strtoul, wcstoul

Convert strings to an unsigned long-integer value.

unsigned long strtoul( const char *nptr, char **endptr, int base );

unsigned long wcstoul( const wchar_t *nptr, wchar_t **endptr, int base );

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Libraries

Return Value

strtoul returns the converted value, if any, or ULONG_MAX on overflow. strtoul returns 0 if no conversion can be performed. wcstoul returns values analogously to strtoul. For both functions, errno is set to ERANGE if overflow or underflow occurs.

Parameters

nptr

Null-terminated string to convert

endptr

Pointer to character that stops scan

base

Number base to use

Remarks

Each of these functions converts the input string nptr to an unsigned long.

strtoul stops reading the string nptr at the first character it cannot recognize as part of a number. This may be the terminating null character, or it may be the first numeric character greater than or equal to base. The LC_NUMERIC category setting of the current locale determines recognition of the radix character in nptr; for more information, see setlocale. If endptr is not NULL, a pointer to the character that stopped the scan is stored at the location pointed to by endptr. If no conversion can be performed (no valid digits were found or an invalid base was specified), the value of nptr is stored at the location pointed to by endptr.

wcstoul is a wide-character version of strtoul; its nptr argument is a wide-character string. Otherwise these functions behave identically.

Generic-Text Routine Mappings

strtoul expects nptr to point to a string of the following form:

[whitespace] [{+ | –}] [0 [{ x | X }]] [digits]

A whitespace may consist of space and tab characters, which are ignored; digits are one or more decimal digits. The first character that does not fit this form stops the scan. If base is between 2 and 36, then it is used as the base of the number. If base is 0, the initial characters of the string pointed to by nptr are used to determine the base. If the first character is 0 and the second character is not 'x' or 'X', the string is interpreted as an octal integer; otherwise, it is interpreted as a decimal number. If the first character is '0' and the second character is 'x' or 'X', the string is interpreted as a hexadecimal integer. If the first character is '1' through '9', the string is interpreted as a decimal integer. The letters 'a' through 'z' (or 'A' through 'Z') are assigned the values 10 through 35; only letters whose assigned values are less than base are permitted. strtoul allows a plus (+) or minus (–) sign prefix; a leading minus sign indicates that the return value is negated.

Example

/* STRTOD.C: This program uses strtod to convert a
 * string to a double-precision value; strtol to
 * convert a string to long integer values; and strtoul
 * to convert a string to unsigned long-integer values.
 */

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

void main( void )
{
   char   *string, *stopstring;
   double x;
   long   l;
   int    base;
   unsigned long ul;
   string = "3.1415926This stopped it";
   x = strtod( string, &stopstring );
   printf( "string = %s\n", string );
   printf("   strtod = %f\n", x );
   printf("   Stopped scan at: %s\n\n", stopstring );
   string = "-10110134932This stopped it";
   l = strtol( string, &stopstring, 10 );
   printf( "string = %s", string );
   printf("   strtol = %ld", l );
   printf("   Stopped scan at: %s", stopstring );
   string = "10110134932";
   printf( "string = %s\n", string );
   /* Convert string using base 2, 4, and 8: */
   for( base = 2; base <= 8; base *= 2 )
   {
      /* Convert the string: */
      ul = strtoul( string, &stopstring, base );
      printf( "   strtol = %ld (base %d)\n", ul, base );
      printf( "   Stopped scan at: %s\n", stopstring );
   }
}

Output

string = 3.1415926This stopped it
   strtod = 3.141593
   Stopped scan at: This stopped it

string = -10110134932This stopped it   strtol = -2147483647   Stopped scan at: This stopped itstring = 10110134932
   strtol = 45 (base 2)
   Stopped scan at: 34932
   strtol = 4423 (base 4)
   Stopped scan at: 4932
   strtol = 2134108 (base 8)
   Stopped scan at: 932

Data Conversion Routines, Locale Routines |  strtod Functions Overview

See Also   strtod, strtol, atof, localeconv, setlocale