Command Section

HCREATE(3)             FreeBSD Library Functions Manual             HCREATE(3)

NAME
     hcreate, hcreate_r, hdestroy, hdestroy_r, hsearch, hsearch_r - manage
     hash search table

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <search.h>

     int
     hcreate(size_t nel);

     int
     hcreate_r(size_t nel, struct hsearch_data *table);

     void
     hdestroy(void);

     void
     hdestroy_r(struct hsearch_data *table);

     ENTRY *
     hsearch(ENTRY item, ACTION action);

     int
     hsearch_r(ENTRY item, ACTION action, ENTRY ** itemp,
         struct hsearch_data *table);

DESCRIPTION
     The hcreate(), hcreate_r(), hdestroy(), hdestroy_r() hsearch(), and
     hsearch_r() functions manage hash search tables.

     The hcreate() function allocates sufficient space for the table, and the
     application should ensure it is called before hsearch() is used.  The nel
     argument is an estimate of the maximum number of entries that the table
     should contain.  As this implementation resizes the hash table
     dynamically, this argument is ignored.

     The hdestroy() function disposes of the search table, and may be followed
     by another call to hcreate().  After the call to hdestroy(), the data can
     no longer be considered accessible.  The hdestroy() function calls
     free(3) for each comparison key in the search table but not the data item
     associated with the key.

     The hsearch() function is a hash-table search routine.  It returns a
     pointer into a hash table indicating the location at which an entry can
     be found.  The item argument is a structure of type ENTRY (defined in the
     <search.h> header) that contains two pointers: item.key points to the
     comparison key (a char *), and item.data (a void *) points to any other
     data to be associated with that key.  The comparison function used by
     hsearch() is strcmp(3).  The action argument is a member of an
     enumeration type ACTION indicating the disposition of the entry if it
     cannot be found in the table.  ENTER indicates that the item should be
     inserted in the table at an appropriate point.  FIND indicates that no
     entry should be made.  Unsuccessful resolution is indicated by the return
     of a NULL pointer.

     The comparison key (passed to hsearch() as item.key) must be allocated
     using malloc(3) if action is ENTER and hdestroy() is called.

     The hcreate_r(), hdestroy_r(), and hsearch_r() functions are re-entrant
     versions of the above functions that can operate on a table supplied by
     the user.  The hsearch_r() function returns 0 if the action is ENTER and
     the element cannot be created, 1 otherwise.  If the element exists or can
     be created, it will be placed in itemp, otherwise itemp will be set to
     NULL.

RETURN VALUES
     The hcreate() and hcreate_r() functions return 0 if the table creation
     failed and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error;
     otherwise, a non-zero value is returned.

     The hdestroy() and hdestroy_r() functions return no value.

     The hsearch() and hsearch_r() functions return a NULL pointer if either
     the action is FIND and the item could not be found or the action is ENTER
     and the table is full.

EXAMPLES
     The following example reads in strings followed by two numbers and stores
     them in a hash table, discarding duplicates.  It then reads in strings
     and finds the matching entry in the hash table and prints it out.

     #include <stdio.h>
     #include <search.h>
     #include <string.h>
     #include <stdlib.h>

     struct info {                   /* This is the info stored in the table */
             int age, room;          /* other than the key. */
     };

     #define NUM_EMPL        5000    /* # of elements in search table. */

     int
     main(void)
     {
             char str[BUFSIZ]; /* Space to read string */
             struct info info_space[NUM_EMPL]; /* Space to store employee info. */
             struct info *info_ptr = info_space; /* Next space in info_space. */
             ENTRY item;
             ENTRY *found_item; /* Name to look for in table. */
             char name_to_find[30];
             int i = 0;

             /* Create table; no error checking is performed. */
             (void) hcreate(NUM_EMPL);

             while (scanf("%s%d%d", str, &info_ptr->age,
                 &info_ptr->room) != EOF && i++ < NUM_EMPL) {
                     /* Put information in structure, and structure in item. */
                     item.key = strdup(str);
                     item.data = info_ptr;
                     info_ptr++;
                     /* Put item into table. */
                     (void) hsearch(item, ENTER);
             }

             /* Access table. */
             item.key = name_to_find;
             while (scanf("%s", item.key) != EOF) {
                     if ((found_item = hsearch(item, FIND)) != NULL) {
                             /* If item is in the table. */
                             (void)printf("found %s, age = %d, room = %d\n",
                                 found_item->key,
                                 ((struct info *)found_item->data)->age,
                                 ((struct info *)found_item->data)->room);
                     } else
                             (void)printf("no such employee %s\n", name_to_find);
             }
             hdestroy();
             return 0;
     }

ERRORS
     The hcreate(), hcreate_r(), hsearch(), and hsearch_r() functions will
     fail if:

     [ENOMEM]           Insufficient memory is available.

     The hsearch() and hsearch_r() functions will also fail if the action is
     FIND and the element is not found:

     [ESRCH]            The item given is not found.

SEE ALSO
     bsearch(3), lsearch(3), malloc(3), strcmp(3), tsearch(3)

STANDARDS
     The hcreate(), hdestroy(), and hsearch() functions conform to X/Open
     Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 ("XPG4.2").

HISTORY
     The hcreate(), hdestroy(), and hsearch() functions first appeared in AT&T
     System V UNIX.  The hcreate_r(), hdestroy_r() and hsearch_r() functions
     are GNU extensions.

BUGS
     The original, non-GNU interface permits the use of only one hash table at
     a time.

FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6        February 6, 2017        FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6

Command Section

man2web Home...