How Does 'C' Store Strings ?

[Richard Childers]

I recently said ...

>I've tried explicitly defining char arrays, IE
>
>	#define	vers[CMDBUFSIZ] =	"v1.00 891010 richard childers" ;

I actually meant to say ...

	char vers[CMDBUFSIZ] =		"v1.00 891010 richard childers" ;

... which changes the problem somewhat.

A wide variety of people have replied, and, much to my surprise, nobody
felt it necessary to call me 'hosehead' or tell me to go to a different
newsgroup, such as alt.msdos.programmer, for which I am thankful.

The best help I've gotten to date suggested that I use 'static' storage
classes for SCCS-type buried ID strings, and another individual at UC
Santa Cruz suggested I try opening the file using "binary" mode, which
doesn't seem to be documented in my version of MSC.

One possibility that's occurred to me is that, in a PC environment, the
designers of the compiler might have decided that string compression was
a win, much as ( according to many contributors ) Lattice' compiler tries
to identify and eliminate redundant strings from the resulting image,
given the significant decrease in space available in an MS-DOS environ-
-ment.

I've been informed that if this is true, it would be useful information to
know, and I'll keep everyone posted on what I find out ...

-- richard


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