STRSEP(3) Library Functions Manual STRSEP(3)
NAME
strsep - separate strings
SYNOPSIS
#include <string.h>
char *
strsep(stringp, delim)
char **stringp;
char *delim;
DESCRIPTION
The strsep() function locates, in the string referenced by *stringp , the first occurrence of any character in the string delim (or the
terminating ` ' character) and replaces it with a ` '. The location of the next character after the delimiter character (or NULL, if the
end of the string was reached) is stored in *stringp . The original value of *stringp is returned.
An ``empty'' field, i.e. one caused by two adjacent delimiter characters, can be detected by comparing the location referenced by the
pointer returned in *stringp to ` '.
If *stringp is initially NULL, strsep() returns NULL.
EXAMPLES
The following uses strsep() to parse a string, containing tokens delimited by white space, into an argument vector:
char **ap, *argv[10], *inputstring;
for (ap = argv; (*ap = strsep(&inputstring, " ")) != NULL;)
if (**ap != ' ')
++ap;
HISTORY
The strsep() function is intended as a replacement for the strtok() function. While the strtok() function should be preferred for porta-
bility reasons (it conforms to ANSI C X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'')) it is unable to handle empty fields, i.e. detect fields delimited by two
adjacent delimiter characters, or to be used for more than a single string at a time. The strsep() function first appeared in 4.4BSD.
4.4 Berkeley Distribution January 12, 1996 STRSEP(3)
