_mbsnbset, _mbsnbset_l

Article
12/21/2012

Set the first n bytes of a multibyte-character string to a specified character. More secure versions of these functions are available; see _mbsnbset_s, _mbsnbset_s_l.

Important

This API cannot be used in applications that execute in the Windows Runtime. For more information, see CRT functions not supported with /ZW.

unsigned char *_mbsnbset(
   unsigned char *str,
   unsigned int c,
   size_t count 
);
unsigned char *_mbsnbset_l(
   unsigned char *str,
   unsigned int c,
   size_t count,
   _locale_t locale
);

Parameters

str
String to be altered.
c
Single-byte or multibyte-character setting.
count
Number of bytes to be set.
locale
Locale to use.

Return Value

_mbsnbset returns a pointer to the altered string.

Remarks

The _mbsnbset and _mbsnbset_l functions set, at most, the first count bytes of str to c. If count is greater than the length of str, the length of str is used instead of count. If c is a multibyte character and cannot be set entirely into the last byte specified by count, the last byte is padded with a blank character. _mbsnbset and _mbsnbset_ldoes not place a terminating null at the end of str.

_mbsnbset and _mbsnbset_lis similar to _mbsnset, except that it sets count bytes rather than count characters of c.

If str is NULL or count is zero, this function generates an invalid parameter exception as described in Parameter Validation. If execution is allowed to continue, errno is set to EINVAL and the function returns NULL. Also, if c is not a valid multibyte character, errno is set to EINVAL and a space is used instead.

The output value is affected by the setting of the LC_CTYPE category setting of the locale; see setlocale for more information. The _mbsnbset version of this function uses the current locale for this locale-dependent behavior; the _mbsnbset_l version is identical except that it use the locale parameter passed in instead. For more information, see Locale.

Security Note This API incurs a potential threat brought about by a buffer overrun problem. Buffer overrun problems are a frequent method of system attack, resulting in an unwarranted elevation of privilege. For more information, see Avoiding Buffer Overruns.

Generic-Text Routine Mappings

Tchar.h routine	_UNICODE and _MBCS not defined	_MBCS defined	_UNICODE defined
_tcsnset	_strnset	_mbsnbset	_wcsnset
_tcsnset_l	_strnset_l	_mbsnbset_l	_wcsnset_l

Requirements

Routine	Required header
_mbsnbset	<mbstring.h>
_mbsnbset_l	<mbstring.h>

For more compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Example

// crt_mbsnbset.c
// compile with: /W3
#include <mbstring.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main( void )
{
   char string[15] = "This is a test";
   /* Set not more than 4 bytes of string to be *'s */
   printf( "Before: %s\n", string );
   _mbsnbset( string, '*', 4 ); // C4996
   // Note; _mbsnbset is deprecated; consider _mbsnbset_s
   printf( "After:  %s\n", string );
}

Output

Before: This is a test
After:  **** is a test

.NET Framework Equivalent

Not applicable. To call the standard C function, use PInvoke. For more information, see Platform Invoke Examples.

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