xref: /openbsd/lib/libc/stdlib/strtoul.3 (revision d89ec533)
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32.\"	$OpenBSD: strtoul.3,v 1.24 2014/11/30 21:21:59 schwarze Exp $
33.\"
34.Dd $Mdocdate: November 30 2014 $
35.Dt STRTOUL 3
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm strtoul ,
39.Nm strtoull ,
40.Nm strtoumax ,
41.Nm strtouq
42.Nd convert a string to an unsigned long, unsigned long long or uintmax_t integer
43.Sh SYNOPSIS
44.In limits.h
45.In stdlib.h
46.Ft unsigned long
47.Fn strtoul "const char *nptr" "char **endptr" "int base"
48.Ft unsigned long long
49.Fn strtoull "const char *nptr" "char **endptr" "int base"
50.In inttypes.h
51.Ft uintmax_t
52.Fn strtoumax "const char *nptr" "char **endptr" "int base"
53.In sys/types.h
54.In limits.h
55.In stdlib.h
56.Ft u_quad_t
57.Fn strtouq "const char *nptr" "char **endptr" "int base"
58.Sh DESCRIPTION
59The
60.Fn strtoul
61function converts the string in
62.Fa nptr
63to an
64.Vt unsigned long
65value.
66The
67.Fn strtoull
68function converts the string in
69.Fa nptr
70to an
71.Vt unsigned long long
72value.
73The
74.Fn strtoumax
75function converts the string in
76.Fa nptr
77to a
78.Vt umaxint_t
79value.
80The
81.Fn strtouq
82function is a deprecated equivalent of
83.Fn strtoull
84and is provided for backwards compatibility with legacy programs.
85The conversion is done according to the given
86.Fa base ,
87which must be a number between 2 and 36 inclusive or the special value 0.
88If the string in
89.Fa nptr
90represents a negative number, it will be converted to its unsigned equivalent.
91This behavior is consistent with what happens when a signed integer type is
92cast to its unsigned counterpart.
93.Pp
94The string may begin with an arbitrary amount of whitespace
95(as determined by
96.Xr isspace 3 )
97followed by a single optional
98.Ql +
99or
100.Ql -
101sign.
102If
103.Fa base
104is zero or 16, the string may then include a
105.Ql 0x
106prefix, and the number will be read in base 16; otherwise, a zero
107.Fa base
108is taken as 10 (decimal) unless the next character is
109.Ql 0 ,
110in which case it is taken as 8 (octal).
111.Pp
112The remainder of the string is converted to an
113.Vt unsigned long ,
114.Vt unsigned long long ,
115or
116.Vt uintmax_t
117value in the obvious manner,
118stopping at the first character which is not a valid digit
119in the given base.
120(In bases above 10, the letter
121.Ql A
122in either upper or lower case represents 10,
123.Ql B
124represents 11, and so forth, with
125.Ql Z
126representing 35.)
127.Pp
128If
129.Fa endptr
130is non-null,
131.Fn strtoul
132stores the address of the first invalid character in
133.Fa *endptr .
134If there were no digits at all, however,
135.Fn strtoul
136stores the original value of
137.Fa nptr
138in
139.Fa *endptr .
140(Thus, if
141.Fa *nptr
142is not
143.Ql \e0
144but
145.Fa **endptr
146is
147.Ql \e0
148on return, the entire string was valid.)
149.Sh RETURN VALUES
150The
151.Fn strtoul ,
152.Fn strtoull ,
153.Fn strtoumax
154and
155.Fn strtouq
156functions return either the result of the conversion or,
157if there was a leading minus sign,
158the negation of the result of the conversion,
159unless the original (non-negated) value would overflow.
160If overflow occurs,
161.Fn strtoul
162returns
163.Dv ULONG_MAX ,
164.Fn strtoull
165returns
166.Dv ULLONG_MAX ,
167.Fn strtoumax
168returns
169.Dv UINTMAX_MAX ,
170.Fn strtouq
171returns
172.Dv ULLONG_MAX
173and the global variable
174.Va errno
175is set to
176.Er ERANGE .
177.Pp
178There is no way to determine if
179.Fn strtoul
180has processed a negative number (and returned an unsigned value) short of
181examining the string in
182.Fa nptr
183directly.
184.Pp
185If there is no valid digit, 0 is returned.
186If
187.Ar base
188is invalid, 0 is returned and the global variable
189.Va errno
190is set to
191.Er EINVAL .
192.Sh EXAMPLES
193Ensuring that a string is a valid number (i.e., in range and containing no
194trailing characters) requires clearing
195.Va errno
196beforehand explicitly since
197.Va errno
198is not changed on a successful call to
199.Fn strtoul ,
200and the return value of
201.Fn strtoul
202cannot be used unambiguously to signal an error:
203.Bd -literal -offset indent
204char *ep;
205unsigned long ulval;
206
207\&...
208
209errno = 0;
210ulval = strtoul(buf, &ep, 10);
211if (buf[0] == '\e0' || *ep != '\e0')
212	goto not_a_number;
213if (errno == ERANGE && ulval == ULONG_MAX)
214	goto out_of_range;
215.Ed
216.Pp
217This example will accept
218.Dq 12
219but not
220.Dq 12foo
221or
222.Dq 12\en .
223If trailing whitespace is acceptable, further checks must be done on
224.Va *ep ;
225alternately, use
226.Xr sscanf 3 .
227.Sh ERRORS
228.Bl -tag -width Er
229.It Bq Er EINVAL
230The value of
231.Ar base
232was neither between 2 and 36 inclusive nor the special value 0.
233.It Bq Er ERANGE
234The given string was out of range; the value converted has been clamped.
235.El
236.Sh SEE ALSO
237.Xr sscanf 3 ,
238.Xr strtol 3
239.Sh STANDARDS
240The
241.Fn strtoul ,
242.Fn strtoull ,
243and
244.Fn strtoumax
245functions conform to
246.St -isoC-99 .
247Setting
248.Va errno
249to
250.Dv EINVAL
251is an extension to that standard required by
252.St -p1003.1-2008 .
253.Pp
254The
255.Fn strtouq
256function is a
257.Bx
258extension and is provided for backwards compatibility with legacy programs.
259.Sh BUGS
260Ignores the current locale.
261