[scummvm-devel] RFC: What should happen when adding \0 to a String?

[Walter van Niftrik]

I agree with Filippos and think we should model this after std::string.

Walter

Op wo 30 jun. 2021 om 09:46 schreef Filippos Karapetis via scummvm-devel <
scummvm-devel at lists.scummvm.org>:

> IMHO, we should model Common::String's behavior after std::string.
>
> In std::string, it is possible to add a \0 character, and it is not
> treated as a terminator, plus, these characters count towards the string's
> length. Check here:
> https://akrzemi1.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/strings-length/
>
> So, the best course of action would be to go with the third option,
> because that's what std::string behaves like: \0 should be allowed, and it
> should be part of the string itself (i.e. it should count towards it
> length, and it should not terminate it).
>
> Regards
> Filippos
>
> On Tue, Jun 29, 2021 at 3:33 PM Torbjörn Andersson via scummvm-devel <
> scummvm-devel at lists.scummvm.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> A while back, there was some work done on unifying the String classes.
>> I'm not familiar with the details of that, but apparently as a
>> consequence of that some subtle behavior changed. The one In know about
>> is adding a \0 character to a String, both whether it should be allowed
>> at all and whether it should be counted as part of the String's length.
>>
>> This caused some problems (I know I fixed one in Myst), and a workaround
>> was added so that adding \0 to a String does nothing. Unfortunately,
>> there is at least one engine (ADL) that absolutely depends on this
>> feature, and is now broken. This affects at least Hi-Res Adventures #5
>> and #6.
>>
>> So the question here (and I really have no opinion myself) is, should it
>> be possible to store \0 as part of a String, and if so exactly what
>> should happen? The options I can think of are:
>>
>> - Nothing should happen. (This is the current behavior.)
>> - It should be allowed, but it should terminate the string. (I.e.
>> strings work like in C.)
>> - It should be allowed, and it should not terminate the string. (I.e.
>> strings can contain arbitrary binary data.)
>>
>> But maybe there is some other even more sensible behavior?
>>
>> Of course, whatever behavior we decide on we need to make sure
>> everything works with it. At sev's suggestion, I've added a warning() to
>> base-str.cpp to notify when \0 is added to a String. I have also gone
>> through every game I've added to ScummVM to see whether or not it
>> triggers the warning just by starting it and walking around for a bit.
>>
>> The results of my test can be found in
>> http://www.update.uu.se/~d91tan/tmp/string.txt
>>
>> Note that some of the games I started are not even supported, and that
>> there are some game engines where I don't own a single game. My list is
>> far from exhaustive.
>>
>> Torbjörn Andersson
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>> scummvm-devel at lists.scummvm.org
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>>
>
>
> --
> "Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes" - Oscar Wilde
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