bufsplit(3G)

bufsplit -- split buffer into fields

Synopsis

   cc [flag . . . ] file . . . -lgen [library] . . .
   
   #include <libgen.h>
   

   size_t bufsplit(char *buf, size_t n, char **a);

Description

bufsplit examines the buffer, buf, and assigns values to the pointer array, a, so that the pointers point to the first n fields in buf that are delimited by tabs or new-lines.

To change the characters used to separate fields, call bufsplit with buf pointing to the string of characters, and n and a set to zero. For example, to use ':', '.', and ',' as separators along with tab and new-line:

   bufsplit(":.,\t\n", 0, (char**)0);

Return values

The number of fields assigned in the array a. If buf is zero, the return value is zero and the array is unchanged. Otherwise the value is at least one. The remainder of the elements in the array are assigned the address of the null byte at the end of the buffer.

Examples

/*
* set a[0] = "This", a[1] = "is", a[2] = "a",
* a[3] = "test"
*/
bufsplit("This\tis\ta\ttest\n", 4, a);

Notices

bufsplit changes the delimiters to null bytes in buf.