Help with struct

[kdu]

I working on a file that invokes <sys/stat>. I've gotten a lot I needed but for the life of me I can't figure where:

struct stat sb;

Goes.

Here is the file in question:

#include "wifimgr.h"
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <pwd.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>

#ifndef WITHOUT_NLS
#include <libintl.h>
#else
#define gettext(x)	(x)
#endif


#define	PATH		"/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin"

main(int argc, char ** argv) {
	char			line[1024];
	char			cmd[1024];
	int			auth = 0;
	int			copy_stdout;
	char *			arg;
	int			xst;
	

#ifndef WITHOUT_NLS
	/* set output character set */
	bind_textdomain_codeset("wifimgr", "UTF-8");

	/* set language catalog domain */
	textdomain("wifimgr");
#endif

	if (isatty(0) || isatty(1)) {
		fprintf(stderr, gettext("wifimgrsu: for invocation by wifimgr(8) only\n"));
		exit(1);
	}

	/* set line buffering */
	setvbuf(stdin, (char *) NULL, _IOLBF, 0);
	setvbuf(stdout, (char *) NULL, _IOLBF, 0);

	/* set safe PATH (required for shell scripts such as /etc/rc.d/netif) */
	setenv("PATH", PATH, 1);

	/* loop reading commands */
	while (fgets(line, sizeof(line), stdin) != NULL) {
		chop(line);
		if (strncmp(line, "password ", 9) == 0) {
			char *			pass;
			char *			su_pass;

			pass = strdup(index(line, ' ') + 1);
			su_pass = strdup(getpwnam("root")->pw_passwd);
			if (strcmp(crypt(pass, su_pass), su_pass) != 0)
				printf("FAIL %s\n", gettext("invalid password"));
			else {
				auth = 1;
				printf("OK\n");
			}
			continue;
		}

		/* go no further unless authorization passed */
		if (!auth) {
			printf("FAIL %s\n", gettext("not authorized"));
			continue;
		}

		/* flag for commands that produce stdout */
		copy_stdout = 0;
		if (strcmp(line, "cat_netfile") == 0) {
			if (stat(file, &sb) >= 0)
				sprintf(cmd, "%s %s", PATH_CAT, NETWORKS_FILE);
			else
				sprintf(cmd, "");
			copy_stdout = 1;
		}
		else if (strncmp(line, "write_netfile ", 14) == 0) {
			arg = index(line, ' ') + 1;
			sprintf(cmd, "%s %s %s", PATH_CP, arg, NETWORKS_FILE);
		}
		else if (strcmp(line, "diff_netfile") == 0)
			sprintf(cmd, "%s -q %s %s.save >/dev/null", PATH_DIFF, NETWORKS_FILE, NETWORKS_FILE);
		else if (strcmp(line, "backup_netfile") == 0)
			sprintf(cmd, "%s -p %s %s.save", PATH_CP, NETWORKS_FILE, NETWORKS_FILE);
		else if (strncmp(line, "restart_netif ", 14) == 0) {
			arg = index(line, ' ') + 1;
			sprintf(cmd, "%s restart %s >/dev/null 2>&1", PATH_NETIF, arg);
		}
		else if (strncmp(line, "start_netif ", 12) == 0) {
			arg = index(line, ' ') + 1;
			sprintf(cmd, "%s start %s >/dev/null 2>&1", PATH_NETIF, arg);
		}
		else if (strncmp(line, "stop_netif ", 11) == 0) {
			arg = index(line, ' ') + 1;
			sprintf(cmd, "%s stop %s >/dev/null 2>&1", PATH_NETIF, arg);
		}
		else {
			printf("FAIL %s\n", gettext("invalid command"));
			continue;
		}

		xst = system(cmd);

		if (copy_stdout)
			printf("EOF\n");

		if (WEXITSTATUS(xst) == 0)
			printf("OK\n");
		else
			printf("FAIL %s %d\n", gettext("exit status"), WEXITSTATUS(xst));
	}
}

[classicmanpro]

If I remember my C correctly, all variables must be declared at the beginning of the function they're used in. In your case it appears to be used in main.

[thirdm]

They can be declared at the start of a block too, though whether that style is acceptable depends on who you're coding with. I like it as a C++ programmer -- the principle being that the smaller the visibility of the variable the simpler the analysis of program when reading it over for errors -- but it doesn't seem like a principle many C programmers agree with. For instance, the OpenBSD style man page has this to say:

" Parts of a for loop may be left empty. Don't put declarations inside blocks unless the routine is unusually complicated."

[thirdm]

Oh and if you can use C99 the variable definitions can be intermixed with the statements like in C++, so if you wanted to you could wait to define it until the last possible place. But in the program above the last possible place is the same as the beginning of the if block enclosing the stat call, so there's no difference.

[thirdm]

One more thing. This code is rife with potential null pointer references and buffer overflows from trusting its input and assuming functions (e.g. index) don't fail and using error prone functions like sprintf.

Say, it wouldn't happen to come from the source code of PHP would it?

[ephemera]

maybe its defined in "wifimgr.h"

[classicmanpro]

Originally Posted by ephemera

maybe its defined in "wifimgr.h"

It might be there but I sincerely hope it isn't. As far as I know, the only variable that should be declared/defined in a header is a constant and, in his case, it's not a constant and it shouldn't be global, not even file static, unless he wants to create some sort of global buffer.

[thirdm]

Yeah, I think it being defined in the header or declared in the header and defined in some other module can be ruled out. The code isn't good, but it's not that out there.

[ephemera]

@classicmanpro
like someone said: learn the rules then break them ;-)

[thirdm]

Originally Posted by ephemera

@classicmanpro
like someone said: learn the rules then break them ;-)

By keeping a handy global variable around with a two letter name that happens to coincide with example parameter names in man pages maximizing the probability of local variables having the same name and cloaking your global in confusing ways should you ever actually want to look at its value? And this handy little variable is so you can call stat to check the existence of a file (though seemingly you don't care if it exists and is a non-file type like a directory or device node) without the onerous task of adding the variable definition in your block?

if (some_other_predicate(...)) {
   struct stat sb;
   if (stat(fname, &sb) == -1)
       handle the error.
   else
       act on file or directory or whatever thing is.
       maybe sb has something in it you want to look at, hmm.
}
else ...