NAME

strsep - extract token from string

SYNOPSIS

#include <string.h>

char *strsep(char **restrict stringp, const char *restrict delim);

strsep():

    Since glibc 2.19:


        _DEFAULT_SOURCE


    Glibc 2.19 and earlier:


        _BSD_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION

If *stringp is NULL, the strsep() function returns NULL and does nothing else. Otherwise, this function finds the first token in the string *stringp, that is delimited by one of the bytes in the string delim. This token is terminated by overwriting the delimiter with a null byte ('\0'), and *stringp is updated to point past the token. In case no delimiter was found, the token is taken to be the entire string *stringp, and *stringp is made NULL.

RETURN VALUE

The strsep() function returns a pointer to the token, that is, it returns the original value of *stringp.

ATTRIBUTES

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

CONFORMING TO

4.4BSD.

NOTES

The strsep() function was introduced as a replacement for strtok(3), since the latter cannot handle empty fields. However, strtok(3) conforms to C89/C99 and hence is more portable.

BUGS

Be cautious when using this function. If you do use it, note that:

• This function modifies its first argument.
• This function cannot be used on constant strings.
• The identity of the delimiting character is lost.

SEE ALSO

index(3), memchr(3), rindex(3), strchr(3), string(3), strpbrk(3), strspn(3), strstr(3), strtok(3)