Resizing a C++ std::vector<char> without initializing data

With vectors, one can assume that elements are stored contiguously in memory, allowing the range [&vec[0], &vec[vec.capacity()) to be used as a normal array. E.g.,

vector<char> buf;
buf.reserve(N);
int M = read(fd, &buf[0], N);

But now the vector doesn't know that it contains M bytes of data, added externally by read(). I know that vector::resize() sets the size, but it also clears the data, so it can't be used to update the size after the read() call.

Is there a trivial way to read data directly into vectors and update the size after? Yes, I know of the obvious workarounds like using a small array as a temporary read buffer, and using vector::insert() to append that to the end of the vector:

char tmp[N];
int M = read(fd, tmp, N);
buf.insert(buf.end(), tmp, tmp + M)

This works (and it's what I'm doing today), but it just bothers me that there is an extra copy operation there that would not be required if I could put the data directly into the vector.

So, is there a simple way to modify the vector size when data has been added externally?

vector<char> buf;
buf.reserve(N);
int M = read(fd, &buf[0], N);

This code fragment invokes undefined behavior. You can't write beyond than size() elements, even if you have reserved the space.

The correct code is like:

vector<char> buf;
buf.resize(N);
int M = read(fd, &buf[0], N);
buf.resize(M);

---

PS. Your statement "With vectors, one can assume that elements are stored contiguously in memory, allowing the range [&vec[0], &vec[vec.capacity()) to be used as a normal array" isn't true. The allowable range is [&vec[0], &vec[vec.size()).

It looks like you can do what you want in C++11 (though I haven't tried this myself). You'll have to define a custom allocator for the vector, then use emplace_back().

First, define

struct do_not_initialize_tag {};

Then define your allocator with this member function:

class my_allocator {
    void construct(char* c, do_not_initialize_tag) const {
        // do nothing
    }

    // details omitted
    // ...
}

Now you can add elements to your array without initializing them:

std::vector<char, my_allocator> buf;
buf.reserve(N);
for (int i = 0; i != N; ++i)
    buf.emplace_back(do_not_initialize_tag());
int M = read(fd, buf.data(), N);
buf.resize(M);

The efficiency of this depends on the compiler's optimizer. For instance, the loop may increment the size member variable N times.

Another, newer, question, a duplicate of this one, has an answer, which looks like exactly what is asked here. Here's its copy (of v3) for quick reference:

> It is a known issue that initialization can not be turned off even > explicitly for std::vector. > > People normally implement their own pod_vector<> that does not do > any initialization of the elements. > > Another way is to create a type which is layout-compatible with char, > whose constructor does nothing: > > struct NoInitChar > { > char value; > NoInitChar() { > // do nothing > static_assert(sizeof this == sizeof value, "invalid size"); > static_assert(__alignof this == __alignof value, "invalid alignment"); > } > }; >
> int main() { > std::vector v; > v.resize(10); // calls NoInitChar() which does not initialize > > // Look ma, no reinterpret_cast<>! > char beg = &v.front().value; > char end = beg + v.size(); > }

Writing into and after the size()th element is an undefined behavior.

Next example copies whole file into a vector in a c++ way (no need to know the file's size and no need to preallocate the memory in the vector):

#include <algorithm>
#include <fstream>
#include <iterator>
#include <vector>

int main()
{
	typedef std::istream_iterator<char> istream_iterator;
	std::ifstream file("example.txt");
	std::vector<char> input;

    file >> std::noskipws;
	std::copy( istream_iterator(file), 
               istream_iterator(),
	           std::back_inserter(input));
}

Your program fragment has entered the realm of undefined behavior.

when buf.empty() is true, buf[0] has undefined behavior, and therefore &buf[0] is also undefined.

This fragment probably does what you want.

vector<char> buf;
buf.resize(N); // preallocate space
int M = read(fd, &buf[0], N);
buf.resize(M); // disallow access to the remainder