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

Calculate the average waiting time, Calculate the Average Waiting Time ...

Calculate the Average Waiting Time CPU burst time points out the time, the process needs the CPU. The subsequent are the set of processes with their respective CPU burst time (

Implementation of lru, 1. On every access, mark the page with a timestamp. ...

1. On every access, mark the page with a timestamp. Whenever we need to evict a page, we search through memory for the oldest page, the least-recently used page. But we need memory

Fundamental of operating system, An operating system provides the environme...

An operating system provides the environment within that programs are executed. Internally operating systems differ greatly in their makeup because they are organized along many di

How are file sharing and protection implemented?, How are file sharing and ...

How are file sharing and protection implemented? To implement file protection and sharing, the system ought to maintain more file and directory attributes than are needed on a

Explain briefly the working of semaphore with example ?, Explain briefly th...

Explain briefly the working of semaphore with example ? The E.W. Dijkstra (1965) abstracted the key idea of mutual exclusion in his concepts of semaphores. Definition A s

Process creation, what is process creation and how to create a process

what is process creation and how to create a process

Processes, draw a state diagram showing the transissions of a process from ...

draw a state diagram showing the transissions of a process from creation to termination

Disk scheduling algorithms-first come, FCFS (First Come, First Served) Per...

FCFS (First Come, First Served) Perform operations in order requested No reordering of work queue No starvation every demand is serviced Poor performance

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