segmentation fault pushing back to vector in shared memory - c++

Question

I working on a program that simulates travel agents booking flights in parallel. It spins up a process for each agent and works against an array of Plane objects held in shared memory.
I'm getting a segmentation fault when I try to push a row of seats back to the plane. The method to parse the input file calls a SetSeats() method on Plane objects. Each Plane contains a vector<map<char, Seat>> (each index of the vector is a row, each key of each map is the letter of a seat on that row). When I call SetSeats() it goes fine through adding seats to the first map, i.e. the first row of seats. It throws the segfault when I try to push the map back to the seats vector.
I saw something online about pushing back custom classes to vectors needing deconstructors, so I added them to Seat.h and Plane.h.
Code for the main program:
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <vector>
#incluce <string>
#include <fstream>
#include "Seat.h"
#include "Plane.h"
void ParseInputFile(ifstream &inFS, int numPlanes, int &numAgents);
int shmid;
int *timer;
int numPlanes, numAgents;
struct sembuf *ops;
Plane *sharedPlanes;
map<string, Plane*> planes;
using namespace std;
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
ifstream inFS;
// code to get an input file from command line arguments and get number of planes from it
// set up shared memory segment
long key = XXX; // just a long integer
int nbytes = 1024;
shmid = shmget((key_t)key, nbytes, 0666 | IPC_CREAT);
if (shmid == -1)
{
printf("Error in shared memory region setup.\n");
perror("REASON");
exit(2);
}
// initialize global variables
sharedPlanes = new Plane[numPlanes];
timer = new int;
ops = new sembuf[1];
// attached shared pointers to shared memory segment
sharedPlanes = (Plane*)shmat(shmid, (Plane*)0, 0);
timer = (int*)shmat(shmid, (int*)0, 0);
*timer = 0;
inFS.open(inputFile);
ParseInputFile(inFS, numPlanes, numAgents); // breaks in here
// the rest of main()
}
void ParseInputFile(ifstream &inFS, int numPlanes, int &numAgents)
{
string line = "";
bool foundNumberOfPlanes = false;
bool foundPlanes = false;
bool foundNumberOfAgents = false;
bool lookingForAgent = false;
bool foundAgent = false;
int planeNo = 0;
int agentNo = 0;
int opNo = 0;
map<string, Operation> ops;
vector<Request> agentRequests;
while (getline(inFS, line))
{
if (!CommonMethods::IsWhitespace(line))
{
// code to read first line
if (foundNumberOfPlanes && !foundPlanes)
{
// parse a line from the input file to get details about the plane
Plane *plane = &sharedPlanes[planeNo];
unsigned int rows = xxx; // set based on the plane details
unsigned int seatsPerRow = xxx; set based on the plane details
plane->SetSeats(rows, seatsPerRow); // this is the method where I get the seg fault
// finish defining the plane
continue;
// the rest of the method
}
}
}
}
Code for Plane.h:
#pragma once
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <map>
#include <tuple>
#include <vector>
#include "Seat.h"
#include "Exceptions.h"
#include "ReservationStatus.h"
#include "CommonMethods.h"
using namespace std;
class Plane
{
private:
vector<map<char, Seat>> seats;
unsigned int numberOfRows, numberOfSeatsPerRow;
public:
Plane(unsigned int numberOfRows, unsigned int numberOfSeatsPerRow);
Plane() {}
void SetSeats(unsigned int numberOfRows, unsigned int numberOfSeatsPerRow);
};
void Plane::SetSeats(unsigned int numberOfRows, unsigned int numberOfSeatsPerRow)
{
//cout << "Clearing old seats" << endl;
if (!seats.empty())
{
//cout << "Seats not empty" << endl;
for (int i = 0; i < (int)seats.size(); i++)
{
//cout << "checking row " << i << endl;
if (!seats.at(i).empty())
{
//cout << "Row " << i << " not empty" << endl;
seats.at(i).clear();
}
}
}
cout << "Rows: " << numberOfRows << ", Seats: " << numberOfSeatsPerRow << endl;
this->numberOfRows = numberOfRows;
this->numberOfSeatsPerRow = numberOfSeatsPerRow;
for (unsigned int i = 0; i < this->numberOfRows; i++)
{
map<char, Seat> row;
for (unsigned int j = 0; j < this->numberOfSeatsPerRow; j++)
{
Seat seat;
seat.RowNumber = i + 1;
seat.SeatLetter = j + 'A';
//cout << "Inserting seat " << seat.RowNumber << seat.SeatLetter << endl;
row.insert(pair<char, Seat>(seat.SeatLetter, seat));
}
if (!row.empty())
{
cout << "inserting row " << (i + 1) << endl;
seats.push_back(row);
}
}
}
void Plane::ProcessWaitAny(int t)
{
while (!WaitingList.empty())
{
bool booked = false;
string pass = WaitingList.front();
WaitingList.pop();
for (unsigned int j = 0; j < numberOfRows; j++)
{
if (booked)
break;
for (unsigned int k = 0; k < numberOfSeatsPerRow; k++)
{
Seat *s = &seats.at(j)[k + 'A'];
if (!s->IsBooked)
{
Reserve(s, pass);
booked = true;
string seatNo = to_string(j);
seatNo += (k + 'A');
cout << "Passenger " << pass << " booked into seat " << seatNo << " at time " << t << endl;
break;
}
}
}
if (!booked)
return;
}
}
Code for Seat.h
#pragma once
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <queue>
using namespace std;
struct Seat
{
string Passenger = "";
bool IsBooked = false;
unsigned int RowNumber;
char SeatLetter;
queue<string> WaitingList;
};

Answer 1

I have made a minimum working example of your problem:
#include <vector>
#include <sys/shm.h>
#include <iostream>
class Bar {
public:
Bar() {};
std::vector<int> vec;
};
int main() {
int shmid;
Bar* a = new Bar();
a->vec.push_back(1);
// set up shared memory segment
long key = 0x123455; // just a long integer
int nbytes = 1024;
shmid = shmget((key_t)key, nbytes, 0666 | IPC_CREAT);
if (shmid == -1)
{
printf("Error in shared memory region setup.\n");
perror("REASON");
exit(2);
}
a = (Bar*)shmat(shmid, (Bar*)0, 0);
a->vec.push_back(2);
}
The problem is your wrong usage of shmat. The pointer sharedPlane just points to some unitialized shared memory. You have to make sure that the address provided by key is 'right'. To do this, do the following:
Your other process, call Plane * other_process_sharedPlane = new Plane();. Remove the line sharedPlanes = new Plane[numPlanes]; from your main programm.
In your main process, set key to the value of other_process_sharedPlane
Then you can call shmget and shmadd