<TITLE>scanf</TITLE> <body bgcolor="#ffffcc"> <hr> <pre> <h3>SCANF(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANF(3) </h3> <h3>NAME </h3> scanf, fscanf, sscanf, vscanf, vsscanf, vfscanf - input format conversion <h3>SYNOPSIS </h3> #include <stdio.h> int scanf( const char *format, ...); int fscanf( FILE *stream, const char *format, ...); int sscanf( const char *str, const char *format, ...); #include <stdarg.h> int vscanf( const char *format, va_list ap); int vsscanf( const char *str, const char *format, va_list ap); int vfscanf( FILE *stream, const char *format, va_list ap); <h3>DESCRIPTION </h3> The scanf family of functions scans input according to a format as described below. This format may contain con- version specifiers; the results from such conversions, if any, are stored through the pointer arguments. The scanf function reads input from the standard input stream stdin, fscanf reads input from the stream pointer stream, and sscanf reads its input from the character string pointed to by str. The vfscanf function is analogous to vfprintf(3) and reads input from the stream pointer stream using a variable argument list of pointers (see stdarg(3). The vscanf function scans a variable argument list from the standard input and the vsscanf function scans it from a string; these are analogous to the vprintf and vsprintf functions respectively. Each successive pointer argument must correspond properly with each successive conversion specifier (but see `sup- pression' below). All conversions are introduced by the % (percent sign) character. The format string may also con- tain other characters. White space (such as blanks, tabs, or newlines) in the format string match any amount of white space, including none, in the input. Everything else matches only itself. Scanning stops when an input character does not match such a format character. Scan- ning also stops when an input conversion cannot be made (see below). <h3>CONVERSIONS </h3> Following the % character introducing a conversion there may be a number of flag characters, as follows: * Suppresses assignment. The conversion that follows occurs as usual, but no pointer is used; the result of the conversion is simply discarded. h Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux <h3>BSD MANPAGE 29 November 1993 1 </h3> <h3>SCANF(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANF(3) </h3> or n and the next pointer is a pointer to a short int (rather than int). l Indicates either that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the next pointer is a pointer to a long int (rather than int), or that the conversion will be one of efg and the next pointer is a pointer to double (rather than float). L Indicates that the conversion will be efg and the next pointer is a pointer to long double. (This type is not implemented; the L flag is currently ignored--this may not be true for Linux.) In addition to these flags, there may be an optional maxi- mum field width, expressed as a decimal integer, between the % and the conversion. If no width is given, a default of `infinity' is used (with one exception, below); other- wise at most this many characters are scanned in process- ing the conversion. Before conversion begins, most con- versions skip white space; this white space is not counted against the field width. The following conversions are available: % Matches a literal `%'. That is, `%%' in the format string matches a single input `%' character. No conversion is done, and assignment does not occur. d Matches an optionally signed decimal integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to int. D Equivalent to ld; this exists only for backwards compatibility. i Matches an optionally signed integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to int. The integer is read in base 16 if it begins with `0x' or `0X', in base 8 if it begins with `0', and in base 10 other- wise. Only characters that correspond to the base are used. o Matches an octal integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to unsigned int. O Equivalent to lo; this exists for backwards compat- ibility. u Matches an optionally signed decimal integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to unsigned int. x Matches an optionally a signed hexadecimal integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to unsigned int. <h3>BSD MANPAGE 29 November 1993 2 </h3> <h3>SCANF(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANF(3) </h3> X Equivalent to lx; this violates the ANSI C3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') but is backwards compati- ble with previous UNIX systems--I don't know what Linux does with this. f Matches an optionally signed floating-point number; the next pointer must be a pointer to float. e Equivalent to f. g Equivalent to f. E Equivalent to lf; this violates the ANSI C3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') but is backwards compati- ble with previous UNIX systems--I don't know what Linux does with this. F Equivalent to lf; this exists only for backwards compatibility. s Matches a sequence of non-white-space characters; the next pointer must be a pointer to char, and the array must be large enough to accept all the sequence and the terminating NUL character. The input string stops at white space or at the maximum field width, whichever occurs first. c Matches a sequence of width count characters (default 1); the next pointer must be a pointer to char, and there must be enough room for all the characters (no terminating NUL is added). The usual skip of leading white space is suppressed. To skip white space first, use an explicit space in the format. [ Matches a nonempty sequence of characters from the specified set of accepted characters; the next pointer must be a pointer to char, and there must be enough room for all the characters in the string, plus a terminating NUL character. The usual skip of leading white space is suppressed. The string is to be made up of characters in (or not in) a particular set; the set is defined by the characters between the open bracket [ character and a close bracket ] character. The set excludes those characters if the first character after the open bracket is a circumflex ^. To include a close bracket in the set, make it the first character after the open bracket or the circumflex; any other position will end the set. The hyphen character - is also special; when placed between two other characters, it adds all intervening characters to the set. To include a hyphen, make it the last character before the final close bracket. For <h3>BSD MANPAGE 29 November 1993 3 </h3> <h3>SCANF(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANF(3) </h3> instance, `[^]0-9-]' means the set `everything except close bracket, zero through nine, and hyphen'. The string ends with the appearance of a character not in the (or, with a circumflex, in) set or when the field width runs out. p Matches a pointer value (as printed by `%p' in printf(3); the next pointer must be a pointer to void. n Nothing is expected; instead, the number of charac- ters consumed thus far from the input is stored through the next pointer, which must be a pointer to int. This is not a conversion, although it can be suppressed with the * flag. For backwards compatibility, other conversion characters (except `0円') are taken as if they were `%d' or, if upper- case, `%ld', and a `conversion' of `%0円' causes an immedi- ate return of EOF. The F and X conversions will be changed in the future to conform to the ANSI C standard, after which they will act like and respectively. The behavior of Linux on the non-standard points is not known by this documenter. <h3>RETURN VALUES </h3> These functions return the number of input items assigned, which can be fewer than provided for, or even zero, in the event of a matching failure. Zero indicates that, while there was input available, no conversions were assigned; typically this is due to an invalid input character, such as an alphabetic character for a `%d' conversion. The value EOF is returned if an input failure occurs before any conversion such as an end-of-file occurs. If an error or end-of-file occurs after conversion has begun, the num- ber of conversions which were successfully completed is returned. </pre> <hr> <h3>SEE ALSO </h3><p> <a href=strtol.htm>strtol</a>, <a href=strtoul.htm>strtoul</a>, <a href=strtod.htm>strtod</a>, <a href=getc.htm>getc</a>, <a href=printf.htm>printf</a>, <pre> <h3>STANDARDS </h3> The functions fscanf, scanf, and sscanf conform to ANSI C3.159-1989 (``ANSI C''). <h3>BUGS </h3> Differences for Linux are not known at this time. The following is for the BSD version: The current situation with %F and %X conversions is unfor- tunate. All of the backwards compatibility formats will be removed <h3>BSD MANPAGE 29 November 1993 4 </h3> <h3>SCANF(3) Linux Programmer's Manual SCANF(3) </h3> in the future. Numerical strings are truncated to 512 characters; for example, %f and %d are implicitly %512f and %512d. <h3>BSD MANPAGE 29 November 1993 5 </h3> </pre> <P> <hr> <p> <center> <table border=2 width=80%> <tr align=center> <td width=25%> <a href=../index.htm>Top</a> </td><td width=25%> <a href=../master_index.html>Master Index</a> </td><td width=25%> <a href=../SYNTAX/keywords.html>Keywords</a> </td><td width=25%> <a href=../FUNCTIONS/index.htm>Functions</a> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <p> <hr> This manual page was brought to you by <i>mjl_man V-2.0</i>
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