strtol, wcstol

Convert strings to a long-integer value.

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

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

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Libraries

Return Value

strtol returns the value represented in the string nptr, except when the representation would cause an overflow, in which case it returns LONG_MAX or LONG_MIN. strtol returns 0 if no conversion can be performed. wcstol returns values analogously to strtol. 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

The strtol function converts nptr to a long. strtol 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.

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

Generic-Text Routine Mappings

The current locale’s LC_NUMERIC category setting 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.

strtol 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.

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, strtoul, atof, localeconv, setlocale