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getsubopt(3)                Library Functions Manual               getsubopt(3)

NAME
       getsubopt - parse suboption arguments from a string

LIBRARY
       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdlib.h>

       int getsubopt(char **restrict optionp, char *const *restrict tokens,
                     char **restrict valuep);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       getsubopt():
           _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500
               || /* Since glibc 2.12: */ _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L

DESCRIPTION
       getsubopt()  parses  the  list of comma-separated suboptions provided in
       optionp.  (Such a suboption list is typically produced when getopt(3) is
       used to parse  a  command  line;  see  for  example  the  -o  option  of
       mount(8).)   Each  suboption  may  include an associated value, which is
       separated from the suboption name by an equal sign.  The following is an
       example of the kind of string that might be passed in optionp:

           ro,name=xyz

       The tokens argument is a pointer to a NULL-terminated array of  pointers
       to  the  tokens  that  getsubopt() will look for in optionp.  The tokens
       should be distinct, null-terminated  strings  containing  at  least  one
       character, with no embedded equal signs or commas.

       Each  call to getsubopt() returns information about the next unprocessed
       suboption in optionp.  The first equal sign in a suboption (if  any)  is
       interpreted as a separator between the name and the value of that subop-
       tion.   The value extends to the next comma, or (for the last suboption)
       to the end of the string.  If the name of the suboption matches a  known
       name from tokens, and a value string was found, getsubopt() sets *valuep
       to  the address of that string.  The first comma in optionp is overwrit-
       ten with a null byte, so *valuep is precisely  the  "value  string"  for
       that suboption.

       If  the  suboption is recognized, but no value string was found, *valuep
       is set to NULL.

       When getsubopt() returns, optionp points to the next  suboption,  or  to
       the  null byte ('\0') at the end of the string if the last suboption was
       just processed.

RETURN VALUE
       If the first suboption in optionp is recognized, getsubopt() returns the
       index of the matching suboption element in tokens.  Otherwise, -1 is re-
       turned and *valuep is the entire name[=value] string.

       Since *optionp is changed, the first suboption before the call  to  get-
       subopt() is not (necessarily) the same as the first suboption after get-
       subopt().

ATTRIBUTES
       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
       ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
       │ Interface                                  Attribute     Value   │
       ├────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
       │ getsubopt()                                │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
       └────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘

STANDARDS
       POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY
       POSIX.1-2001.

NOTES
       Since getsubopt() overwrites any commas it finds in the string *optionp,
       that string must be writable; it cannot be a string constant.

EXAMPLES
       The following program expects suboptions following a "-o" option.

       #define _XOPEN_SOURCE 500
       #include <stdio.h>
       #include <stdlib.h>

       #include <assert.h>

       int
       main(int argc, char *argv[])
       {
           enum {
               RO_OPT = 0,
               RW_OPT,
               NAME_OPT
           };
           char *const token[] = {
               [RO_OPT]   = "ro",
               [RW_OPT]   = "rw",
               [NAME_OPT] = "name",
               NULL
           };
           char *subopts;
           char *value;
           int opt;

           int readonly = 0;
           int readwrite = 0;
           char *name = NULL;
           int errfnd = 0;

           while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, "o:")) != -1) {
               switch (opt) {
               case 'o':
                   subopts = optarg;
                   while (*subopts != '\0' && !errfnd) {

                       switch (getsubopt(&subopts, token, &value)) {
                       case RO_OPT:
                           readonly = 1;
                           break;

                       case RW_OPT:
                           readwrite = 1;
                           break;

                       case NAME_OPT:
                           if (value == NULL) {
                               fprintf(stderr,
                                       "Missing value for suboption '%s'\n",
                                       token[NAME_OPT]);
                               errfnd = 1;
                               continue;
                           }

                           name = value;
                           break;

                       default:
                           fprintf(stderr,
                                   "No match found for token: /%s/\n", value);
                           errfnd = 1;
                           break;
                       }
                   }
                   if (readwrite && readonly) {
                       fprintf(stderr,
                               "Only one of '%s' and '%s' can be specified\n",
                               token[RO_OPT], token[RW_OPT]);
                       errfnd = 1;
                   }
                   break;

               default:
                   errfnd = 1;
               }
           }

           if (errfnd || argc == 1) {
               fprintf(stderr, "\nUsage: %s -o <suboptstring>\n", argv[0]);
               fprintf(stderr,
                       "suboptions are 'ro', 'rw', and 'name=<value>'\n");
               exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
           }

           /* Remainder of program... */

           exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
       }

SEE ALSO
       getopt(3)

Linux man-pages 6.9.1              2024-06-15                      getsubopt(3)

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