Malloc and calloc function, Operating System

Assignment Help:

Note that the parameter for scanf doesn't need the address operators & because name is an address. However the variable name has no defined space. This can cause problems within C and we really should define the space .Within C we can allocate space by means of character array or system functions namely malloc, free and calloc.If we declare a character array, it also reserves the space required for that string (After all a string is a collection i.e. array of characters). Therefore the program becomes

    #include stdio.h
    void main()
    {
    char prompt;
    /*Author : Mr James Mc Carren  
    Company: Staffordshire University  
     Date: 26th August 2012  
    Version 1.0  
    Function : String storing using static storage       
     Modifications:   none*/
    char name[20];
    scanf("%s",name);
    printf("your name is %s \n\r",name);  
    printf("Press and key to exit \n\r");
    scanf("\n%c",&prompt);
    }
This allocates 20 spaces to the string name, however if we wish to input a 50 character  string , we would need to re-compile the program , an alternative is to use Malloc/Free .Malloc checks during run time whether there is enough  space left and if there is it allocated it while Free  releases the space allocated to a variable .The syntax for malloc/Free is  
 
     variable = ( char *)malloc(char size);
     free(variable);
 
Therefore the program becomes
 
    #include stdio.h
    #include stdlib.h
    void main()
    {
    char prompt;
   
     Date: 26th August 2012 
    Version 1.0 
    Function : String storing using dynamic allocation       
     Modifications:   none*/
      char *name;
      name = (char *)malloc(20);
      if (name == NULL) 
      {
      printf("Cannot allocate memory\n\r");
      exit(1);
      }
      scanf("%s",name);
      printf("your name is %s \n\r",name); 

      free(name);  
    printf("Press and key to exit \n\r");
    scanf("\n%c",&prompt);
    }

  Because Malloc allocates memory dynamically, we must place a trap routine to detect when the microprocessor cannot allocate memory (i.e. memory full), in this case malloc returns a NULL character back as the address of the variable i.e. This routine would detect the NULL character and exit the program .Note that malloced space is similar to a variable in that its life span is automatically terminated when a free command is used or the function where it was allocated ends no matter what you make read - this is not the case in C++  
 
      if (name == NULL) 
      {
      printf("Cannot allocate memory\n\r");
      exit(1);
      }
 
Therefore we could allocate a scratch pad of memory using malloc and we can poke around in that
area e.g.
 
  #include
    #include
    void main()
    { 
    char prompt;  
  
     Date: 26th August 2012
    Version 1.0 
Function : Dynamic allocation  of windows pointr area i.e segmented memory     
     Modifications:   none*/
 
      char *name;
      unsigned long int address;
      unsigned char *add;
      unsigned char data;
      name = (char *)malloc(0x4000);
      if (name == NULL) 
      {
      printf("Cannot allocate memory\n\r");
      exit(1);
      }
printf("Your segment area is %08lx to %08lx\n\r",name,name+(unsigned long int)0x4000);
printf("Please enter in the address  you want to read in the segment area\n\r");
scanf("%lx",&address);
add = (unsigned char *)address;
data = *add;
printf("The data at the address %08lx is %02x\n\r",address,data); 
printf("Press and key to exit \n\r");
scanf("\n%c",&prompt);
}


Related Discussions:- Malloc and calloc function

What are the common strategies to select a free hole, What are the common s...

What are the common strategies to select a free hole from a set of available holes? The most common methods are a. First fit b. Best fit c. Worst fit

Semaphore, define semaphore. how can we use semaphore to deal with n-proces...

define semaphore. how can we use semaphore to deal with n-process critical section problem.

Explain a boot control block, Explain a boot control block A boot contr...

Explain a boot control block A boot control block can have the information required by the system to boot an operating from that partition. If the disk does not have an operati

What is the use of the command interpreter, Q. What is the use of the comma...

Q. What is the use of the command interpreter? Why is it generally separate from the kernel? Answer: It reads commands from the user or else from a file of commands and execu

Page fault handling , Page Fault Handling conditions like, where the copy...

Page Fault Handling conditions like, where the copy on write bit of a page is set and that page is send by more than one process, the Kernel assign new page and copies the conten

Describe the possible rmi invocation semantics, Question: (a) Briefly d...

Question: (a) Briefly discuss and describe the possible RMI invocation semantics. (b) (i) What is data marshaling? (ii) Explain the role of a remote object reference dur

Problem of unbalanced loads, Present your own fully documented and tested p...

Present your own fully documented and tested programming example illustrating the problem of unbalanced loads. Describe the use of OpenMP's scheduler as a means of mitigating this

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd