memmove.3 description error
The memmove page in release 2.79 states that a temporary copy is used in case the memory regions overlap. This is of course nonsense. The memory is either copied from front to back or from back to front.
memmove.3 2008-07-23 12:53:20.000000000 +0200 renamed from memmove.3.orig 2008-07-23 12:51:56.000000000 +0200 +1 -9
@@ -39,15 +39,7 @@ .BR memmove () function copies \fIn\fP bytes from memory area \fIsrc\fP to memory area \fIdest\fP. -The memory areas may overlap: copying takes place as though -the bytes in -.I src -are first copied into a temporary array that does not overlap -.I src -or -.IR dest , -and the bytes are then copied from the temporary array to -.IR dest . +The memory areas may overlap. .SH "RETURN VALUE" The .BR memmove ()
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Hello Mark-André,
Quoted 3 lines · Mark-André Hopf
The memmove page in release 2.79 states that a temporary copy is used in case the memory regions overlap. This is of course nonsense. The memory is either copied from front to back or from back to front.
Careful! The page says:
copying takes place *as though*...
And that is the crucial point. How exactly the copying is done (copied from front to back or from back to front), is an implementation detail.
Before man-pages-2.55 this page did not contain the "as though" piece.
It just said that "The memory areas may overlap." Someone (rightly)
complained that the page didn't say what the semantics were if the areas *did* overlap, and so the current text was added. That text is similar to what POSIX.1 says for memmove.3.
So, I'm not applying this patch, but thanks for taking the time to make your report. (I suppose I might consider a patch that mentioned something about the implementation details under NOTES, if you could provide me with enough reason to do so.)
Cheers,
Michael
Quoted 20 lines
memmove.3 2008-07-23 12:53:20.000000000 +0200 renamed from memmove.3.orig 2008-07-23 12:51:56.000000000 +0200 +1
-9@@ -39,15 +39,7 @@ .BR memmove () function copies \fIn\fP bytes from memory area \fIsrc\fP to memory area \fIdest\fP. -The memory areas may overlap: copying takes place as though -the bytes in -.I src -are first copied into a temporary array that does not overlap -.I src -or -.IR dest , -and the bytes are then copied from the temporary array to -.IR dest . +The memory areas may overlap. .SH "RETURN VALUE" The .BR memmove ()
Signature · 8 lines
Michael Kerrisk Linux man-pages maintainer; http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/ man-pages online: http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/online_pages.html Found a bug? http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-man" in the body of a message to [email protected] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html