Question

I been working in a project that handles some char* pointers, and it’s a requisite of the class to use char* instead of std::string, so…

I have this structure definition and this queue:

typedef struct packetQueue
{
    char* buf;
    int length;

    packetQueue()
    {
        buf = new char[];
        length = 0;
    }

    } PACKET;

concurrency::concurrent_queue IP_in_queue;

I have this buffer:

char sendBuf[MSG_SIZE + sizeof (IP_PACKET_HEADER_T) + 1]; // String to be send

and a structure for my new buffer:

PACKET ipQueue;

then I fill my buffer with this:

// Concatenates the header with sended message
memcpy(sendBuf, (void*)&sendHeader, sizeof(sendHeader));

memcpy(&sendBuf[sizeof(sendHeader)], readMessage, sendHeader.length);

ipQueue.buf = sendBuf;
ipQueue.length = packetSize;

And then I push my packet to my queue
IP_in_queue.push(ipQueue); // Push the buffer in the IP_in_queue

This is my loop just in case:

while ( 1 )
{
    // Get the user input
    cout << "> ";
    cin.getline (buf, BUFLEN);

    IP_PACKET_HEADER_T sendHeader; // Store the header to be send
    PACKET ipQueue;

    char* fakeIPAddressDst, *readMessage; 

    delay = atoi(strtok (buf," ")); // Takes the first delay value
    fakeIPAddressDst = strtok (NULL, " "); // Stores the IP Address
    readMessage = strtok (NULL, " "); // Stores the sended message

    Sleep(delay); // Sleep the miliseconds defined

    // Fills the header with the data neccesary data
    sendHeader.DIP = inet_addr(fakeIPAddressDst);
    sendHeader.SIP = inet_addr(initAddress.fakeIpAddress);
    sendHeader.length = getStringLength(readMessage) + 1;
    packetSize = sizeof( sendHeader ) + sendHeader.length; // Defines the size of the packet to be send

    // Concatenates the header with sended message
    memcpy(sendBuf, (void*)&sendHeader, sizeof(sendHeader));
    memcpy(&sendBuf[sizeof(sendHeader)], readMessage, sendHeader.length);

    ipQueue.buf = sendBuf;
    ipQueue.length = packetSize;

    numbytes = packetSize; // The number of bytes of sended buffer

    char sendedString[BUFLEN + 1]; // Variable for stores the data
    IP_PACKET_HEADER_T readHeader; // To store the header for showing the information

    // Print out the content of the packet
    // Copy from buf to the header
    memcpy( (void*)&readHeader, ipQueue.buf, sizeof( IP_PACKET_HEADER_T));
    // Copy message part
    memcpy( sendedString, &ipQueue.buf[sizeof(IP_PACKET_HEADER_T)], numbytes - sizeof(IP_PACKET_HEADER_T));
    // Append \0 to the end
    sendedString[numbytes - sizeof(IP_PACKET_HEADER_T)] = '\0';

    // Save the IP information of the packet in a struct for print on the screen
    struct in_addr fakeAddrHost;
    fakeAddrHost.s_addr = readHeader.SIP;

    // Print the neccesary data
    cout << "[IN] DST: " << fakeIPAddressDst << endl; // Fake IP address of the destination
    cout << "[IN] SRC: " << inet_ntoa(fakeAddrHost) << endl; // Fake IP address of the host
    cout << "[IN] MSG: " << sendedString << endl ; // Message to send

    IP_in_queue.push(ipQueue); // Push the buffer in the IP_in_queue
}

I know there is a memory leak in this procedure but I’m not sure.
When I push my packet, the buf pointer keeps pointing to my sendBuf, am I right? Because the assignment does that, but if I delete my pointer in the ipQueue after I push the program crashes. I have to say, after I push that struct into the queue, another thread try to pop that one, and obviously if I delete my ipQueue pointer I’ll lost my buffer, so how can I avoid this memory leak?

Thanks

EDIT:

The memory leak using the definition of buf = nullptr

---------- Block 1 at 0x0068BB30: 264 bytes ----------
  Call Stack:
    d:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 11.0\vc\include\concurrent_queue.h (402): Host.exe!Concurrency::concurrent_queue<packetQueue,std::allocator<packetQueue> >::_Allocate_page + 0xF bytes
    f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\concurrent_queue.cpp (113): MSVCP110D.dll!Concurrency::details::_Micro_queue::_Push + 0xD bytes
    f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\concurrent_queue.cpp (232): MSVCP110D.dll!Concurrency::details::_Concurrent_queue_base_v4::_Internal_push
    d:\program files (x86)\microsoft visual studio 11.0\vc\include\concurrent_queue.h (566): Host.exe!Concurrency::concurrent_queue<packetQueue,std::allocator<packetQueue> >::push + 0xF bytes
    d:\users\silex rpr\documents\visual studio 2012\projects\project2\project2\host.cpp (802): Host.exe!main
    f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\crtexe.c (536): Host.exe!__tmainCRTStartup + 0x19 bytes
    f:\dd\vctools\crt_bld\self_x86\crt\src\crtexe.c (377): Host.exe!mainCRTStartup
    0x7662339A (File and line number not available): kernel32.dll!BaseThreadInitThunk + 0x12 bytes
    0x77179EF2 (File and line number not available): ntdll.dll!RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 0x63 bytes
    0x77179EC5 (File and line number not available): ntdll.dll!RtlInitializeExceptionChain + 0x36 bytes

Answer 1

First off; this isn’t C, you’re using a C++ compiler. structures in C cannot have methods and constructors and new and delete don’t exist.

Secondly, you allocate memory for buf in your constructor, but then…

ipQueue.buf = sendBuf;

That’s a leak. You need to call delete for every call to new. You allocate buf with new, but never call delete on it, so that memory is leaked.

I see no reason to allocate buf here. Just set it to null.

typedef struct packetQueue
{
    char* buf;
    int length;

    packetQueue()
        : buf(nullptr), length(0) { }
} PACKET;

---

On a side note, this is a very nasty mix of C and C++. Is this what your teacher is teaching you guys?