'\" t
.\"
.\" This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the
.\" Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0.
.\" You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version
.\" 1.0 of the CDDL.
.\"
.\" A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this
.\" source.  A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at
.\" http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL.
.\"
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 2013, Joyent, Inc. All rights reserved.
.\"
.TH GETLINE 3C "April 9, 2016"
.SH NAME
getline, getdelim \- read delimited input from streams
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
.nf
#include <stdio.h>
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBssize_t\fR \fBgetline\fR(\fBchar **restrict\fR \fIptr\fR, \
\fBsize_t *restrict\fR \fIcap\fR,
    \fBFILE *restrict\fR \fIstream\fR);
.fi

.LP
.nf
\fBssize_t\fR \fBgetdelim\fR(\fBchar **restrict\fR \fIptr\fR, \
\fBsize_t *restrict\fR \fIcap\fR,
    \fBint\fR \fIdelimiter\fR, \fBFILE *restrict\fR \fIstream\fR);
.fi

.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBgetdelim\fR() function reads bytes from the \fIstream\fR into the
array pointed to by \fIptr\fR, until the \fIdelimiter\fR byte or an end-of-file
condition is encountered.  The \fBgetline\fR() function is identical in
behaviour, but uses the newline character as the delimiter.  The delimiter
character is included in the string (unless end-of-file was reached first) and
the string is terminated with a null byte.

The caller may pass a pre-allocated \fBmalloc\fR(3C) buffer as \fI*ptr\fR,
along with the capacity of that buffer as \fI*cap\fR.  It is also valid to pass
\fBNULL\fR for \fI*ptr\fR and \fB0\fR for \fI*cap\fR, at which point memory
will be allocated automatically.  If the buffer provided is not large enough to
hold the string it will be expanded, as if via \fBrealloc(3C)\fR.  The caller
must \fBfree(3C)\fR the buffer when it is no longer required.

.SH RETURN VALUES
.LP
If successful, \fBgetdelim\fR() and \fBgetline\fR() return the number of bytes
written into the buffer, excluding the terminating null byte.  If an error
occurs, or if end-of-file is reached prior to reading any bytes, the value
\fB\(mi1\fR is returned and \fIerrno\fR is set to indicate the error.

.SH ERRORS
.LP
The \fBgetline\fR() and \fBgetdelim\fR() functions may fail due to the
following errors:

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBEINVAL\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
Either \fIptr\fR or \fIcap\fR are \fBNULL\fR, or the \fIdelimiter\fR is
not a valid character.
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.na
\fBEOVERFLOW\fR
.ad
.RS 13n
More than \fBSSIZE_MAX\fR characters were read from the stream without
encountering the \fIdelimiter\fR.
.RE

.sp
.LP
The \fBgetline\fR() and \fBgetdelim\fR() functions may also fail and set
\fIerrno\fR for any of the errors specified for the library routines
\fBrealloc\fR(3C) or \fBfgetc\fR(3C).

.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
\fBExample 1\fR Read a line from \fBstdin\fR.
.sp
.LP
The following example uses \fBgetline\fR to read a line from stdin.

.sp
.in +2
.nf
#include <stdio.h>
\&...
char *ptr = NULL;
size_t cap = 0;

if (getline(&ptr, &cap, stdin) == -1) {
    perror("getline");
    exit(1);
}
fprintf(stdout, "input line: %s", ptr);

free(ptr);
.
.fi
.in -2

.SH ATTRIBUTES
.TS
box;
c | c
l | l .
ATTRIBUTE TYPE	ATTRIBUTE VALUE
_
Interface Stability	Committed
_
MT-Level	MT-Safe
.TE

.SH SEE ALSO
.LP
.BR fgetc (3C),
.BR fgets (3C),
.BR free (3C),
.BR malloc (3C),
.BR realloc (3C),
.BR attributes (7)