strsep(3) bsd man page | unix.com

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)