Format
#include <string.h> int strcmp(const char *string1, const char *string2);
Language Level: ANSI
Threadsafe: Yes.
Description
The strcmp() function compares string1 and string2. The function operates on null-ended strings. The string arguments to the function should contain a null character (\0) that marks the end of the string.
Return Value
The strcmp() function returns a value indicating the
relationship between the two strings, as follows:
Value | Meaning |
Less than 0 | string1 less than string2 |
0 | string1 identical to string2 |
Greater than 0 | string1 greater than string2 |
Example that uses strcmp()
This example compares the two strings that are passed to main() using strcmp().
#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> int main(int argc, char ** argv) { int result; if ( argc != 3 ) { printf( "Usage: %s string1 string2\n", argv[0] ); } else { result = strcmp( argv[1], argv[2] ); if ( result == 0 ) printf( "\"%s\" is identical to \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] ); else if ( result < 0 ) printf( "\"%s\" is less than \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] ); else printf( "\"%s\" is greater than \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] ); } } /****************** If the input is the strings *********************** ********** "is this first?" and "is this before that one?", *********** ****************** then the expected output is: ********************* "is this first?" is greater than "is this before that one?" **********************************************************************/
Related Information
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