NAME

       gd_sarrays, gd_msarrays — retrieve a list of SARRAY values from a Dirfile

SYNOPSIS

       #include <getdata.h>

       const char ***gd_sarrays(DIRFILE *dirfile);

       const char ***gd_msarrays(DIRFILE *dirfile, const char *parent);

DESCRIPTION

       The gd_sarrays() function queries a dirfile(5) database specified by dirfile and generates
       a read-only list of values of the all top-level SARRAY fields  defined  in  the  database,
       after  type  conversion  to  the  data type specified by return_type.  For a list of valid
       symbols to use for return_type, see the gd_get_sarray(3) manual page.

       The gd_msarrays() function behaves similarly, but creates  a  list  of  values  of  SARRAY
       subfields under the parent field parent.

       The  dirfile argument must point to a valid DIRFILE object previously created by a call to
       gd_open(3).

       The array returned will be de-allocated by a call to gd_close(3) and  should  not  be  de-
       allocated  by the caller.  The list returned should not be assumed to be in any particular
       order, except that it is guaranteed to be in the same order as the list of  SARRAY  fields
       returned  by  gd_field_list_by_type(3) or gd_mfield_list_by_type(3).  The number of values
       in   the   array   can   be   obtained   from   a   call   to   gd_nfields_by_type(3)   or
       gd_nmfields_by_type(3).

       The  caller  may  not  modify any values in the array, nor the array itself.  Doing so may
       cause database corruption.  The pointer returned is guaranteed to be valid only until  the
       function  is  called  again  with  the  same arguments, or until the dirfile's metadata is
       modified (by adding, modifying or deleting an entry), or until the array  is  de-allocated
       by a call to gd_close(3) or gd_discard(3).

       A   corresponding   list   of   names   for  these  fields  may  be  obtained  by  calling
       gd_field_list_by_type(3) or gd_mfield_list_by_type(3).

RETURN VALUE

       Upon successful completion, gd_sarrays() and gd_msarrays(3) return a pointer to  an  array
       of  arrays  of  strings.  For convenience, both levels of the array are terminated by NULL
       pointers.

       If no SARRAYs are defined in the database, a pointer to a single-element array  containing
       only the terminating NULL is returned.

       On error, gd_sarrays() returns NULL and stores a negative-valued error code in the DIRFILE
       object which may be retrieved by a subsequent call to gd_error(3).  Possible  error  codes
       are:

       GD_E_ALLOC
               The library was unable to allocate memory.

       GD_E_BAD_DIRFILE
               The supplied dirfile was invalid.

       GD_E_INTERNAL_ERROR
               An  internal error occurred in the library while trying to perform the task.  This
               indicates a bug in the  library.   Please  report  the  incident  to  the  GetData
               developers.

       A descriptive error string for the error may be obtained by calling gd_error_string(3).

HISTORY

       The gd_sarrays() function appeared in GetData-0.10.0.

SEE ALSO

       gd_entry_list(3),   gd_error(3),   gd_error_string(3),  gd_get_sarray(3),  gd_nentries(3),
       gd_open(3), dirfile(5)