GPERF(1) FSF GPERF(1) NAME gperf - generate a perfect hash function from a key set SYNOPSIS gperf [OPTION]... [INPUT-FILE] DESCRIPTION GNU 'gperf' generates perfect hash functions. If a long option shows an argument as mandatory, then it is mandatory for the equivalent short option also. Output file location: --output-file=FILE Write output to specified file. The results are written to standard output if no output file is specified or if it is -. Input file interpretation: -e, --delimiters=DELIMITER-LIST Allow user to provide a string containing delimiters used to sepa- rate keywords from their attributes. Default is ",". -t, --struct-type Allows the user to include a structured type declaration for gener- ated code. Any text before %% is considered part of the type decla- ration. Key words and additional fields may follow this, one group of fields per line. --ignore-case Consider upper and lower case ASCII characters as equivalent. Note that locale dependent case mappings are ignored. Language for the output code: -L, --language=LANGUAGE-NAME Generates code in the specified language. Languages handled are cur- rently C++, ANSI-C, C, and KR-C. The default is ANSI-C. Details in the output code: -K, --slot-name=NAME Select name of the keyword component in the keyword structure. -F, --initializer-suffix=INITIALIZERS Initializers for additional components in the keyword structure. -H, --hash-function-name=NAME Specify name of generated hash function. Default is 'hash'. -N, --lookup-function-name=NAME Specify name of generated lookup function. Default name is 'in_word_set'. -Z, --class-name=NAME Specify name of generated C++ class. Default name is 'Perfect_Hash'. -7, --seven-bit Assume 7-bit characters. -l, --compare-lengths Compare key lengths before trying a string comparison. This is nec- essary if the keywords contain NUL bytes. It also helps cut down on the number of string comparisons made during the lookup. -c, --compare-strncmp Generate comparison code using strncmp rather than strcmp. -C, --readonly-tables Make the contents of generated lookup tables constant, i.e., read- only. -E, --enum Define constant values using an enum local to the lookup function rather than with defines. -I, --includes Include the necessary system include file <string.h> at the begin- ning of the code. -G, --global-table Generate the static table of keywords as a static global variable, rather than hiding it inside of the lookup function (which is the default behavior). -P, --pic Optimize the generated table for inclusion in shared libraries. This reduces the startup time of programs using a shared library containing the generated code. -Q, --string-pool-name=NAME Specify name of string pool generated by option --pic. Default name is 'stringpool'. --null-strings Use NULL strings instead of empty strings for empty keyword table entries. --constants-prefix=PREFIX Specify prefix for the constants like TOTAL_KEYWORDS. -W, --word-array-name=NAME Specify name of word list array. Default name is 'wordlist'. --length-table-name=NAME Specify name of length table array. Default name is 'lengthtable'. -S, --switch=COUNT Causes the generated C code to use a switch statement scheme, rather than an array lookup table. This can lead to a reduction in both time and space requirements for some keyfiles. The COUNT argument determines how many switch statements are generated. A value of 1 generates 1 switch containing all the elements, a value of 2 gener- ates 2 tables with 1/2 the elements in each table, etc. If COUNT is very large, say 1000000, the generated C code does a binary search. -T, --omit-struct-type Prevents the transfer of the type declaration to the output file. Use this option if the type is already defined elsewhere. Algorithm employed by gperf: -k, --key-positions=KEYS Select the key positions used in the hash function. The allowable choices range between 1-255, inclusive. The positions are separated by commas, ranges may be used, and key positions may occur in any order. Also, the meta-character '*' causes the generated hash func- tion to consider ALL key positions, and $ indicates the "final char- acter" of a key, e.g., $,1,2,4,6-10. -D, --duplicates Handle keywords that hash to duplicate values. This is useful for certain highly redundant keyword sets. -m, --multiple-iterations=ITERATIONS Perform multiple choices of the -i and -j values, and choose the best results. This increases the running time by a factor of ITERA- TIONS but does a good job minimizing the generated table size. -i, --initial-asso=N Provide an initial value for the associate values array. Default is 0. Setting this value larger helps inflate the size of the final ta- ble. -j, --jump=JUMP-VALUE Affects the "jump value", i.e., how far to advance the associated character value upon collisions. Must be an odd number, default is 5. -n, --no-strlen Do not include the length of the keyword when computing the hash function. -r, --random Utilizes randomness to initialize the associated values table. -s, --size-multiple=N Affects the size of the generated hash table. The numeric argument N indicates "how many times larger or smaller" the associated value range should be, in relationship to the number of keys, e.g. a value of 3 means "allow the maximum associated value to be about 3 times larger than the number of input keys". Conversely, a value of 1/3 means "make the maximum associated value about 3 times smaller than the number of input keys". A larger table should decrease the time required for an unsuccessful search, at the expense of extra table space. Default value is 1. Informative output: -h, --help Print this message. -v, --version Print the gperf version number. -d, --debug Enables the debugging option (produces verbose output to the stan- dard error). AUTHOR Written by Douglas C. Schmidt and Bruno Haible. REPORTING BUGS Report bugs to <bug-gperf@gnu.org>. COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html> This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. SEE ALSO The full documentation for gperf is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and gperf programs are properly installed at your site, the command info gperf should give you access to the complete manual. GNU gperf 3.3 April 2025 GPERF(1)
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