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LSEARCH(3)                              BSD Library Functions Manual                              LSEARCH(3)

NAME
     lfind, lsearch -- linear search and append

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <search.h>

     void *
     lfind(const void *key, const void *base, size_t *nelp, size_t width,
         int (*compar)(const void *, const void *));

     void *
     lsearch(const void *key, void *base, size_t *nelp, size_t width,
         int (*compar)(const void *, const void *));

DESCRIPTION
     The lsearch() and lfind() functions walk linearly through an array, comparing each element with the one
     to be sought, by means of a supplied comparison function.

     The key argument points to an element that matches the one that is searched.  The array's address in
     memory is denoted by the base argument.  The width of one element (i.e., the size as returned by
     sizeof()) is passed as the width argument.  The number of valid elements contained in the array (not
     the number of elements the array has space reserved for) is given in the integer pointed to by nelp.
     The compar argument points to a function which compares its two arguments and returns zero if they are
     matching, and non-zero otherwise.

     If no matching element was found in the array, lsearch() copies key into the position after the last
     element and increments the integer pointed to by nelp.

RETURN VALUES
     The lsearch() and lfind() functions return a pointer to the first element found.  If no element was
     found, lsearch() returns a pointer to the newly added element, whereas lfind() returns NULL.  Both
     functions return NULL if an error occurs.

SEE ALSO
     bsearch(3), hsearch(3), tsearch(3)

HISTORY
     The lsearch() and lfind() functions appeared in 4.2BSD.  In FreeBSD 5.0, they reappeared conforming to
     IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').

STANDARDS
     The lsearch() and lfind() functions conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').

BSD                                           October 11, 2002                                           BSD