xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/stdlib/strtonum.3 (revision ca987d4641cdcd7f27e153db17c5bf064934faf5)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2004 Ted Unangst
2.\"
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15.\" $OpenBSD: strtonum.3,v 1.13 2006/04/25 05:15:42 tedu Exp $
16.\" $FreeBSD$
17.\"
18.Dd April 29, 2004
19.Dt STRTONUM 3
20.Os
21.Sh NAME
22.Nm strtonum
23.Nd "reliably convert string value to an integer"
24.Sh SYNOPSIS
25.In stdlib.h
26.Ft long long
27.Fo strtonum
28.Fa "const char *nptr"
29.Fa "long long minval"
30.Fa "long long maxval"
31.Fa "const char **errstr"
32.Fc
33.Sh DESCRIPTION
34The
35.Fn strtonum
36function converts the string in
37.Fa nptr
38to a
39.Vt "long long"
40value.
41The
42.Fn strtonum
43function was designed to facilitate safe, robust programming
44and overcome the shortcomings of the
45.Xr atoi 3
46and
47.Xr strtol 3
48family of interfaces.
49.Pp
50The string may begin with an arbitrary amount of whitespace
51(as determined by
52.Xr isspace 3 )
53followed by a single optional
54.Ql +
55or
56.Ql -
57sign.
58.Pp
59The remainder of the string is converted to a
60.Vt "long long"
61value according to base 10.
62.Pp
63The value obtained is then checked against the provided
64.Fa minval
65and
66.Fa maxval
67bounds.
68If
69.Fa errstr
70is non-null,
71.Fn strtonum
72stores an error string in
73.Fa *errstr
74indicating the failure.
75.Sh RETURN VALUES
76The
77.Fn strtonum
78function returns the result of the conversion,
79unless the value would exceed the provided bounds or is invalid.
80On error, 0 is returned,
81.Va errno
82is set, and
83.Fa errstr
84will point to an error message.
85On success,
86.Fa *errstr
87will be set to
88.Dv NULL ;
89this fact can be used to differentiate
90a successful return of 0 from an error.
91.Sh EXAMPLES
92Using
93.Fn strtonum
94correctly is meant to be simpler than the alternative functions.
95.Bd -literal -offset indent
96int iterations;
97const char *errstr;
98
99iterations = strtonum(optarg, 1, 64, &errstr);
100if (errstr != NULL)
101	errx(1, "number of iterations is %s: %s", errstr, optarg);
102.Ed
103.Pp
104The above example will guarantee that the value of iterations is between
1051 and 64 (inclusive).
106.Sh ERRORS
107.Bl -tag -width Er
108.It Bq Er ERANGE
109The given string was out of range.
110.It Bq Er EINVAL
111The given string did not consist solely of digit characters.
112.It Bq Er EINVAL
113The supplied
114.Fa minval
115was larger than
116.Fa maxval .
117.El
118.Pp
119If an error occurs,
120.Fa errstr
121will be set to one of the following strings:
122.Pp
123.Bl -tag -width ".Li too large" -compact
124.It Li "too large"
125The result was larger than the provided maximum value.
126.It Li "too small"
127The result was smaller than the provided minimum value.
128.It Li invalid
129The string did not consist solely of digit characters.
130.El
131.Sh SEE ALSO
132.Xr atof 3 ,
133.Xr atoi 3 ,
134.Xr atol 3 ,
135.Xr atoll 3 ,
136.Xr sscanf 3 ,
137.Xr strtod 3 ,
138.Xr strtol 3 ,
139.Xr strtoul 3
140.Sh STANDARDS
141The
142.Fn strtonum
143function is a
144.Bx
145extension.
146The existing alternatives, such as
147.Xr atoi 3
148and
149.Xr strtol 3 ,
150are either impossible or difficult to use safely.
151.Sh HISTORY
152The
153.Fn strtonum
154function first appeared in
155.Ox 3.6 .
156