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

Explain working of the logical file system, Explain working of the logical ...

Explain working of the logical file system The logical file system manages metadata information. Metadata contains all of the file-system structure, excluding actual data. It h

Explain message passing among systems, Q. Explain Message passing among sys...

Q. Explain Message passing among systems? Communications- Message passing among systems requires messages to be turned into packets of information and sent to the network contr

Diehard allocator - custom allocators, Allocators can also be used to avoid...

Allocators can also be used to avoid problems with unsafe languages. C and C++ are pervasive, with huge amounts of existing code. They are also memory-unsafe languages, in that the

Search and print between two words/patterns, what if we need the portion fr...

what if we need the portion from a text based on some keyword. For eg. My file is like below, ------------------------------------------------ Order=[ 1 2 3 4 5 Order=[ 6 7 8 9

Shared stack is used for parameter passing, Q. What protection problems may...

Q. What protection problems may occur if a shared stack is used for parameter passing? Answer: The contents of the stack could be conciliation by other process(es) sharing th

Explain the procedure for handling the page fault, The procedure for handli...

The procedure for handling the page fault is as follows 1. We check the internal table to verify whether the reference was valid or invalid. 2. If the reference was invalid,

Unix operating system, A working Ubuntu Linux operating system.  You can us...

A working Ubuntu Linux operating system.  You can use a Live-CD to complete this assignment. Create an empty text file named assignment6.txt in your home directory. Edit this

Define overflow chaining, Define Overflow Chaining Another method will ...

Define Overflow Chaining Another method will divide the pre-allocated table into two sections: the primary area to determine which keys are mapped and an area for collisions, g

Concepts of an address - data and control bus, Let us consider the operatio...

Let us consider the operation of the EPROM device in more detail. Consider the pining details below again   Before we examine the interface means of the EPROM, it is worth

Define properties to ensure good search performance, Define Properties to E...

Define Properties to Ensure Good Search Performance A hashing function h should possess the subsequent properties to make sure good search performance: a. The hashing functi

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