strtol() — Convert character string to long

Standards

Standards / Extensions C or C++ Dependencies
ISO C
XPG4
XPG4.2
C99
Single UNIX Specification, Version 3
 both  

Format

#include <stdlib.h>

long int strtol(const char * __restrict__nptr, char ** __restrict__endptr, int base);

General description

Converts nptr, a character string, to a long int value.

The function decomposes the entire string into three parts:
  1. A sequence of characters, which in the current locale are defined as white space characters. This part may be empty.
  2. A sequence of characters interpreted as integer in some base notation. This is the subject sequence.
  3. A sequence of unrecognized characters.
The base notation is determined by base, if base is greater than zero. If base is zero, the base notation is determined by the format of the sequence of characters that follow an optional plus—or optional minus—sign.
10
Sequence starts with nonzero decimal digit.
8
Sequence starts with 0, followed by a sequence of digits with values from 0 to 7.
16
Sequence starts with either 0x or 0X, followed by digits, and letters A through F or a through f.

If the base is greater than zero, the subject sequence contains decimal digits and letters, possibly preceded by either a plus or a minus sign. The letters a (or A) through z (or Z) represent values from 10 through 36, but only those letters whose value is less than the value of the base are allowed.

When you use the strtol() function, nptr should point to a string with the following form:
Read syntax diagramSkip visual syntax diagramwhite space +  - 00 x0Xdigits

The pointer to the converted characters, even if conversion was unsuccessful, is stored in the object pointed to by endptr, as long as endptr is not a NULL pointer.

Returned value

If successful, strtol() returns the converted long int value.

If unsuccessful, strtol() returns 0 if no conversion could be performed. If the correct value is outside the range of representable values, strtol() returns LONG_MAX or LONG_MIN, according to the sign of the value. If the value of base is not supported, strtol() returns 0.

If unsuccessful strtol() sets errno to one of the following values:

Error Code
Description
EINVAL
The value of base is not supported.
ERANGE
The conversion caused an overflow.

Example

CELEBS55 
/* CELEBS55                                      

   This example converts the strings to a long.                                 
   It prints out the converted value and the substring that                     
   stopped the conversion.                                                      
                                                                                
 */                                                                             
#include <stdlib.h>                                                             
#include <stdio.h>                                                              
                                                                                
int main(void)                                                                  
{                                                                               
   char *string, *stopstring;                                                   
   long l;                                                                      
   int bs;                                                                      
                                                                                
   string = "10110134932";                                                      
   printf("string = %s\n", string);                                             
   for (bs = 2; bs <= 8; bs *= 2)                                               
   {                                                                            
      l = strtol(string, &stopstring, bs);                                      
      printf("   strtol = %ld (base %d)\n", l, bs);                             
      printf("   Stopped scan at %s\n\n", stopstring);                          
      }                                                                         
}
Output 
string = 10110134932
   strtol = 45 (base 2)
   Stopped scan at 34932

   strtol = 4423 (base 4)
   Stopped scan at 4932

   strtol = 2134108 (base 8)
   Stopped scan at 932

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