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HCREATE(3)		     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  associ-
     ated 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  com-
     parison  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.   Unsuc-
     cessful resolution is indicated by the return of a NULL pointer.

     The  comparison key (passed to hsearch() as item.key) must be allocated us-
     ing 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;  other-
     wise, 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 Porta-
     bility 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 15.1			February 6, 2017		      HCREATE(3)

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<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=hdestroy&sektion=3&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports.quarterly>

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