SCANF(3) BSD Programmer's Manual SCANF(3)
scanf, fscanf, sscanf, vscanf, vsscanf, vfscanf - input format conversion
#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);
The scanf() family of functions read input according to the given format
as described below. This format may contain "conversion specifiers"; the
results of such conversions, if any, are stored through a set of pointer
arguments.
The scanf() function reads input from the standard input stream stdin,
fscanf() reads input from the supplied 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 suc-
cessive conversion specifier (but see "suppression" below). All conver-
sions are introduced by the % (percent sign) character. The format string
may also contain other characters. Whitespace (such as blanks, tabs, or
newlines) in the format string match any amount of whitespace, including
none, in the input. Everything else matches only itself. Scanning stops
when an input character does not match such a format character. Scanning
also stops when an input conversion cannot be made (see below).
Following the % character, introducing a conversion, there may be a
number of flag characters, as follows:
* Suppresses assignment. The conversion that follows occurs as usu-
al, but no pointer is used; the result of the conversion is sim-
ply discarded.
h Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux 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).
q Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a quad_t (rather than int).
L Indicates that the conversion will be efg and the next pointer is
a pointer to long double.
In addition to these flags, there may be an optional maximum 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); otherwise at most this many characters are scanned in processing
the conversion. Before conversion begins, most conversions skip whi-
tespace; this whitespace 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 oth-
erwise. 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 compatibility.
u Matches an optionally signed decimal integer; the next pointer must
be a pointer to unsigned int.
x Matches an optionally signed hexadecimal integer; the next pointer
must be a pointer to unsigned int.
X Equivalent to x.
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 f.
G Equivalent to f.
s Matches a sequence of non-whitespace characters; the next pointer
must be a pointer to char, and the provided array must be large
enough to accept and store all the sequence and the terminating NUL
character. The input string stops at whitespace or at the maximum
field width, whichever occurs first. If specified, the maximum
field length refers to the sequence being scanned rather than the
storage space, hence the provided array must be 1 larger for the
terminating NUL character.
c Matches a sequence of characters consuming the number of bytes
specified by the field width (defaults to 1 if unspecified); 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 usu-
al skip of leading whitespace is suppressed. To skip whitespace
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 whi-
tespace is suppressed.
The string is to be made up of characters in (or not in) a particu-
lar set; the set is defined by the characters between the open
bracket [ character and a close bracket ] character. The set ex-
cludes 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 circum-
flex; 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 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 (or, with
a circumflex, in) the 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 characters 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')
are taken as if they were '%d' or, if uppercase, '%ld', and a `conver-
sion' of '%\0' causes an immediate return of EOF.
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 conver-
sions 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 number of conversions which were successfully completed is re-
turned.
getc(3), printf(3), strtod(3), strtol(3), strtoul(3)
The functions fscanf(), scanf(), and sscanf() conform to ANSI X3.159-1989
("ANSI C89").
The functions vscanf(), vsscanf(), and vfscanf() first appeared in
4.3BSD-Reno.
All of the backwards compatibility formats will be removed in the future.
Numerical strings are truncated to 512 characters; for example, %f and %d
are implicitly %512f and %512d.
MirBSD #10-current February 9, 2014 2