xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/stdlib/strtoul.3 (revision 0d34d14bb949d7e0fe657c29532de778397cd58d)
1.\"	$NetBSD: strtoul.3,v 1.23 2009/07/23 13:38:57 wiz Exp $
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34.\"     from: @(#)strtoul.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
35.\"
36.Dd July 23, 2009
37.Dt STRTOUL 3
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm strtoul ,
41.Nm strtoull ,
42.Nm strtoumax ,
43.Nm strtouq
44.Nd convert a string to an unsigned long, unsigned long long, uintmax_t or uquad_t integer
45.Sh LIBRARY
46.Lb libc
47.Sh SYNOPSIS
48.In stdlib.h
49.In limits.h
50.Ft unsigned long int
51.Fn strtoul "const char * restrict nptr" "char ** restrict endptr" "int base"
52.Ft unsigned long long int
53.Fn strtoull "const char * restrict nptr" "char ** restrict endptr" "int base"
54.Pp
55.In inttypes.h
56.Ft uintmax_t
57.Fn strtoumax "const char * restrict nptr" "char ** restrict endptr" "int base"
58.Pp
59.In sys/types.h
60.In stdlib.h
61.In limits.h
62.Ft u_quad_t
63.Fn strtouq "const char * restrict nptr" "char ** restrict endptr" "int base"
64.Sh DESCRIPTION
65The
66.Fn strtoul
67function
68converts the string in
69.Fa nptr
70to an
71.Ft unsigned long int
72value.
73The
74.Fn strtoull
75function
76converts the string in
77.Fa nptr
78to an
79.Ft unsigned long long int
80value.
81The
82.Fn strtoumax
83function
84converts the string in
85.Fa nptr
86to an
87.Ft uintmax_t
88value.
89The
90.Fn strtouq
91function
92converts the string in
93.Fa nptr
94to a
95.Ft u_quad_t
96value.
97The conversion is done according to the given
98.Fa base ,
99which must be between 2 and 36 inclusive,
100or be the special value 0.
101.Pp
102The string may begin with an arbitrary amount of white space
103(as determined by
104.Xr isspace 3 )
105followed by a single optional
106.Ql +
107or
108.Ql -
109sign.
110If
111.Fa base
112is zero or 16,
113the string may then include a
114.Ql 0x
115prefix,
116and the number will be read in base 16; otherwise, a zero
117.Fa base
118is taken as 10 (decimal) unless the next character is
119.Ql 0 ,
120in which case it is taken as 8 (octal).
121.Pp
122The remainder of the string is converted to an
123.Em unsigned long
124value in the obvious manner,
125stopping at the end of the string
126or at the first character that does not produce a valid digit
127in the given base.
128(In bases above 10, the letter
129.Ql A
130in either upper or lower case
131represents 10,
132.Ql B
133represents 11, and so forth, with
134.Ql Z
135representing 35.)
136.Pp
137If
138.Fa endptr
139is non-nil,
140.Fn strtoul
141stores the address of the first invalid character in
142.Fa *endptr .
143If there were no digits at all, however,
144.Fn strtoul
145stores the original value of
146.Fa nptr
147in
148.Fa *endptr .
149(Thus, if
150.Fa *nptr
151is not
152.Ql \e0
153but
154.Fa **endptr
155is
156.Ql \e0
157on return, the entire string was valid.)
158.Sh RETURN VALUES
159The
160.Fn strtoul
161function
162returns either the result of the conversion
163or, if there was a leading minus sign,
164the negation of the result of the conversion,
165unless the original (non-negated) value would overflow;
166in the latter case,
167.Fn strtoul
168returns
169.Dv ULONG_MAX ,
170.Fn strtoull
171returns
172.Dv ULLONG_MAX ,
173.Fn strtoumax
174returns
175.Dv UINTMAX_MAX ,
176and the global variable
177.Va errno
178is set to
179.Er ERANGE .
180.Pp
181There is no way to determine if
182.Fn strtoul
183has processed a negative number (and returned an unsigned value) short of
184examining the string in
185.Fa nptr
186directly.
187If the
188.Fa base
189argument is not supported then
190.Va errno
191is set to
192.Er EINVAL
193and the functions return 0.
194.Pp
195If no error occurs,
196.Va errno
197is left unchanged.
198This behavior (which is unlike most library functions) is guaranteed
199by the pertinent standards.
200.Sh EXAMPLES
201Because the return value of
202.Fn strtoul
203cannot be used unambiguously to detect an error,
204.Va errno
205is left unchanged after a successful call.
206To ensure that a string is a valid number (i.e., in range and containing no
207trailing characters), clear
208.Va errno
209beforehand explicitly, then check it afterwards:
210.Bd -literal -offset indent
211char *ep;
212unsigned long ulval;
213
214\&...
215
216errno = 0;
217ulval = strtoul(buf, \*[Am]ep, 10);
218if (buf[0] == '\e0' || *ep != '\e0')
219	goto not_a_number;
220if (errno == ERANGE \*[Am]\*[Am] ulval == ULONG_MAX)
221	goto out_of_range;
222.Ed
223.Pp
224This example will accept
225.Dq 12
226but not
227.Dq 12foo
228or
229.Dq 12\en .
230If trailing whitespace is acceptable, further checks must be done on
231.Va *ep ;
232alternately, use
233.Xr sscanf 3 .
234.Sh ERRORS
235.Bl -tag -width Er
236.It Bq Er EINVAL
237The
238.Ar base
239is not between 2 and 36 and does not contain the special value 0.
240.It Bq Er ERANGE
241The given string was out of range; the value converted has been clamped.
242.El
243.Sh SEE ALSO
244.Xr strtoimax 3 ,
245.Xr strtol 3 ,
246.Xr strtoll 3
247.Sh STANDARDS
248The
249.Fn strtoul
250function
251conforms to
252.St -ansiC .
253The
254.Fn strtoull
255and
256.Fn strtoumax
257functions conform to
258.St -isoC-99 .
259.Sh BUGS
260Ignores the current locale.
261