xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/stdlib/hcreate.3 (revision b5677b36047b601b9addaaa494a58ceae82c2a6c)
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30.Dd February 13, 2001
31.Dt HCREATE 3
32.Os
33.Sh NAME
34.Nm hcreate ,
35.Nm hdestroy ,
36.Nm hsearch
37.Nd manage hash search table
38.Sh LIBRARY
39.Lb libc
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.In search.h
42.Ft int
43.Fn hcreate "size_t nel"
44.Ft void
45.Fn hdestroy "void"
46.Ft ENTRY *
47.Fn hsearch "ENTRY item" "ACTION action"
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49The
50.Fn hcreate ,
51.Fn hdestroy
52and
53.Fn hsearch
54functions manage hash search tables.
55.Pp
56The
57.Fn hcreate
58function allocates and initializes the table.
59The
60.Fa nel
61argument specifies an estimate of the maximum number of entries to be held
62by the table.
63Unless further memory allocation fails, supplying an insufficient
64.Fa nel
65value will not result in functional harm, although a performance degradation
66may occur.
67Initialization using the
68.Fn hcreate
69function is mandatory prior to any access operations using
70.Fn hsearch .
71.Pp
72The
73.Fn hdestroy
74function destroys a table previously created using
75.Fn hcreate .
76After a call to
77.Fn hdestroy ,
78the data can no longer be accessed.
79.Pp
80The
81.Fn hsearch
82function is used to search to the hash table.
83It returns a pointer into the
84hash table indicating the address of an item.
85The
86.Fa item
87argument is of type
88.Dv ENTRY ,
89a structural type which contains the following members:
90.Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width voidX*dataXX
91.It Fa char *key
92comparison key.
93.It Fa void *data
94pointer to data associated with
95.Fa key .
96.El
97.Pp
98The key comparison function used by
99.Fn hsearch
100is
101.Xr strcmp 3 .
102.Pp
103The
104.Fa action
105argument is of type
106.Dv ACTION ,
107an enumeration type which defines the following values:
108.Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width ENTERXX
109.It Dv ENTER
110Insert
111.Fa item
112into the hash table.
113If an existing item with the same key is found, it is not replaced.
114Note that the
115.Fa key
116and
117.Fa data
118elements of
119.Fa item
120are used directly by the new table entry.
121The storage for the
122key must not be modified during the lifetime of the hash table.
123.It Dv FIND
124Search the hash table without inserting
125.Fa item .
126.El
127.Sh RETURN VALUES
128If successful, the
129.Fn hcreate
130function returns a non-zero value.
131Otherwise, a value of 0 is returned and
132.Va errno
133is set to indicate the error.
134.Pp
135The
136.Fn hdestroy
137functions
138returns no value.
139.Pp
140If successful, the
141.Fn hsearch
142function returns a pointer to hash table entry matching
143the provided key.
144If the action is
145.Dv FIND
146and the item was not found, or if the action is
147.Dv ENTER
148and the insertion failed,
149.Dv NULL
150is returned and
151.Va errno
152is set to indicate the error.
153If the action is
154.Dv ENTER
155and an entry already existed in the table matching the given
156key, the existing entry is returned and is not replaced.
157.Sh ERRORS
158The
159.Fn hcreate
160and
161.Fn hsearch
162functions will fail if:
163.Bl -tag -width Er
164.It Bq Er ENOMEM
165Insufficient memory is available.
166.El
167.Sh SEE ALSO
168.Xr bsearch 3 ,
169.Xr lsearch 3 ,
170.Xr malloc 3 ,
171.Xr strcmp 3
172.Sh STANDARDS
173The
174.Fn hcreate ,
175.Fn hdestroy
176and
177.Fn hsearch
178functions conform to
179.St -xpg4.2 .
180.Sh HISTORY
181The
182.Fn hcreate ,
183.Fn hdestroy
184and
185.Fn hsearch
186functions first appeared in
187.At V .
188.Sh BUGS
189The interface permits the use of only one hash table at a time.
190