strptime(3)strptime(3)NAMEstrptime - Convert a character string to a time value
SYNOPSIS
#include <time.h>
char *strptime(
const char *buf,
const char *format,
struct tm *tm );
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc)
STANDARDS
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry stan‐
dards as follows:
strptime(): XSH4.2
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
industry standards and associated tags.
PARAMETERS
Contains the character string to be converted by the strptime() func‐
tion. Specifies the format of the string to be converted by the strp‐
time() function. Specifies the structure to contain the output of the
strptime() function.
DESCRIPTION
The strptime() function converts the characters pointed to by the buf
parameter to values that are stored in the tm structure, using the for‐
mat specified by the format parameter. The strptime() function modifies
only the fields in the tm structure that have corresponding conversion
specifications in the format.
The format parameter can contain zero or more of the following items: A
conversion specification that directs the conversion of the next input
field. Conversion specifications start with a % (percent sign). Any
white space character (as determined by the isspace() function) that
matches 0 (zero) or more white space characters in the input stream.
Any character except % (percent sign) or a white space character that
must match the next character in the input stream. If the character
read from the input stream is different from the character in the for‐
mat parameter, the function stops processing the input stream and
returns a null pointer.
Conversion specifications must be separated by white-space or other
non-alphanumeric characters.
The following conversion specifications are supported: Inputs day of
the week, using the locale-dependent weekday name. The abbreviated or
full name may be specified. Same as %a. Inputs the month, using the
locale-dependent month name. The abbreviated or full name may be speci‐
fied. Same as %b. Inputs the date and time, using the locale-depen‐
dent default format. Inputs the century as a decimal number in the
range from 00 to 99. Leading zeros are permitted but not required.
Inputs the day of the month as a decimal number in the range from 01 to
31. Leading zeros are permitted but not required. Inputs the date as
%m/%d/%y. Same as %d. [Tru64 UNIX] Inputs the year, using the
locale-dependent Emperor/Era name and year format. Same as %b. Inputs
the hour based on a 24-hour clock as a decimal number in the range from
00 to 23. Leading zeros are permitted but not required. Inputs the
hour based on a 12-hour clock as a decimal number in the range from 00
to 12. Leading zeros are permitted but not required. Inputs the day
number of the year as a decimal number in the range from 001 to 366.
Leading zeros are permitted but not required. Inputs the month number
as a decimal number in the range from 01 to 12. Leading zeros are per‐
mitted but not required. Inputs the minute as a decimal number in the
range from 00 to 59. Leading zeros are permitted but not required.
Inputs any white space up to and including a newline character. [Tru64
UNIX] Inputs the Emperor/Era name. [Tru64 UNIX] Inputs the
Emperor/Era year. Inputs the locale-dependent equivalent of AM or PM.
Inputs the 12-hour clock time with an AM/PM notation as defined by the
t_fmt_ampm statement (see locale(4) for details), or, by default,
inputs the time as %I:%M:%S %p. Inputs the time as %H:%M. Inputs the
second as a decimal number in the range from 00 to 61. Leading zeros
are permitted but not required. Inputs any white-space up to and
including a tab character. Inputs the time as %H:%M:%S. Inputs the
week number of the year as a decimal number in the range from 00 to 53.
Sunday is the first day of the week. Leading zeros are permitted but
not required. Inputs the weekday as a decimal number in the range from
0 to 6. Sunday is the first day of the week. Leading zeros are permit‐
ted but not required. Inputs the week number of the year as a decimal
number in the range from 00 to 53. Monday is the first day of the week.
Leading zeros are permitted but not required. Inputs the date, using
the locale-dependent short date format. Inputs the time, using the
locale-dependent short time format. Inputs the year (excluding the
century). When a century is not otherwise specified (for example, with
%C), values in the range 69-99 refer to years in the twentieth century
(1969-1999, inclusive); values in the range 00-68 refer to years in the
twenty-first century (2000 to 2068, inclusive). Leading zeros are per‐
mitted but not required. Inputs the year (including the century), for
example, 1991. [Tru64 UNIX] Inputs the time-zone name. Inputs a %
(percent sign) character.
Case is ignored for the following conversion specifications when match‐
ing items such as month or weekday names in buf: %a, %A, %b, %B, %E,
%h, %N, %p, and %r.
Alternative-format Directives
The E and O characters can be used with some of the directives to stip‐
ulate that an alternative format be used, if available. If the alterna‐
tive format is not available in the current locale, the modifier will
be ignored and the unmodified behavior for that directive will be fol‐
lowed.
Inputs the date and time, using the locale-dependent alternative for‐
mat. Inputs the base year (period), using the locale-dependent alter‐
native format. Inputs the date, using the locale-dependent alternative
format. Inputs the time, using the locale-dependent alternative for‐
mat. Inputs the year within the century, using the locale-dependent
alternative format. Inputs the year (including the century), using the
locale-dependent alternative format. Inputs the day of the month,
using the locale-dependent alternative format. Leading zeros are per‐
mitted but not required. Same as %Od. Inputs the hour (24-hour
clock), using the locale-dependent alternative format. Inputs the hour
(12-hour clock), using the locale-dependent alternative format. Inputs
the month number, using the locale-dependent alternative format.
Inputs the minute, using the locale-dependent alternative format.
Inputs the second, using the locale-dependent alternative format.
Inputs the week number (Sunday as first day of week), using the locale-
dependent alternative format. Inputs the number of the weekday (Sun‐
day=0), using the locale-dependent alternative format. Inputs the week
number (Monday as first day of week), using the locale-dependent alter‐
native format. Inputs the year (offset from %C) in the locale-depen‐
dent alternative representation and using the locale-dependent alterna‐
tive numeric symbols.
A directive consisting of white-space characters is executed by reading
input until reaching the first nonwhite-space character, which is not
read, or until no more characters can be read.
A directive consisting of an ordinary character is executed by reading
the next character from the buf parameter. If the character read from
the buf parameter differs from the character comprising the directive,
the directive fails and the differing character and any characters fol‐
lowing it remain unread. Case is ignored when matching buf items, such
as month or weekday names.
If a conversion fails, the contents of the tm structure are undefined.
In most cases, it is possible to use the same format in the strftime()
and strptime() calls because most of the conversion specifications for‐
mats are identical in both functions.
NOTES
Applications should use %Y (4-digit years) in preference to %y (2-digit
years).
RETURN VALUES
On successful completion, the strptime() function returns a pointer to
the character following the last character parsed. Otherwise, a null
pointer is returned.
ERRORS
The strptime() function sets errno to the specified values for the fol‐
lowing conditions:
The functionality is not supported on this implementation.
SEE ALSO
Functions: scanf(3), strfmon(3), strftime(3), time(3)
Standards: standards(5)strptime(3)