diff --git a/Doc/library/ctypes.rst b/Doc/library/ctypes.rst index 5b733d5321e907..8e74c6c9dee744 100644 --- a/Doc/library/ctypes.rst +++ b/Doc/library/ctypes.rst @@ -2031,35 +2031,55 @@ Utility functions pointer. -.. function:: create_string_buffer(init_or_size, size=None) +.. function:: create_string_buffer(init, size=None) + create_string_buffer(size) This function creates a mutable character buffer. The returned object is a ctypes array of :class:`c_char`. - *init_or_size* must be an integer which specifies the size of the array, or a - bytes object which will be used to initialize the array items. + If *size* is given (and not ``None``), it must be an :class:`int`. + It specifies the size of the returned array. - If a bytes object is specified as first argument, the buffer is made one item - larger than its length so that the last element in the array is a NUL - termination character. An integer can be passed as second argument which allows - specifying the size of the array if the length of the bytes should not be used. + If the *init* argument is given, it must be :class:`bytes`. It is used + to initialize the array items. Bytes not initialized this way are + set to zero (NUL). + + If *size* is not given (or if it is ``None``), the buffer is made one element + larger than *init*, effectively adding a NUL terminator. + + If both arguments are given, *size* must not be less than ``len(init)``. + + .. warning:: + + If *size* is equal to ``len(init)``, a NUL terminator is + not added. Do not treat such a buffer as a C string. + + For example:: + + >>> bytes(create_string_buffer(2)) + b'\x00\x00' + >>> bytes(create_string_buffer(b'ab')) + b'ab\x00' + >>> bytes(create_string_buffer(b'ab', 2)) + b'ab' + >>> bytes(create_string_buffer(b'ab', 4)) + b'ab\x00\x00' + >>> bytes(create_string_buffer(b'abcdef', 2)) + Traceback (most recent call last): + ... + ValueError: byte string too long .. audit-event:: ctypes.create_string_buffer init,size ctypes.create_string_buffer -.. function:: create_unicode_buffer(init_or_size, size=None) +.. function:: create_unicode_buffer(init, size=None) + create_unicode_buffer(size) This function creates a mutable unicode character buffer. The returned object is a ctypes array of :class:`c_wchar`. - *init_or_size* must be an integer which specifies the size of the array, or a - string which will be used to initialize the array items. - - If a string is specified as first argument, the buffer is made one item - larger than the length of the string so that the last element in the array is a - NUL termination character. An integer can be passed as second argument which - allows specifying the size of the array if the length of the string should not - be used. + The function takes the same arguments as :func:`~create_string_buffer` except + *init* must be a string and *size* counts :class:`c_wchar`. .. audit-event:: ctypes.create_unicode_buffer init,size ctypes.create_unicode_buffer