lsearch(3) Library Functions Manual lsearch(3)
NAME
lfind, lsearch - linear search of an array
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <search.h>
void *lfind(const void key[.size], const void base[.size * .nmemb],
size_t *nmemb, size_t size,
int(*compar)(const void [.size], const void [.size]));
void *lsearch(const void key[.size], void base[.size * .nmemb],
size_t *nmemb, size_t size,
int(*compar)(const void [.size], const void [.size]));
DESCRIPTION
lfind() and lsearch() perform a linear search for key in the array base
which has *nmemb elements of size bytes each. The comparison function
referenced by compar is expected to have two arguments which point to
the key object and to an array member, in that order, and which returns
zero if the key object matches the array member, and nonzero otherwise.
If lsearch() does not find a matching element, then the key object is
inserted at the end of the table, and *nmemb is incremented. In partic-
ular, one should know that a matching element exists, or that more room
is available.
RETURN VALUE
lfind() returns a pointer to a matching member of the array, or NULL if
no match is found. lsearch() returns a pointer to a matching member of
the array, or to the newly added member if no match is found.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
│ lfind(), lsearch() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
STANDARDS
POSIX.1-2008.
HISTORY
POSIX.1-2001, SVr4, 4.3BSD. libc-4.6.27.
BUGS
The naming is unfortunate.
SEE ALSO
bsearch(3), hsearch(3), tsearch(3)
Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-05-02 lsearch(3)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Mon Dec 8 02:18:22 CET 2025.