Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
int
scanf(const char * restrict format, ...);
int
fscanf(FILE * restrict stream, const char * restrict format, ...);
int
sscanf(const char * restrict str, const char * restrict format, ...);
#include <stdarg.h>
int
vscanf(const char * restrict format, va_list ap);
int
vsscanf(const char * restrict str, const char * restrict format,
va_list ap);
int
vfscanf(FILE * restrict stream, const char * restrict format,
va_list ap);
DESCRIPTION
The scanf() family of functions scans input according to a format as
described below. This format may contain conversion specifiers; the
results from such conversions, if any, are stored through the pointer
arguments. The scanf() function reads input from the standard input
stream stdin, fscanf() reads input from the stream pointer stream, and
sscanf() reads its input from the character string pointed to by str.
The vfscanf() function is analogous to vfprintf(3) and reads input from
the stream pointer stream using a variable argument list of pointers (see
stdarg(3)). The vscanf() function scans a variable argument list from
the standard input and the vsscanf() function scans it from a string;
these are analogous to the vprintf() and vsprintf() functions respec-
tively. Each successive pointer argument must correspond properly with
each successive conversion specifier (but see the * and %n$ conversions
below). All conversions are introduced by the % (percent sign) character
or %n$ sequence. In the latter case the next pointer will be the n th
argument after the format string. The format string may also contain
other characters. White space (such as blanks, tabs, or newlines) in the
format string match any amount of white space, including none, in the
input. Everything else matches only itself. Scanning stops when an
input character does not match such a format character. Scanning also
stops when an input conversion cannot be made (see below).
Extended locale versions of these functions are documented in scanf_l(3).
See xlocale(3) for more information.
l (ell) Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a long int (rather than int), that
the conversion will be one of a, e, f, or g and the next pointer
is a pointer to double (rather than float), or that the conver-
sion will be one of c, s or [ and the next pointer is a pointer
to an array of wchar_t (rather than char).
ll (ell ell)
Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a long long int (rather than int).
L Indicates that the conversion will be one of a, e, f, or g and
the next pointer is a pointer to long double.
j Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a intmax_t (rather than int).
t Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a ptrdiff_t (rather than int).
z Indicates that the conversion will be one of dioux or n and the
next pointer is a pointer to a size_t (rather than int).
q (deprecated.) Indicates that the conversion will be one of
dioux or n and the next pointer is a pointer to a long long int
(rather than int).
In addition to these flags, there may be an optional maximum field width,
expressed as a decimal integer, between the % and the conversion. If no
width is given, a default of ``infinity'' is used (with one exception,
below); otherwise at most this many bytes are scanned in processing the
conversion. In the case of the lc, ls and l[ conversions, the field
width specifies the maximum number of multibyte characters that will be
scanned. Before conversion begins, most conversions skip white space;
this white space is not counted against the field width.
The following conversions are available:
% Matches a literal `%'. That is, ``%%'' in the format string
matches a single input `%' character. No conversion is done, and
assignment does not occur.
d Matches an optionally signed decimal integer; the next pointer must
be a pointer to int.
i Matches an optionally signed integer; the next pointer must be a
pointer to int. The integer is read in base 16 if it begins with
`0x' or `0X', in base 8 if it begins with `0', and in base 10 oth-
erwise. Only characters that correspond to the base are used.
o Matches an octal integer; the next pointer must be a pointer to
must be a pointer to char, and the array must be large enough to
accept all the sequence and the terminating NUL character. The
input string stops at white space or at the maximum field width,
whichever occurs first.
If an l qualifier is present, the next pointer must be a pointer to
wchar_t, into which the input will be placed after conversion by
mbrtowc(3).
S The same as ls.
c Matches a sequence of width count characters (default 1); the next
pointer must be a pointer to char, and there must be enough room
for all the characters (no terminating NUL is added). The usual
skip of leading white space is suppressed. To skip white space
first, use an explicit space in the format.
If an l qualifier is present, the next pointer must be a pointer to
wchar_t, into which the input will be placed after conversion by
mbrtowc(3).
C The same as lc.
[ Matches a nonempty sequence of characters from the specified set of
accepted characters; the next pointer must be a pointer to char,
and there must be enough room for all the characters in the string,
plus a terminating NUL character. The usual skip of leading white
space is suppressed. The string is to be made up of characters in
(or not in) a particular set; the set is defined by the characters
between the open bracket [ character and a close bracket ] charac-
ter. The set excludes those characters if the first character
after the open bracket is a circumflex ^. To include a close
bracket in the set, make it the first character after the open
bracket or the circumflex; any other position will end the set.
The hyphen character - is also special; when placed between two
other characters, it adds all intervening characters to the set.
To include a hyphen, make it the last character before the final
close bracket. For instance, `[^]0-9-]' means the set ``everything
except close bracket, zero through nine, and hyphen''. The string
ends with the appearance of a character not in the (or, with a cir-
cumflex, in) set or when the field width runs out.
If an l qualifier is present, the next pointer must be a pointer to
wchar_t, into which the input will be placed after conversion by
mbrtowc(3).
p Matches a pointer value (as printed by `%p' in printf(3)); the next
pointer must be a pointer to void.
n Nothing is expected; instead, the number of characters consumed
thus far from the input is stored through the next pointer, which
must be a pointer to int. This is not a conversion, although it
returned if an input failure occurs before any conversion such as an end-
of-file occurs. If an error or end-of-file occurs after conversion has
begun, the number of conversions which were successfully completed is
returned.
SEE ALSO
getc(3), mbrtowc(3), printf(3), strtod(3), strtol(3), strtoul(3),
wscanf(3), scanf_l(3)
STANDARDS
The functions fscanf(), scanf(), sscanf(), vfscanf(), vscanf() and
vsscanf() conform to ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (``ISO C99'').
BUGS
Earlier implementations of scanf treated %D, %E, %F, %O and %X as their
lowercase equivalents with an l modifier. In addition, scanf treated an
unknown conversion character as %d or %D, depending on its case. This
functionality has been removed.
Numerical strings are truncated to 512 characters; for example, %f and %d
are implicitly %512f and %512d.
The scanf family of functions do not correctly handle multibyte charac-
ters in the format argument.
BSD January 4, 2003 BSD
Man(1) output converted with
man2html