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Failure in sizeof() function while using Member-Function-Pointers

When using member-function-pointers I noticed that they have a size of 8Bytes each. However when I ask the compiler it says it is only 4Bytes. Having a couple of objects in you program which have member-function-pointers and are created dynamically with new will allways crash your program.

Please refer to the following source-code and documentation:


#include  <StdIO.h>
#include  <Reg164ci.h>

/*
        A simple external object
        */
class cCalculator {

        public:
                int calculate();

};

int cCalculator::calculate(){
        return 27;
}

/*
        The description of the member-function-pointer
*/
typedef int (cCalculator::*fptr)();



/*
        An object with an array of such member-function-pointers
        which is able to call these functions by an index.
*/
class cAnObject  {
public:
   cAnObject();
         ~cAnObject();

         fptr fptr_array[2];    // 2 x 8 bytes = 16 bytes (see watchwindow)

        int   member1;                  // 2 bytes
        int       member2;              // 2 bytes

                                        // --------------------------------------
                                        // total: 20bytes = 0x14bytes

};
/*
        The constructor
*/

cAnObject::cAnObject()  {
  member1 = 1;
  member1 = 2;
}

/*
        The destructor
*/
cAnObject::~cAnObject()  {
  member1 = 0;
  member1 = 0;
}

int main (void)  {

        // now we have the external object
        cCalculator calc1;
        cCalculator calc2;

        // and a couple of objects containing some function pointes
        cAnObject test1;
        cAnObject test2;
        cAnObject test3;

        fptr memberfunction = &(cCalculator::calculate);
        test1.fptr_array[0] =  memberfunction;


        // here we get the size of our objects (see watch window)
        volatile unsigned long object_addr1 = (unsigned long) &test1;
        volatile unsigned long object_addr2 = (unsigned long) &test2;
        volatile unsigned long object_sizeA = object_addr2 - object_addr1;
        volatile unsigned long object_sizeB = sizeof( test1 );
        //...

        // please notice that the static objects have a distance
        // which is different from its size ? why?
        // count the bytes and you see the sizeof() is wrong !!


        // now we simply create the dynamic object (with the wrong size), why ? compiler ?
        // which here leads to an -access violation-, due to
        // the wrong calculated size of the function pointers
        cAnObject * p_test4;
        p_test4 = new cAnObject;
        // and set the function
        p_test4->fptr_array[0] = memberfunction;

        // calc the size
        volatile unsigned long objectSize4 = sizeof(    (*p_test4)      );


        // ----
        // now the function call itself
        cCalculator * p_calc;

        // here we select our target object
        p_calc = &calc1;

        // do the static object call by an index == 0
        fptr p_fct1 = test1.fptr_array[0];
        int x = ( (p_calc)->*( p_fct1 ))( );

        // now use the other object
        p_calc = &calc2;

        // do the dynamic object call   by an index == 0
        fptr p_fct4 = p_test4->fptr_array[0];
        int y = ( (p_calc)->*( p_fct4 ))( );


        // if there is any time please notice that there is a second bug:
        //   try to remove the line "fptr p_fct4 = ..."
        //       and put it into one line like "   int y = ( (p_calc)->*( p_test4->fptr_array[0] ))( );      "
        // and your whole program will crash !

        // just print the result
        printf("%d = %d \r", x, y );

  while (1);
}

Parents
  • If the distance between two objects in an array is 12 bytes (0x0c) but the distance when stepping a pointer is 20 bytes (0x14) then the compiler is most definitely broken!

    The sizeof operator must always produce the same value as the distance between two elements in an array, which has to be the same as the amount a pointer is incremented to step one object forward/backward.

    This is why a pointer of a base-class type may not be used together with arrays of objects - the compiler would not know how much to increment the pointer to reach the next element. It would assume the size of the base class.

Reply
  • If the distance between two objects in an array is 12 bytes (0x0c) but the distance when stepping a pointer is 20 bytes (0x14) then the compiler is most definitely broken!

    The sizeof operator must always produce the same value as the distance between two elements in an array, which has to be the same as the amount a pointer is incremented to step one object forward/backward.

    This is why a pointer of a base-class type may not be used together with arrays of objects - the compiler would not know how much to increment the pointer to reach the next element. It would assume the size of the base class.

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