Returning a pointer

Ok, here is my problem: I am trying to write a function to get the text of an edit box (not the dialog kind). I want to return a char*, but if I free the memory first, there is nothing to return. If I return first, the memory doesn't get freed. What can I do?

Code:

---

char* getText()
{   
    int len = GetWindowTextLength(m_hParent);
    char* buf = (char*)GlobalAlloc(GPTR, len + 1);

    GetWindowText(m_hParent, buf, len + 1);

    GlobalFree((HANDLE)buf);

    return buf;
}

---

In general, when you call a routine, it cannot return pointers it creates to memory it allocates.

Allocate memory either in main() or in the calling function.

Some programmers create a global buffer for just such use

Code:

---

static char globalbuf[4096];

int main(void){
   
..........// stuff

}

char* getText()
{   
    int len = GetWindowTextLength(m_hParent);
    char* buf = globalbuf;

    GetWindowText(m_hParent, buf, len + 1);

    GlobalFree((HANDLE)buf);

    return buf;
}

---

Except remove the GlobalFree() call from the function =).

Z.

Why can't you just return a string and be done with it? :)

Ok, but where's the fun in that? ;)

Look at C. strcpy(), strstr(), strchr()
ALL return a pointer to one of the arguments - they don't create a pointer out of thin air. Which is what you're trying to do.