When I tried to use strcpy
to copy a string it gave me a compile error.
error C4996 'strcpy': This function or variable may be unsafe.
Consider using `strcpy_s` instead. To disable deprecation,
use `_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS`. See online help for details.
What is the difference between strcpy
and strcpy_s
?
strcpy
is a unsafe function.
When you try to copy a string using strcpy()
to a buffer which is not large enough to contain it, it will cause a buffer overflow.
strcpy_s()
is a security enhanced version of strcpy()
.
With strcpy_s
you can specify the size of the destination buffer to avoid buffer overflows during copies.
char tuna[5]; // a buffer which holds 5 chars incluing the null character.
char salmon[] = "A string which is longer than 5 chars";
strcpy( tuna, salmon ); // This will corrupt your memory because of the buffer overflow.
strcpy_s( tuna, 5, salmon ); // strcpy_s will not write more than 5 chars.