszDest or pszSrc is greater than STRSAFE_MAX_CCH, pszDest is NULL when there is source data present to copy, or an invalid flag was passed. |
|
The copy operation failed due to insufficient buffer space. Depending on the value of dwFlags, the destination buffer may contain a truncated, null-terminated version of the intended result. In situations where truncation is acceptable, this may not necessarily be seen as a failure condition. |
Note that this function returns an HRESULT value, unlike the functions that it replaces.
StringCchCopyNEx provides additional processing for proper buffer handling in your code. Poor buffer handling is implicated in many security issues that involve buffer overruns. StringCchCopyNEx always null-terminates and never overflows a valid destination buffer, even if the contents of the source string change during the operation.
While this routine is meant as a replacement for strncpy, there are differences in behavior. If cchSrc is larger than the number of characters in pszSrc, StringCchCopyNEx—unlike strncpy—does not continue to pad pszDest with null characters until cchSrc characters have been copied.
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 may be NULL. However, an error due to insufficient space may still be returned even though NULL values are ignored.
StringCchCopyNEx can be used in its generic form, or in its more specific forms. The data type of the string determines the form of this function that you should use, as shown in the following table.
String Data Type | String Literal | Function |
---|---|---|
char | "string" | StringCchCopyNExA |
TCHAR | TEXT("string") | StringCchCopyNEx |
WCHAR | L"string" | StringCchCopyNExW |
Note
The strsafe.h header defines StringCchCopyNEx as an alias that automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that is not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.
Requirement | Value |
---|---|
Minimum supported client | Windows XP with SP2 [desktop apps | UWP apps] |
Minimum supported server | Windows Server 2003 with SP1 [desktop apps | UWP apps] |
Target Platform | Windows |
Header | strsafe.h |
Reference