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va_list, va_start, va_pass!!! or how to pass variable-argument list to next va-function

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2.58/5 (20 votes)
29 Mar 2005CPOL 115.6K   15   13
trick to pass variable-argument list to next va-function

Introduction

I've been looking for solution of passing variable-argument list from my va-function to another one, like TRACE for example. All solutions I saw were about using special functions that take va_list as argument. But this is a un-straight way. Why couldn't I just pass "..." to next function? C++ syntax doesn't allow this. But C++ allows to extend itself. Let me introduce you new macros from va_ set:

template<byte count>
struct SVaPassNext{
    SVaPassNext<count-1> big;
    DWORD dw;
};
template<> struct SVaPassNext<0>{};
//SVaPassNext - is generator of structure of any size at compile time.

class CVaPassNext{
public:
    SVaPassNext<50> svapassnext;
    CVaPassNext(va_list & args){
		try{//to avoid access violation
			memcpy(&svapassnext, args, sizeof(svapassnext));
		} catch (...) {}
    }
};
#define va_pass(valist) CVaPassNext(valist).svapassnext

#if 0 //using:
void MyVA_Function(szFormat, ...){
    va_list args;
    va_start(args, szFormat);
    SomeOtherVA_Function(szFormat, va_pass(args));
    va_end(args);
}
#endif
how this works:
I just copy 50 * sizeof(DWORD) bytes of stack to my struct of this size and simply pass this struct as ... argument to next function. Compiler just copies my copy of local stack to next function stack. And that's all we need.

Enjoy!

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior)
Russian Federation Russian Federation
As programmer I understand that every program takes brain to be created. The more complex is the software, the more senior developers it takes. And they say that DNA doesn't have an author? I don't buy it.

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionGood! Pin
WuRunZhe5-Dec-13 20:58
WuRunZhe5-Dec-13 20:58 
SuggestionPortable or not, variadic functions themselves are evil Pin
Pa3PyX14-Dec-11 12:25
Pa3PyX14-Dec-11 12:25 
GeneralMy vote of 2 Pin
ZoogieZork6-Apr-09 18:41
ZoogieZork6-Apr-09 18:41 
General[Message Deleted] Pin
Igor Mihailov19-Feb-08 2:04
Igor Mihailov19-Feb-08 2:04 
GeneralRe: Crash on memcpy Pin
araud19-Feb-08 2:14
araud19-Feb-08 2:14 
Generalnot portable Pin
peterchen29-Mar-05 6:20
peterchen29-Mar-05 6:20 
GeneralRe: not portable Pin
araud29-Mar-05 18:55
araud29-Mar-05 18:55 
Look up first at top of this article. This marked as "VS Dev". Next point is that values must be pushed to stack "as is" not as reference because va_arg assumes that. And this would lead to broken logic if there was no distinction between variable passed by value and variable passed by pointer. If you know pointer, doesn't differs from reference for compiled code. So, the only thin place in this approach is that we can't get size of stack at compile time in order to make structure of proper size. But I assure you, call to function of such type like TRACE (it takes only digits and pointers) that overflows 50 DWORDS, looks like TRACE("try write in a sane format here", a,b,c,d,e,f,g...,x,y,z,a1,b1...,x1,y1,z1); If you write such code you can change 50 to 100 to satisfy needs. Access violation indeed can have place but only if memory right after stack is marked as NOACCESS. But I suppose, probability of such occasion is VERY low. Because stack must grow. And for this bad case we can use try{}catch{} around memcpy. This is what I'm going to do. Thank you for your criticism. Big Grin | :-D

"7 You shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make an images in order to bow down to them or serve them. 11 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 12 Observe the sabbath day 16 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged. 17 You shall not kill. 18 Neither shall you commit adultery. 19 Neither shall you steal. 20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 Neither shall you covet anything that's your neighbor's." Your God
GeneralRe: not portable Pin
peterchen29-Mar-05 19:18
peterchen29-Mar-05 19:18 
Generalportable Pin
araud29-Mar-05 21:41
araud29-Mar-05 21:41 
GeneralRe: portable Pin
Anonymous22-Jun-05 2:19
Anonymous22-Jun-05 2:19 
GeneralRe: portable Pin
Jan Richardson7-Aug-05 1:48
Jan Richardson7-Aug-05 1:48 
GeneralRe: portable Pin
__PPS__18-Apr-07 14:37
__PPS__18-Apr-07 14:37 
GeneralRe: portable Pin
araud18-Apr-07 18:52
araud18-Apr-07 18:52 

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