Hello, On macOS, the strcpy(3) manual page contains the following "Admonishment" prominently displayed immediately after the Synopsis:
YOU SHOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY USE strlcpy() INSTEAD. See "Examples" below. (Likewise for strcat(3).) I find this a rather effective way of discouraging its use especially for inexperienced programmers, who I still see use these function in unsafe ways all too often. What do people think about adding this warning (see attached diff)? -Jan
Index: strcat.3 =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/src/lib/libc/string/strcat.3,v retrieving revision 1.16 diff -b -u -r1.16 strcat.3 --- strcat.3 16 Oct 2006 08:48:45 -0000 1.16 +++ strcat.3 4 Oct 2022 03:04:32 -0000 @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ .\" from: @(#)strcat.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93 .\" $NetBSD: strcat.3,v 1.16 2006/10/16 08:48:45 wiz Exp $ .\" -.Dd August 11, 2002 +.Dd October 03, 2022 .Dt STRCAT 3 .Os .Sh NAME @@ -47,6 +47,17 @@ .Fn strcat "char * restrict s" "const char * restrict append" .Ft char * .Fn strncat "char * restrict s" "const char * restrict append" "size_t count" +.Sh ADMONISHMENT +.Pp +.ti +8 +.Pp +YOU SHOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY USE +.Fn strlcat +INSTEAD. +.Pp +.Pp +.ti +8 +See "Examples" below. .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn strcat Index: strcpy.3 =================================================================== RCS file: /cvsroot/src/lib/libc/string/strcpy.3,v retrieving revision 1.23 diff -b -u -r1.23 strcpy.3 --- strcpy.3 1 Apr 2015 20:18:17 -0000 1.23 +++ strcpy.3 4 Oct 2022 03:04:32 -0000 @@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ .\" from: @(#)strcpy.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93 .\" $NetBSD: strcpy.3,v 1.23 2015/04/01 20:18:17 riastradh Exp $ .\" -.Dd April 1, 2015 +.Dd October 03, 2022 .Dt STRCPY 3 .Os .Sh NAME @@ -53,6 +53,17 @@ .Fn strcpy "char * restrict dst" "const char * restrict src" .Ft char * .Fn strncpy "char * restrict dst" "const char * restrict src" "size_t len" +.Sh ADMONISHMENT +.Pp +.ti +8 +.Pp +YOU SHOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY USE +.Fn strlcpy +INSTEAD. +.Pp +.Pp +.ti +8 +See "Examples" below. .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn stpcpy
