libits

C89/POSIX-compliant conversion library from integers to strings that supports various signed and unsigned integer number bases and bit-widths.

Example

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <its.h>

int
main(void)
{
	int a;
	char* a_str;

	a = -123;
	a_str = its(&a, ITS_SIZE_INT, ITS_SIGNED, ITS_BASE_HEX | ITS_PREFIX);
	printf("%s\n", a_str);
	
	free(a_str);
	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Compile & run:

$ clang example.c -lits
$ ./a.out
-0x7b

Q&A

How is this better than (asn)printf?

• Binary base
• Signed hexadecimal and octal numbers up to (U)INT_MAX
• Correct handling of arbitrary bit-sized integers

How is this worse than (asn)printf?

• It is a (yet another) dependency
• Not standard
• More verbose usage

How do I get all the bonus features of printf (like fixed width printing or alignment).

For such features, the printf alternative is the solution. But instead of %lld or any related format, use the %s format with value of a its call.

Build

$ ninja

Supported platforms & standards

The library is working quite heavily with the two-complement format of signed integers, which is one of the three signed number representations allowed by the C89 standard and the only representation allowed in the POSIX family of standards.

• FreeBSD 10.0 with Clang 3.3

If a platform does not appear to be in the previous list, it does not mean that libits will not work in such environment. It only means that nobody tested it - you are encouraged to do so and report either success or failure.

License

2-clause BSD license. For more information please consult the LICENSE file. In the case that you need a different license, feel free to contact me.

Author

Daniel Lovasko lovasko@freebsd.org