Provided by: manpages_5.13-1_all 
NAME
system_data_types - overview of system data types
DESCRIPTION
aiocb
Include: <aio.h>.
struct aiocb {
int aio_fildes; /* File descriptor */
off_t aio_offset; /* File offset */
volatile void *aio_buf; /* Location of buffer */
size_t aio_nbytes; /* Length of transfer */
int aio_reqprio; /* Request priority offset */
struct sigevent aio_sigevent; /* Signal number and value */
int aio_lio_opcode;/* Operation to be performed */
};
For further information about this structure, see aio(7).
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: aio_cancel(3), aio_error(3), aio_fsync(3), aio_read(3), aio_return(3),
aio_suspend(3), aio_write(3), lio_listio(3)
blkcnt_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/stat.h>.
Used for file block counts. According to POSIX, it shall be a signed integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: stat(2)
blksize_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/stat.h>.
Used for file block sizes. According to POSIX, it shall be a signed integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: stat(2)
cc_t
Include: <termios.h>.
Used for terminal special characters. According to POSIX, it shall be an unsigned
integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: termios(3)
clock_t
Include: <time.h> or <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/time.h>.
Used for system time in clock ticks or CLOCKS_PER_SEC (defined in <time.h>).
According to POSIX, it shall be an integer type or a real-floating type.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: times(2), clock(3)
clockid_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <time.h>.
Used for clock ID type in the clock and timer functions. According to POSIX, it
shall be defined as an arithmetic type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: clock_adjtime(2), clock_getres(2), clock_nanosleep(2), timer_create(2),
clock_getcpuclockid(3)
dev_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/stat.h>.
Used for device IDs. According to POSIX, it shall be an integer type. For further
details of this type, see makedev(3).
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: mknod(2), stat(2)
div_t
Include: <stdlib.h>.
typedef struct {
int quot; /* Quotient */
int rem; /* Remainder */
} div_t;
It is the type of the value returned by the div(3) function.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: div(3)
double_t
Include: <math.h>.
The implementation's most efficient floating type at least as wide as double. Its
type depends on the value of the macro FLT_EVAL_METHOD (defined in <float.h>):
0 double_t is double.
1 double_t is double.
2 double_t is long double.
For other values of FLT_EVAL_METHOD, the type of double_t is implementation-
defined.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the float_t type in this page.
fd_set
Include: <sys/select.h>. Alternatively, <sys/time.h>.
A structure type that can represent a set of file descriptors. According to POSIX,
the maximum number of file descriptors in an fd_set structure is the value of the
macro FD_SETSIZE.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: select(2)
fenv_t
Include: <fenv.h>.
This type represents the entire floating-point environment, including control modes
and status flags; for further details, see fenv(3).
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: fenv(3)
fexcept_t
Include: <fenv.h>.
This type represents the floating-point status flags collectively; for further
details see fenv(3).
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: fenv(3)
FILE
Include: <stdio.h>. Alternatively, <wchar.h>.
An object type used for streams.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: fclose(3), flockfile(3), fopen(3), fprintf(3), fread(3), fscanf(3),
stdin(3), stdio(3)
float_t
Include: <math.h>.
The implementation's most efficient floating type at least as wide as float. Its
type depends on the value of the macro FLT_EVAL_METHOD (defined in <float.h>):
0 float_t is float.
1 float_t is double.
2 float_t is long double.
For other values of FLT_EVAL_METHOD, the type of float_t is implementation-defined.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the double_t type in this page.
gid_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <grp.h>, <pwd.h>, <signal.h>, <stropts.h>,
<sys/ipc.h>, <sys/stat.h>, or <unistd.h>.
A type used to hold group IDs. According to POSIX, this shall be an integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: chown(2), getgid(2), getegid(2), getgroups(2), getresgid(2), getgrnam(3),
credentials(7)
id_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/resource.h>.
A type used to hold a general identifier. According to POSIX, this shall be an
integer type that can be used to contain a pid_t, uid_t, or gid_t.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: getpriority(2), waitid(2)
imaxdiv_t
Include: <inttypes.h>.
typedef struct {
intmax_t quot; /* Quotient */
intmax_t rem; /* Remainder */
} imaxdiv_t;
It is the type of the value returned by the imaxdiv(3) function.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: imaxdiv(3)
intmax_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
A signed integer type capable of representing any value of any signed integer type
supported by the implementation. According to the C language standard, it shall be
capable of storing values in the range [INTMAX_MIN, INTMAX_MAX].
The macro INTMAX_C() expands its argument to an integer constant of type intmax_t.
The length modifier for intmax_t for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of
functions is j; resulting commonly in %jd or %ji for printing intmax_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
Bugs: intmax_t is not large enough to represent values of type __int128 in
implementations where __int128 is defined and long long is less than 128 bits wide.
See also: the uintmax_t type in this page.
intN_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
int8_t, int16_t, int32_t, int64_t
A signed integer type of a fixed width of exactly N bits, N being the value
specified in its type name. According to the C language standard, they shall be
capable of storing values in the range [INTN_MIN, INTN_MAX], substituting N by the
appropriate number.
According to POSIX, int8_t, int16_t, and int32_t are required; int64_t is only
required in implementations that provide integer types with width 64; and all other
types of this form are optional.
The length modifiers for the intN_t types for the printf(3) family of functions are
expanded by macros of the forms PRIdN and PRIiN (defined in <inttypes.h>);
resulting for example in %"PRId64" or %"PRIi64" for printing int64_t values. The
length modifiers for the intN_t types for the scanf(3) family of functions are
expanded by macros of the forms SCNdN and SCNiN, (defined in <inttypes.h>);
resulting for example in %"SCNd8" or %"SCNi8" for scanning int8_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the intmax_t, uintN_t, and uintmax_t types in this page.
intptr_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
A signed integer type such that any valid (void *) value can be converted to this
type and back. According to the C language standard, it shall be capable of
storing values in the range [INTPTR_MIN, INTPTR_MAX].
The length modifier for intptr_t for the printf(3) family of functions is expanded
by the macros PRIdPTR and PRIiPTR (defined in <inttypes.h>); resulting commonly in
%"PRIdPTR" or %"PRIiPTR" for printing intptr_t values. The length modifier for
intptr_t for the scanf(3) family of functions is expanded by the macros SCNdPTR and
SCNiPTR, (defined in <inttypes.h>); resulting commonly in %"SCNdPTR" or %"SCNiPTR"
for scanning intptr_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the uintptr_t and void * types in this page.
lconv
Include: <locale.h>.
struct lconv { /* Values in the "C" locale: */
char *decimal_point; /* "." */
char *thousands_sep; /* "" */
char *grouping; /* "" */
char *mon_decimal_point; /* "" */
char *mon_thousands_sep; /* "" */
char *mon_grouping; /* "" */
char *positive_sign; /* "" */
char *negative_sign; /* "" */
char *currency_symbol; /* "" */
char frac_digits; /* CHAR_MAX */
char p_cs_precedes; /* CHAR_MAX */
char n_cs_precedes; /* CHAR_MAX */
char p_sep_by_space; /* CHAR_MAX */
char n_sep_by_space; /* CHAR_MAX */
char p_sign_posn; /* CHAR_MAX */
char n_sign_posn; /* CHAR_MAX */
char *int_curr_symbol; /* "" */
char int_frac_digits; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_p_cs_precedes; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_n_cs_precedes; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_p_sep_by_space; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_n_sep_by_space; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_p_sign_posn; /* CHAR_MAX */
char int_n_sign_posn; /* CHAR_MAX */
};
Contains members related to the formatting of numeric values. In the "C" locale,
its members have the values shown in the comments above.
Conforming to: C11 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: setlocale(3), localeconv(3), charsets(7), locale(7)
ldiv_t
Include: <stdlib.h>.
typedef struct {
long quot; /* Quotient */
long rem; /* Remainder */
} ldiv_t;
It is the type of the value returned by the ldiv(3) function.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: ldiv(3)
lldiv_t
Include: <stdlib.h>.
typedef struct {
long long quot; /* Quotient */
long long rem; /* Remainder */
} lldiv_t;
It is the type of the value returned by the lldiv(3) function.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: lldiv(3)
mode_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <fcntl.h>, <ndbm.h>, <spawn.h>,
<sys/ipc.h>, <sys/mman.h>, or <sys/stat.h>.
Used for some file attributes (e.g., file mode). According to POSIX, it shall be
an integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: chmod(2), mkdir(2), open(2), stat(2), umask(2)
off64_t
Include: <sys/types.h>.
Used for file sizes. It is a 64-bit signed integer type.
Conforming to: Present in glibc. It is not standardized by the C language standard
nor POSIX.
Notes: The feature test macro _LARGEFILE64_SOURCE has to be defined for this type
to be available.
See also: copy_file_range(2), readahead(2), sync_file_range(2), lseek64(3),
feature_test_macros(7)
See also the off_t type in this page.
off_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <aio.h>, <fcntl.h>, <stdio.h>,
<sys/mman.h>, <sys/stat.h.h>, or <unistd.h>.
Used for file sizes. According to POSIX, this shall be a signed integer type.
Versions: <aio.h> and <stdio.h> define off_t since POSIX.1-2008.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
Notes: On some architectures, the width of this type can be controlled with the
feature test macro _FILE_OFFSET_BITS.
See also: lseek(2), mmap(2), posix_fadvise(2), pread(2), truncate(2), fseeko(3),
lockf(3), posix_fallocate(3), feature_test_macros(7)
See also the off64_t type in this page.
pid_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <fcntl.h>, <sched.h>, <signal.h>,
<spawn.h>, <sys/msg.h>, <sys/sem.h>, <sys/shm.h>, <sys/wait.h>, <termios.h>,
<time.h>, <unistd.h>, or <utmpx.h>.
This type is used for storing process IDs, process group IDs, and session IDs.
According to POSIX, it shall be a signed integer type, and the implementation shall
support one or more programming environments where the width of pid_t is no greater
than the width of the type long.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: fork(2), getpid(2), getppid(2), getsid(2), gettid(2), getpgid(2),
kill(2), pidfd_open(2), sched_setscheduler(2), waitpid(2), sigqueue(3),
credentials(7),
ptrdiff_t
Include: <stddef.h>.
Used for a count of elements, and array indices. It is the result of subtracting
two pointers. According to the C language standard, it shall be a signed integer
type capable of storing values in the range [PTRDIFF_MIN, PTRDIFF_MAX].
The length modifier for ptrdiff_t for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of
functions is t; resulting commonly in %td or %ti for printing ptrdiff_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the size_t and ssize_t types in this page.
regex_t
Include: <regex.h>.
typedef struct {
size_t re_nsub; /* Number of parenthesized subexpressions */
} regex_t;
This is a structure type used in regular expression matching. It holds a compiled
regular expression, compiled with regcomp(3).
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: regex(3)
regmatch_t
Include: <regex.h>.
typedef struct {
regoff_t rm_so; /* Byte offset from start of string
to start of substring */
regoff_t rm_eo; /* Byte offset from start of string of
the first character after the end of
substring */
} regmatch_t;
This is a structure type used in regular expression matching.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: regexec(3)
regoff_t
Include: <regex.h>.
According to POSIX, it shall be a signed integer type capable of storing the
largest value that can be stored in either a ptrdiff_t type or a ssize_t type.
Versions: Prior to POSIX.1-2008, the type was capable of storing the largest value
that can be stored in either an off_t type or a ssize_t type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the regmatch_t structure and the ptrdiff_t and ssize_t types in this
page.
sigevent
Include: <signal.h>. Alternatively, <aio.h>, <mqueue.h>, or <time.h>.
struct sigevent {
int sigev_notify; /* Notification type */
int sigev_signo; /* Signal number */
union sigval sigev_value; /* Signal value */
void (*sigev_notify_function)(union sigval);
/* Notification function */
pthread_attr_t *sigev_notify_attributes;
/* Notification attributes */
};
For further details about this type, see sigevent(7).
Versions: <aio.h> and <time.h> define sigevent since POSIX.1-2008.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: timer_create(2), getaddrinfo_a(3), lio_listio(3), mq_notify(3)
See also the aiocb structure in this page.
siginfo_t
Include: <signal.h>. Alternatively, <sys/wait.h>.
typedef struct {
int si_signo; /* Signal number */
int si_code; /* Signal code */
pid_t si_pid; /* Sending process ID */
uid_t si_uid; /* Real user ID of sending process */
void *si_addr; /* Address of faulting instruction */
int si_status; /* Exit value or signal */
union sigval si_value; /* Signal value */
} siginfo_t;
Information associated with a signal. For further details on this structure
(including additional, Linux-specific fields), see sigaction(2).
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: pidfd_send_signal(2), rt_sigqueueinfo(2), sigaction(2), sigwaitinfo(2),
psiginfo(3)
sigset_t
Include: <signal.h>. Alternatively, <spawn.h>, or <sys/select.h>.
This is a type that represents a set of signals. According to POSIX, this shall be
an integer or structure type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: epoll_pwait(2), ppoll(2), pselect(2), sigaction(2), signalfd(2),
sigpending(2), sigprocmask(2), sigsuspend(2), sigwaitinfo(2), signal(7)
sigval
Include: <signal.h>.
union sigval {
int sigval_int; /* Integer value */
void *sigval_ptr; /* Pointer value */
};
Data passed with a signal.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: pthread_sigqueue(3), sigqueue(3), sigevent(7)
See also the sigevent structure and the siginfo_t type in this page.
size_t
Include: <stddef.h> or <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <aio.h>, <glob.h>, <grp.h>,
<iconv.h>, <monetary.h>, <mqueue.h>, <ndbm.h>, <pwd.h>, <regex.h>, <search.h>,
<signal.h>, <stdio.h>, <stdlib.h>, <string.h>, <strings.h>, <sys/mman.h>,
<sys/msg.h>, <sys/sem.h>, <sys/shm.h>, <sys/socket.h>, <sys/uio.h>, <time.h>,
<unistd.h>, <wchar.h>, or <wordexp.h>.
Used for a count of bytes. It is the result of the sizeof operator. According to
the C language standard, it shall be an unsigned integer type capable of storing
values in the range [0, SIZE_MAX]. According to POSIX, the implementation shall
support one or more programming environments where the width of size_t is no
greater than the width of the type long.
The length modifier for size_t for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of
functions is z; resulting commonly in %zu or %zx for printing size_t values.
Versions: <aio.h>, <glob.h>, <grp.h>, <iconv.h>, <mqueue.h>, <pwd.h>, <signal.h>,
and <sys/socket.h> define size_t since POSIX.1-2008.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: read(2), write(2), fread(3), fwrite(3), memcmp(3), memcpy(3), memset(3),
offsetof(3)
See also the ptrdiff_t and ssize_t types in this page.
sockaddr
Include: <sys/socket.h>.
struct sockaddr {
sa_family_t sa_family; /* Address family */
char sa_data[]; /* Socket address */
};
Describes a socket address.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: accept(2), getpeername(2), getsockname(2), socket(2)
socklen_t
Include: <sys/socket.h>. Alternatively, <netdb.h>.
Describes the length of a socket address. According to POSIX, this shall be an
integer type of at least 32 bits.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: accept(2), bind(2), connect(2), gethostbyaddr(2), getnameinfo(2),
socket(2)
See also the sockaddr structure in this page.
ssize_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <aio.h>, <monetary.h>, <mqueue.h>,
<stdio.h>, <sys/msg.h>, <sys/socket.h>, <sys/uio.h>, or <unistd.h>.
Used for a count of bytes or an error indication. According to POSIX, it shall be
a signed integer type capable of storing values at least in the range [-1,
SSIZE_MAX], and the implementation shall support one or more programming
environments where the width of ssize_t is no greater than the width of the type
long.
Glibc and most other implementations provide a length modifier for ssize_t for the
printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of functions, which is z; resulting commonly in
%zd or %zi for printing ssize_t values. Although z works for ssize_t on most
implementations, portable POSIX programs should avoid using it—for example, by
converting the value to intmax_t and using its length modifier (j).
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: read(2), readlink(2), readv(2), recv(2), send(2), write(2)
See also the ptrdiff_t and size_t types in this page.
suseconds_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sys/select.h>, or <sys/time.h>.
Used for time in microseconds. According to POSIX, it shall be a signed integer
type capable of storing values at least in the range [-1, 1000000], and the
implementation shall support one or more programming environments where the width
of suseconds_t is no greater than the width of the type long.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the timeval structure in this page.
time_t
Include: <time.h> or <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <sched.h>, <sys/msg.h>,
<sys/select.h>, <sys/sem.h>, <sys/shm.h>, <sys/stat.h>, <sys/time.h>, or <utime.h>.
Used for time in seconds. According to POSIX, it shall be an integer type.
Versions: <sched.h> defines time_t since POSIX.1-2008.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: stime(2), time(2), ctime(3), difftime(3)
timer_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <time.h>.
Used for timer ID returned by timer_create(2). According to POSIX, there are no
defined comparison or assignment operators for this type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: timer_create(2), timer_delete(2), timer_getoverrun(2), timer_settime(2)
timespec
Include: <time.h>. Alternatively, <aio.h>, <mqueue.h>, <sched.h>, <signal.h>,
<sys/select.h>, or <sys/stat.h>.
struct timespec {
time_t tv_sec; /* Seconds */
long tv_nsec; /* Nanoseconds */
};
Describes times in seconds and nanoseconds.
Conforming to: C11 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: clock_gettime(2), clock_nanosleep(2), nanosleep(2), timerfd_gettime(2),
timer_gettime(2)
timeval
Include: <sys/time.h>. Alternatively, <sys/resource.h>, <sys/select.h>, or
<utmpx.h>.
struct timeval {
time_t tv_sec; /* Seconds */
suseconds_t tv_usec; /* Microseconds */
};
Describes times in seconds and microseconds.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: gettimeofday(2), select(2), utimes(2), adjtime(3), futimes(3),
timeradd(3)
uid_t
Include: <sys/types.h>. Alternatively, <pwd.h>, <signal.h>, <stropts.h>,
<sys/ipc.h>, <sys/stat.h>, or <unistd.h>.
A type used to hold user IDs. According to POSIX, this shall be an integer type.
Conforming to: POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: chown(2), getuid(2), geteuid(2), getresuid(2), getpwnam(3),
credentials(7)
uintmax_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
An unsigned integer type capable of representing any value of any unsigned integer
type supported by the implementation. According to the C language standard, it
shall be capable of storing values in the range [0, UINTMAX_MAX].
The macro UINTMAX_C() expands its argument to an integer constant of type
uintmax_t.
The length modifier for uintmax_t for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of
functions is j; resulting commonly in %ju or %jx for printing uintmax_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
Bugs: uintmax_t is not large enough to represent values of type unsigned __int128
in implementations where unsigned __int128 is defined and unsigned long long is
less than 128 bits wide.
See also: the intmax_t type in this page.
uintN_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
uint8_t, uint16_t, uint32_t, uint64_t
An unsigned integer type of a fixed width of exactly N bits, N being the value
specified in its type name. According to the C language standard, they shall be
capable of storing values in the range [0, UINTN_MAX], substituting N by the
appropriate number.
According to POSIX, uint8_t, uint16_t, and uint32_t are required; uint64_t is only
required in implementations that provide integer types with width 64; and all other
types of this form are optional.
The length modifiers for the uintN_t types for the printf(3) family of functions
are expanded by macros of the forms PRIuN, PRIoN, PRIxN, and PRIXN (defined in
<inttypes.h>); resulting for example in %"PRIu32" or %"PRIx32" for printing
uint32_t values. The length modifiers for the uintN_t types for the scanf(3)
family of functions are expanded by macros of the forms SCNuN, SCNoN, SCNxN, and
SCNXN (defined in <inttypes.h>); resulting for example in %"SCNu16" or %"SCNx16"
for scanning uint16_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the intmax_t, intN_t, and uintmax_t types in this page.
uintptr_t
Include: <stdint.h>. Alternatively, <inttypes.h>.
An unsigned integer type such that any valid (void *) value can be converted to
this type and back. According to the C language standard, it shall be capable of
storing values in the range [0, UINTPTR_MAX].
The length modifier for uintptr_t for the printf(3) family of functions is expanded
by the macros PRIuPTR, PRIoPTR, PRIxPTR, and PRIXPTR (defined in <inttypes.h>);
resulting commonly in %"PRIuPTR" or %"PRIxPTR" for printing uintptr_t values. The
length modifier for uintptr_t for the scanf(3) family of functions is expanded by
the macros SCNuPTR, SCNoPTR, SCNxPTR, and SCNXPTR (defined in <inttypes.h>);
resulting commonly in %"SCNuPTR" or %"SCNxPTR" for scanning uintptr_t values.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: the intptr_t and void * types in this page.
va_list
Include: <stdarg>. Alternatively, <stdio.h>, or <wchar.h>.
Used by functions with a varying number of arguments of varying types. The
function must declare an object of type va_list which is used by the macros
va_start(3), va_arg(3), va_copy(3), and va_end(3) to traverse the list of
arguments.
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: va_start(3), va_arg(3), va_copy(3), va_end(3)
void *
According to the C language standard, a pointer to any object type may be converted
to a pointer to void and back. POSIX further requires that any pointer, including
pointers to functions, may be converted to a pointer to void and back.
Conversions from and to any other pointer type are done implicitly, not requiring
casts at all. Note that this feature prevents any kind of type checking: the
programmer should be careful not to convert a void * value to a type incompatible
to that of the underlying data, because that would result in undefined behavior.
This type is useful in function parameters and return value to allow passing values
of any type. The function will typically use some mechanism to know the real type
of the data being passed via a pointer to void.
A value of this type can't be dereferenced, as it would give a value of type void,
which is not possible. Likewise, pointer arithmetic is not possible with this
type. However, in GNU C, pointer arithmetic is allowed as an extension to the
standard; this is done by treating the size of a void or of a function as 1. A
consequence of this is that sizeof is also allowed on void and on function types,
and returns 1.
The conversion specifier for void * for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of
functions is p.
Versions: The POSIX requirement about compatibility between void * and function
pointers was added in POSIX.1-2008 Technical Corrigendum 1 (2013).
Conforming to: C99 and later; POSIX.1-2001 and later.
See also: malloc(3), memcmp(3), memcpy(3), memset(3)
See also the intptr_t and uintptr_t types in this page.
NOTES
The structures described in this manual page shall contain, at least, the members shown in
their definition, in no particular order.
Most of the integer types described in this page don't have a corresponding length
modifier for the printf(3) and the scanf(3) families of functions. To print a value of an
integer type that doesn't have a length modifier, it should be converted to intmax_t or
uintmax_t by an explicit cast. To scan into a variable of an integer type that doesn't
have a length modifier, an intermediate temporary variable of type intmax_t or uintmax_t
should be used. When copying from the temporary variable to the destination variable, the
value could overflow. If the type has upper and lower limits, the user should check that
the value is within those limits, before actually copying the value. The example below
shows how these conversions should be done.
Conventions used in this page
In "Conforming to" we only concern ourselves with C99 and later and POSIX.1-2001 and
later. Some types may be specified in earlier versions of one of these standards, but in
the interests of simplicity we omit details from earlier standards.
In "Include", we first note the "primary" header(s) that define the type according to
either the C or POSIX.1 standards. Under "Alternatively", we note additional headers that
the standards specify shall define the type.
EXAMPLES
The program shown below scans from a string and prints a value stored in a variable of an
integer type that doesn't have a length modifier. The appropriate conversions from and to
intmax_t, and the appropriate range checks, are used as explained in the notes section
above.
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
int
main (void)
{
static const char *const str = "500000 us in half a second";
suseconds_t us;
intmax_t tmp;
/* Scan the number from the string into the temporary variable. */
sscanf(str, "%jd", &tmp);
/* Check that the value is within the valid range of suseconds_t. */
if (tmp < -1 || tmp > 1000000) {
fprintf(stderr, "Scanned value outside valid range!\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
/* Copy the value to the suseconds_t variable 'us'. */
us = tmp;
/* Even though suseconds_t can hold the value -1, this isn't
a sensible number of microseconds. */
if (us < 0) {
fprintf(stderr, "Scanned value shouldn't be negative!\n");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
/* Print the value. */
printf("There are %jd microseconds in half a second.\n",
(intmax_t) us);
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
SEE ALSO
feature_test_macros(7), standards(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 5.13 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the
project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be
found at https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.