I am trying to read the length of some strings in flash memory on my Arduino UNO. The array string_table
is giving me problems, if I get the index of it with something the compiler optimises to a constant, then I get the expected value. If I access it with something that is a variable at run time, then I get a different answer each time I do so.
I don't think this is specific to Arduino, as I don't seem to be calling any Arduino specific functionality.
#include <avr/pgmspace.h>
// Entries stored in flash memory
const char entry_0[] PROGMEM = "12345";
const char entry_1[] PROGMEM = "abc";
const char entry_2[] PROGMEM = "octagons";
const char entry_3[] PROGMEM = "fiver";
// Pointers to flash memory
const char* const string_table[] PROGMEM = {entry_0, entry_1, entry_2, entry_3};
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
randomSeed(analogRead(0));
int r = random(4);
Serial.print("random key (r) : ");
Serial.println(r);
Serial.print("Wrong size for key = ");
Serial.print(r);
Serial.print(" : ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[r]));
int i = 1;
Serial.print("Correct size for key = ");
Serial.print(i);
Serial.print(" : ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[i]));
Serial.println("=====");
Serial.println("Expected Sizes: ");
Serial.print("0 is: ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[0]));
Serial.print("1 is: ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[1]));
Serial.print("2 is: ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[2]));
Serial.print("3 is: ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[3]));
Serial.println("++++++");
Serial.println("Wrong Sizes: ");
for (i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
Serial.print(i);
Serial.print(" is: ");
Serial.println(strlen_P(string_table[i]));
}
Serial.println("------");
delay(500);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
}
random key (r) : 1
Wrong size for key = 1 : 16203
Correct size for key = 1 : 3
=====
Expected Sizes:
0 is: 5
1 is: 3
2 is: 8
3 is: 5
++++++
Wrong Sizes:
0 is: 0
1 is: 11083
2 is: 3
3 is: 3
------
From avr-libc - source code:
strlen_P()
is implemented as an inline function in theavr/pgmspace.h
header file, which will check if the length of the string is a constant and known at compile time. If it is not known at compile time, the macro will issue a call to__strlen_P()
which will then calculate the length of the string as normal.
That could explain it (although the call to __strlen_P()
should have fixed that).
Maybe use the following instead:
strlen_P((char*)pgm_read_word(&(string_table[i])));
Or maybe try using strlen_PF()
.