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This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of
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NAME
bsearch — binary search a sorted table
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
void *bsearch(const void *key, const void *base, size_t nel,
size_t width, int (*compar)(const void *, const void *));
DESCRIPTION
The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. Any
conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional.
This volume of POSIX.1‐2008 defers to the ISO C standard.
The bsearch() function shall search an array of nel objects, the initial element of which
is pointed to by base, for an element that matches the object pointed to by key. The size
of each element in the array is specified by width. If the nel argument has the value
zero, the comparison function pointed to by compar shall not be called and no match shall
be found.
The comparison function pointed to by compar shall be called with two arguments that point
to the key object and to an array element, in that order.
The application shall ensure that the comparison function pointed to by compar does not
alter the contents of the array. The implementation may reorder elements of the array
between calls to the comparison function, but shall not alter the contents of any
individual element.
The implementation shall ensure that the first argument is always a pointer to the key.
When the same objects (consisting of width bytes, irrespective of their current positions
in the array) are passed more than once to the comparison function, the results shall be
consistent with one another. That is, the same object shall always compare the same way
with the key.
The application shall ensure that the function returns an integer less than, equal to, or
greater than 0 if the key object is considered, respectively, to be less than, to match,
or to be greater than the array element. The application shall ensure that the array
consists of all the elements that compare less than, all the elements that compare equal
to, and all the elements that compare greater than the key object, in that order.
RETURN VALUE
The bsearch() function shall return a pointer to a matching member of the array, or a null
pointer if no match is found. If two or more members compare equal, which member is
returned is unspecified.
ERRORS
No errors are defined.
The following sections are informative.
EXAMPLES
The example below searches a table containing pointers to nodes consisting of a string and
its length. The table is ordered alphabetically on the string in the node pointed to by
each entry.
The code fragment below reads in strings and either finds the corresponding node and
prints out the string and its length, or prints an error message.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#define TABSIZE 1000
struct node { /* These are stored in the table. */
char *string;
int length;
};
struct node table[TABSIZE]; /* Table to be searched. */
.
.
.
{
struct node *node_ptr, node;
/* Routine to compare 2 nodes. */
int node_compare(const void *, const void *);
.
.
.
while (scanf("%ms", &node.string) != EOF) {
node_ptr = (struct node *)bsearch((void *)(&node),
(void *)table, TABSIZE,
sizeof(struct node), node_compare);
if (node_ptr != NULL) {
(void)printf("string = %20s, length = %d\n",
node_ptr->string, node_ptr->length);
} else {
(void)printf("not found: %s\n", node.string);
}
free(node.string);
}
}
/*
This routine compares two nodes based on an
alphabetical ordering of the string field.
*/
int
node_compare(const void *node1, const void *node2)
{
return strcoll(((const struct node *)node1)->string,
((const struct node *)node2)->string);
}
APPLICATION USAGE
The pointers to the key and the element at the base of the table should be of type
pointer-to-element.
The comparison function need not compare every byte, so arbitrary data may be contained in
the elements in addition to the values being compared.
In practice, the array is usually sorted according to the comparison function.
RATIONALE
The requirement that the second argument (hereafter referred to as p) to the comparison
function is a pointer to an element of the array implies that for every call all of the
following expressions are non-zero:
((char *)p − (char *(base) % width == 0
(char *)p >= (char *)base
(char *)p < (char *)base + nel * width
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
hcreate(), lsearch(), qsort(), tdelete()
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <stdlib.h>
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System
Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is
POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the event of any
discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the
original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard
can be obtained online at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have
been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report
such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .