98 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
98 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
GNU libasprintf - automatic formatted output to strings
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This package makes the C formatted output routines (fprintf et al.) usable
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in C++ programs.
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Sample use
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----------
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char *pathname = autosprintf ("%s/%s", directory, filename);
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cerr << autosprintf ("syntax error in %s:%d: %s", filename, line, errstring);
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Benefits
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--------
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The benefits of autosprintf over the usual "piecewise meal" idiom
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cerr << "syntax error in " << filename << ":" << line << ": " << errstring;
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are:
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- Reuses of the standard POSIX printf facility. Easy migration from C to C++.
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- English sentences are kept together.
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- Internationalization requires format strings, because
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1. Internationalization requires the ability for the translator to change
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the order of parts of a sentence. The POSIX printf formatted output
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functions (and thus also autosprintf) support this through the %m$ and
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*m$ syntax.
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2. Translators are used to translate one string per sentence, not
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multiple strings per sentence, and not C++ code statements.
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- Reduces the risk of programming errors due to forgotten state in the
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output stream (e.g. 'cout << hex;' not followed by 'cout << dec;').
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The benefits of autosprintf over C sprintf are:
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- Autosprintf avoids buffer overruns and truncated results.
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The C sprintf() function often leads to buffer overruns. On the other
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hand, the C snprintf() function requires extra coding for an a priori
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estimate of the result's size and truncates the result if the estimate
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was too low.
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- Autosprintf avoids memory leaks.
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Temporarily allocated memory is cleaned up automatically.
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Installation
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------------
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See INSTALL. Usually "./configure; make; make install" should work.
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The installed files are:
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- An include file "autosprintf.h" which defines the class 'autosprintf',
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in the namespace 'gnu'.
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- A library libasprintf containing this class.
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Use
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---
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To use the class autosprintf, use
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#include "autosprintf.h"
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using gnu::autosprintf;
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and link with the linker option
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-lasprintf
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Misc notes
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----------
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An instance of class 'autosprintf' contains the formatted output result;
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this string is freed when the instance's destructor is run.
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The class name 'autosprintf' is meant to remind the C function sprintf(),
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the GNU C library function asprintf(), and the C++ autoptr programming idiom.
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Distribution
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------------
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http://www.haible.de/bruno/gnu/libasprintf-1.0.tar.gz
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Homepage
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--------
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http://www.haible.de/bruno/packages-libasprintf.html
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Bug reports to:
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---------------
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<bug-gnu-gettext@gnu.org>
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Bruno Haible <brunoe@clisp.org>
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