EXC_BAD_ACCESS issue after refactoring - c++

Question

The following code works in a the Marmalade simulator (I'm on OSX using x-code)
bool PictureDictionary::OnTableSelect(CTable* table, int tab){
//if something is selected, look up the item, and display it
//also change the search to the selected item
if(-1 < tab){
// if a term is selected, set the search text field to the term
CString term = m_SearchResults.GetString(tab);
if(m_currentWord != (char*)term.Get()){
m_currentWord = (char *)term.Get();
m_searchTextField->SetAttribute("text", term);
char* normalizedTerm = (char *)term.Get();
char* imagePath;
sprintf(imagePath,"images/%s.jpg", normalizedTerm);
if(m_ImageAttached){
m_Image->SetAttribute("image", (const char*)imagePath);
} else {
m_Image = CreateImage(CAttributes()
.Set("name", "picture")
.Set("x1", "0")
.Set("x2", "0")
.Set("y1", "50%")
.Set("image", (const char*)imagePath)
);
m_SearchView->AddChild(m_Image);
m_ImageAttached = true;
}
}
}
return true;
}
When I run the simulator, and select an item from the table, the image appears, and changes when I select a different item. When I go to refactor, I get a EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=1…..) Error
bool PictureDictionary::OnTableSelect(CTable* table, int tab){
//if something is selected, look up the item, and display it
//also change the search to the selected item
if(-1 < tab){
// if a term is selected, set the search text field to the term
CString term = m_SearchResults.GetString(tab);
if(m_currentWord != (char*)term.Get()){
m_currentWord = (char *)term.Get();
m_searchTextField->SetAttribute("text", term);
char* normalizedTerm = (char *)term.Get();
char* imagePath;
sprintf(imagePath,"images/%s.jpg", normalizedTerm);
UpdatePictureView(imagePath);
}
}
return true;
}
void PictureDictionary::UpdatePictureView(char* imagePath){
if(m_ImageAttached){
m_Image->SetAttribute("image", (const char*)imagePath);
} else {
m_Image = CreateImage(CAttributes()
.Set("name", "picture")
.Set("x1", "0")
.Set("x2", "0")
.Set("y1", "50%")
.Set("image", (const char*)imagePath)
);
m_SearchView->AddChild(m_Image);
m_ImageAttached = true;
}
}
Any suggestions on how to clean up the code without getting these issues?
Edit RE Comments about uninitialized variables:
m_ImageAttached was initialized to false in the constructor, unless I'm doing something wrong. Also, changing the condition to check if m_Image!=NULL also throws the same error.
main.cpp:
PictureDictionary pictDict(myApp, &dictionary);
Constructor for PictureDictionary:
PictureDictionary::PictureDictionary(CAppPtr app,Dictionary::Dictionary* dictionary){
m_App = app;
m_Dictionary = dictionary;
m_currentWord = "";
m_ImageAttached = false;
}

Answer 1

imagePath is an unitialized pointer, in both snippets. Any attempt to dereference is undefined behaviour. It just appeared to work in the first snippet. Use an array or populate a std::string instead:
std::string imagePath(std::string("images/") + normalizedTerm + ".jpg");
And use std::string::c_str() if access to the underlying const char* is required.