STRCPY(3)                 OpenBSD Programmer's Manual                STRCPY(3)

NAME
     strcpy, strncpy - copy strings



SYNOPSIS
     #include <string.h>

     char *
     strcpy(char *dst, const char *src);

     char *
     strncpy(char *dst, const char *src, size_t len);

DESCRIPTION
     The strcpy() and strncpy() functions copy the string src to dst (includ-
     ing the terminating `\0' character).

     strncpy() copies not more than len characters into dst, appending `\0'
     characters if src is less than len characters long, and not terminating
     dst if src is more than len characters long.

RETURN VALUES
     The strcpy() and strncpy() functions return dst.

EXAMPLES
     The following sets chararray to ``abc\0\0\0'':

           (void)strncpy(chararray, "abc", 6);

     The following sets chararray to ``abcdef'' and does not null terminate
     chararray because the source string is >= the length parameter.
     strncpy() only null terminates the destination string when then length of
     the source string is less than the length parameter.

           (void)strncpy(chararray, "abcdefgh", 6);

     The following copies as many characters from input to buf as will fit and
     null terminates the result.  Because strncpy() does not guarantee to null
     terminate the string itself, we must do this by hand.

           char buf[BUFSIZ];

           (void)strncpy(buf, input, sizeof(buf) - 1);
           buf[sizeof(buf) - 1] = '\0';

     Note that strlcpy(3) is a better choice for this kind of operation.  The
     equivalent using strlcpy(3) is simply:

           (void)strlcpy(buf, input, sizeof(buf));

SEE ALSO
     bcopy(3),  memccpy(3),  memcpy(3),  memmove(3),  strlcpy(3)

STANDARDS
     The strcpy() and strncpy() functions conform to ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI
     C'').

OpenBSD 2.6                      June 29, 1991                               1