GETLINE

NAME

SYNOPSIS

#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <stdio.h>

ssize_t getline(char **lineptr, size_t *n, FILE *stream);

ssize_t getdelim(char **lineptr, size_t *n, int delim, FILE *stream);

DESCRIPTION

If *lineptr is NULL, then getline() will allocate a buffer for storing the line, which should be freed by the user program. (The value in *n is ignored.)

Alternatively, before calling getline(), *lineptr can contain a pointer to a malloc(3)-allocated buffer *n bytes in size. If the buffer is not large enough to hold the line, getline() resizes it with realloc(3), updating *lineptr and *n as necessary.

In either case, on a successful call, *lineptr and *n will be updated to reflect the buffer address and allocated size respectively.

getdelim() works like getline(), except a line delimiter other than newline can be specified as the delimiter argument. As with getline(), a delimiter character is not added if one was not present in the input before end of file was reached.  

RETURN VALUE

Both functions return -1 on failure to read a line (including end of file condition).  

ERRORS

EINVAL

Bad arguments (n or lineptr is NULL, or stream is not valid).

CONFORMING TO

EXAMPLE

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

int
main(void)
{
    FILE * fp;
    char * line = NULL;
    size_t len = 0;
    ssize_t read;

    fp = fopen("/etc/motd", "r");
    if (fp == NULL)
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);

    while ((read = getline(&line, &len, fp)) != -1) {
        printf("Retrieved line of length %zu :\n", read);
        printf("%s", line);
    }

    if (line)
        free(line);
    exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}

SEE ALSO

COLOPHON