PerlApi question

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Why do the SvPV???() calls require a length parameter?

I thought that the point of SVs is that they know how long any PV is?

Comment on PerlApi question

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PerlApi question by dave_the_m (Monsignor) on Jun 01, 2007 at 00:56 UTC
The SvPV() calls set* the length variable rather than read it. Dave.	[reply]
Re: PerlApi question by Fletch (Bishop) on Jun 01, 2007 at 00:47 UTC
Yes, `SvPV` values do; however `char ` values don't and could possily contain NULs. If you're going back and forth between them you need to know how big they are (or Perl will).	[reply]