Copy a string.
char *strcpy( char *strDestination, const char *strSource );
wchar_t *wcscpy( wchar_t *strDestination, const wchar_t *strSource );
unsigned char *_mbscpy( unsigned char *strDestination, const unsigned char *strSource );
| Routine | Required Header | Compatibility |
| strcpy | <string.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| wcscpy | <string.h> or <wchar.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| _mbscpy | <mbstring.h> | Win 95, Win NT |
For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.
Libraries
| LIBC.LIB | Single thread static library, retail version |
| LIBCMT.LIB | Multithread static library, retail version |
| MSVCRT.LIB | Import library for MSVCRT.DLL, retail version |
Return Value
Each of these functions returns the destination string. No return value is reserved to indicate an error.
Parameters
strDestination
Destination string
strSource
Null-terminated source string
Remarks
The strcpy function copies strSource, including the terminating null character, to the location specified by strDestination. No overflow checking is performed when strings are copied or appended. The behavior of strcpy is undefined if the source and destination strings overlap.
wcscpy and _mbscpy are wide-character and multibyte-character versions of strcpy. The arguments and return value of wcscpy are wide-character strings; those of _mbscpy are multibyte-character strings. These three functions behave identically otherwise.
Generic-Text Routine Mappings
| TCHAR.H Routine | _UNICODE & _MBCS Not Defined | _MBCS Defined | _UNICODE Defined |
| _tcscpy | strcpy | _mbscpy | wcscpy |
Example
/* STRCPY.C: This program uses strcpy
* and strcat to build a phrase.
*/
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
void main( void )
{
char string[80];
strcpy( string, "Hello world from " );
strcat( string, "strcpy " );
strcat( string, "and " );
strcat( string, "strcat!" );
printf( "String = %s\n", string );
}
Output
String = Hello world from strcpy and strcat!
See Also strcat, strcmp, strncat, strncmp, strncpy, _strnicmp, strrchr, strspn