Doc/c-api/conversion.rst

.. highlight:: c

.. _string-conversion:

String conversion and formatting
================================

Functions for number conversion and formatted string output.


.. c:function:: int PyOS_snprintf(char *str, size_t size,  const char *format, ...)

   Output not more than *size* bytes to *str* according to the format string
   *format* and the extra arguments. See the Unix man page :manpage:`snprintf(3)`.


.. c:function:: int PyOS_vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list va)

   Output not more than *size* bytes to *str* according to the format string
   *format* and the variable argument list *va*. Unix man page
   :manpage:`vsnprintf(3)`.

:c:func:`PyOS_snprintf` and :c:func:`PyOS_vsnprintf` wrap the Standard C library
functions :c:func:`snprintf` and :c:func:`vsnprintf`. Their purpose is to
guarantee consistent behavior in corner cases, which the Standard C functions do
not.

The wrappers ensure that ``str[size-1]`` is always ``'\0'`` upon return. They
never write more than *size* bytes (including the trailing ``'\0'``) into str.
Both functions require that ``str != NULL``, ``size > 0``, ``format != NULL``
and ``size < INT_MAX``. Note that this means there is no equivalent to the C99
``n = snprintf(NULL, 0, ...)`` which would determine the necessary buffer size.

The return value (*rv*) for these functions should be interpreted as follows:

* When ``0 <= rv < size``, the output conversion was successful and *rv*
  characters were written to *str* (excluding the trailing ``'\0'`` byte at
  ``str[rv]``).

* When ``rv >= size``, the output conversion was truncated and a buffer with
  ``rv + 1`` bytes would have been needed to succeed. ``str[size-1]`` is ``'\0'``
  in this case.

* When ``rv < 0``, the output conversion failed and ``str[size-1]`` is ``'\0'`` in
  this case too, but the rest of *str* is undefined. The exact cause of the error
  depends on the underlying platform.


The following functions provide locale-independent string to number conversions.

.. c:function:: unsigned long PyOS_strtoul(const char *str, char **ptr, int base)

   Convert the initial part of the string in ``str`` to an :c:expr:`unsigned
   long` value according to the given ``base``, which must be between ``2`` and
   ``36`` inclusive, or be the special value ``0``.

   Leading white space and case of characters are ignored.  If ``base`` is zero
   it looks for a leading ``0b``, ``0o`` or ``0x`` to tell which base.  If
   these are absent it defaults to ``10``.  Base must be 0 or between 2 and 36
   (inclusive).  If ``ptr`` is non-``NULL`` it will contain a pointer to the
   end of the scan.

   If the converted value falls out of range of corresponding return type,
   range error occurs (:c:data:`errno` is set to :c:macro:`!ERANGE`) and
   :c:macro:`!ULONG_MAX` is returned.  If no conversion can be performed, ``0``
   is returned.

   See also the Unix man page :manpage:`strtoul(3)`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.2


.. c:function:: long PyOS_strtol(const char *str, char **ptr, int base)

   Convert the initial part of the string in ``str`` to an :c:expr:`long` value
   according to the given ``base``, which must be between ``2`` and ``36``
   inclusive, or be the special value ``0``.

   Same as :c:func:`PyOS_strtoul`, but return a :c:expr:`long` value instead
   and :c:macro:`LONG_MAX` on overflows.

   See also the Unix man page :manpage:`strtol(3)`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.2


.. c:function:: double PyOS_string_to_double(const char *s, char **endptr, PyObject *overflow_exception)

   Convert a string ``s`` to a :c:expr:`double`, raising a Python
   exception on failure.  The set of accepted strings corresponds to
   the set of strings accepted by Python's :func:`float` constructor,
   except that ``s`` must not have leading or trailing whitespace.
   The conversion is independent of the current locale.

   If ``endptr`` is ``NULL``, convert the whole string.  Raise
   :exc:`ValueError` and return ``-1.0`` if the string is not a valid
   representation of a floating-point number.

   If endptr is not ``NULL``, convert as much of the string as
   possible and set ``*endptr`` to point to the first unconverted
   character.  If no initial segment of the string is the valid
   representation of a floating-point number, set ``*endptr`` to point
   to the beginning of the string, raise ValueError, and return
   ``-1.0``.

   If ``s`` represents a value that is too large to store in a float
   (for example, ``"1e500"`` is such a string on many platforms) then
   if ``overflow_exception`` is ``NULL`` return :c:macro:`!INFINITY` (with
   an appropriate sign) and don't set any exception.  Otherwise,
   ``overflow_exception`` must point to a Python exception object;
   raise that exception and return ``-1.0``.  In both cases, set
   ``*endptr`` to point to the first character after the converted value.

   If any other error occurs during the conversion (for example an
   out-of-memory error), set the appropriate Python exception and
   return ``-1.0``.

   .. versionadded:: 3.1


.. c:function:: char* PyOS_double_to_string(double val, char format_code, int precision, int flags, int *ptype)

   Convert a :c:expr:`double` *val* to a string using supplied
   *format_code*, *precision*, and *flags*.

   *format_code* must be one of ``'e'``, ``'E'``, ``'f'``, ``'F'``,
   ``'g'``, ``'G'`` or ``'r'``.  For ``'r'``, the supplied *precision*
   must be 0 and is ignored.  The ``'r'`` format code specifies the
   standard :func:`repr` format.

   *flags* can be zero or more of the following values or-ed together:

   .. c:macro:: Py_DTSF_SIGN

      Always precede the returned string with a sign
      character, even if *val* is non-negative.

   .. c:macro:: Py_DTSF_ADD_DOT_0

      Ensure that the returned string will not look like an integer.

   .. c:macro:: Py_DTSF_ALT

      Apply "alternate" formatting rules.
      See the documentation for the :c:func:`PyOS_snprintf` ``'#'`` specifier for
      details.

   .. c:macro:: Py_DTSF_NO_NEG_0

      Negative zero is converted to positive zero.

      .. versionadded:: 3.11

   If *ptype* is non-``NULL``, then the value it points to will be set to one of
   ``Py_DTST_FINITE``, ``Py_DTST_INFINITE``, or ``Py_DTST_NAN``, signifying that
   *val* is a finite number, an infinite number, or not a number, respectively.

   The return value is a pointer to *buffer* with the converted string or
   ``NULL`` if the conversion failed. The caller is responsible for freeing the
   returned string by calling :c:func:`PyMem_Free`.

   .. versionadded:: 3.1


.. c:function:: int PyOS_mystricmp(const char *str1, const char *str2)
                int PyOS_mystrnicmp(const char *str1, const char *str2, Py_ssize_t size)

   Case insensitive comparison of strings. These functions work almost
   identically to :c:func:`!strcmp` and :c:func:`!strncmp` (respectively),
   except that they ignore the case of ASCII characters.

   Return ``0`` if the strings are equal, a negative value if *str1* sorts
   lexicographically before *str2*, or a positive value if it sorts after.

   In the *str1* or *str2* arguments, a NUL byte marks the end of the string.
   For :c:func:`!PyOS_mystrnicmp`, the *size* argument gives the maximum size
   of the string, as if NUL was present at the index given by *size*.

   These functions do not use the locale.


.. c:function:: int PyOS_stricmp(const char *str1, const char *str2)
                int PyOS_strnicmp(const char *str1, const char *str2, Py_ssize_t  size)

   Case insensitive comparison of strings.

   On Windows, these are aliases of :c:func:`!stricmp` and :c:func:`!strnicmp`,
   respectively.

   On other platforms, they are aliases of :c:func:`PyOS_mystricmp` and
   :c:func:`PyOS_mystrnicmp`, respectively.


Character classification and conversion
=======================================

The following macros provide locale-independent (unlike the C standard library
``ctype.h``) character classification and conversion.
The argument must be a signed or unsigned :c:expr:`char`.


.. c:macro:: Py_ISALNUM(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is an alphanumeric character.


.. c:macro:: Py_ISALPHA(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is an alphabetic character (``a-z`` and ``A-Z``).


.. c:macro:: Py_ISDIGIT(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is a decimal digit (``0-9``).


.. c:macro:: Py_ISLOWER(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is a lowercase ASCII letter (``a-z``).


.. c:macro:: Py_ISUPPER(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is an uppercase ASCII letter (``A-Z``).


.. c:macro:: Py_ISSPACE(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is a whitespace character (space, tab,
   carriage return, newline, vertical tab, or form feed).


.. c:macro:: Py_ISXDIGIT(c)

   Return true if the character *c* is a hexadecimal digit (``0-9``, ``a-f``, and
   ``A-F``).


.. c:macro:: Py_TOLOWER(c)

   Return the lowercase equivalent of the character *c*.


.. c:macro:: Py_TOUPPER(c)

   Return the uppercase equivalent of the character *c*.