RE: [PATCH v1 2/3] lib/string_helpers: Change returned value of the strreplace()

David Laight
2023-03-23T22:23:28Z

From: Kees Cook
> Sent: 22 March 2023 16:51
>
> On Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 04:12:05PM +0200, Andy Shevchenko wrote:
> > It's more useful to return the original string with strreplace(),

Won't that break anything that is using the result?

> I found the use of "original" confusing here and in the comments. This
> just returns arg 1, yes? i.e. it's not the original (unreplaced) string,
> but rather just the string itself.
>
> I agree, though, that's much more useful than a pointer to the end of
> the string.

If you want a pointer to the start of the string, you've
already got it.
Almost all the time you can do the assignment first.

But if you want a pointer to the end you'll need to scan it again.

I have a feeling that the reason many of the string functions
return the original pointer is a historic side effect of
the original implementation.
Going back to before C had a 'return' statement.

David

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