xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/stdlib/strtoul.3 (revision b1c86f5f087524e68db12794ee9c3e3da1ab17a0)
1.\"	$NetBSD: strtoul.3,v 1.25 2009/12/02 12:50:27 pooka Exp $
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34.\"     from: @(#)strtoul.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
35.\"
36.Dd December 2, 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 ,
176.Fn strtouq
177returns
178.Dv UQUAD_MAX ,
179and the global variable
180.Va errno
181is set to
182.Er ERANGE .
183.Pp
184There is no way to determine if
185.Fn strtoul
186has processed a negative number (and returned an unsigned value) short of
187examining the string in
188.Fa nptr
189directly.
190If the
191.Fa base
192argument is not supported then
193.Va errno
194is set to
195.Er EINVAL
196and the functions return 0.
197.Pp
198If no error occurs,
199.Va errno
200is left unchanged.
201This behavior (which is unlike most library functions) is guaranteed
202by the pertinent standards.
203.Sh EXAMPLES
204Because the return value of
205.Fn strtoul
206cannot be used unambiguously to detect an error,
207.Va errno
208is left unchanged after a successful call.
209To ensure that a string is a valid number (i.e., in range and containing no
210trailing characters), clear
211.Va errno
212beforehand explicitly, then check it afterwards:
213.Bd -literal -offset indent
214char *ep;
215unsigned long ulval;
216
217\&...
218
219errno = 0;
220ulval = strtoul(buf, \*[Am]ep, 10);
221if (buf[0] == '\e0' || *ep != '\e0')
222	goto not_a_number;
223if (errno == ERANGE \*[Am]\*[Am] ulval == ULONG_MAX)
224	goto out_of_range;
225.Ed
226.Pp
227This example will accept
228.Dq 12
229but not
230.Dq 12foo
231or
232.Dq 12\en .
233If trailing whitespace is acceptable, further checks must be done on
234.Va *ep ;
235alternately, use
236.Xr sscanf 3 .
237.Sh ERRORS
238.Bl -tag -width Er
239.It Bq Er EINVAL
240The
241.Ar base
242is not between 2 and 36 and does not contain the special value 0.
243.It Bq Er ERANGE
244The given string was out of range; the value converted has been clamped.
245.El
246.Sh SEE ALSO
247.Xr strtoimax 3 ,
248.Xr strtol 3 ,
249.Xr strtoll 3
250.Sh STANDARDS
251The
252.Fn strtoul
253function
254conforms to
255.St -ansiC .
256The
257.Fn strtoull
258and
259.Fn strtoumax
260functions conform to
261.St -isoC-99 .
262.Sh BUGS
263Ignores the current locale.
264