How to convert a string to integer in C?

Question

I am trying to find out if there is an alternative way of converting string to integer in C.

I regularly pattern the following in my code.

char s[] = "45";

int num = atoi(s);

So, is there a better way or another way?

Answer 1

There is strtol which is better IMO. Also I have taken a liking in strtonum, so use it if you have it (but remember it's not portable):

long long
     strtonum(const char *nptr, long long minval, long long maxval,
     const char **errstr);

You might also be interested in strtoumax and strtoimax which are standard functions in C99. For example you could say:

uintmax_t num = strtoumax(s, NULL, 10);
if (num == UINTMAX_MAX && errno == ERANGE)
    /* Could not convert. */

Anyway, stay away from atoi:

The call atoi(str) shall be equivalent to:

(int) strtol(str, (char **)NULL, 10)

except that the handling of errors may differ. If the value cannot be represented, the behavior is undefined.

Answer 2

Robust C89 strtol-based solution

With:

• no undefined behavior (as could be had with the atoi family)
• a stricter definition of integer than strtol (e.g. no leading whitespace nor trailing trash chars)
• classification of the error case (e.g. to give useful error messages to users)
• a "testsuite"

#include <assert.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

typedef enum {
    STR2INT_SUCCESS,
    STR2INT_OVERFLOW,
    STR2INT_UNDERFLOW,
    STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE
} str2int_errno;

/* Convert string s to int out.
 *
 * @param[out] out The converted int. Cannot be NULL.
 *
 * @param[in] s Input string to be converted.
 *
 *     The format is the same as strtol,
 *     except that the following are inconvertible:
 *
 *     - empty string
 *     - leading whitespace
 *     - any trailing characters that are not part of the number
 *
 *     Cannot be NULL.
 *
 * @param[in] base Base to interpret string in. Same range as strtol (2 to 36).
 *
 * @return Indicates if the operation succeeded, or why it failed.
 */
str2int_errno str2int(int *out, char *s, int base) {
    char *end;
    if (s[0] == '\0' || isspace(s[0]))
        return STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE;
    errno = 0;
    long l = strtol(s, &end, base);
    /* Both checks are needed because INT_MAX == LONG_MAX is possible. */
    if (l > INT_MAX || (errno == ERANGE && l == LONG_MAX))
        return STR2INT_OVERFLOW;
    if (l < INT_MIN || (errno == ERANGE && l == LONG_MIN))
        return STR2INT_UNDERFLOW;
    if (*end != '\0')
        return STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE;
    *out = l;
    return STR2INT_SUCCESS;
}

int main(void) {
    int i;
    /* Lazy to calculate this size properly. */
    char s[256];

    /* Simple case. */
    assert(str2int(&i, "11", 10) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == 11);

    /* Negative number . */
    assert(str2int(&i, "-11", 10) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == -11);

    /* Different base. */
    assert(str2int(&i, "11", 16) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == 17);

    /* 0 */
    assert(str2int(&i, "0", 10) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == 0);

    /* INT_MAX. */
    sprintf(s, "%d", INT_MAX);
    assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == INT_MAX);

    /* INT_MIN. */
    sprintf(s, "%d", INT_MIN);
    assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_SUCCESS);
    assert(i == INT_MIN);

    /* Leading and trailing space. */
    assert(str2int(&i, " 1", 10) == STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE);
    assert(str2int(&i, "1 ", 10) == STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE);

    /* Trash characters. */
    assert(str2int(&i, "a10", 10) == STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE);
    assert(str2int(&i, "10a", 10) == STR2INT_INCONVERTIBLE);

    /* int overflow.
     *
     * `if` needed to avoid undefined behaviour
     * on `INT_MAX + 1` if INT_MAX == LONG_MAX.
     */
    if (INT_MAX < LONG_MAX) {
        sprintf(s, "%ld", (long int)INT_MAX + 1L);
        assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_OVERFLOW);
    }

    /* int underflow */
    if (LONG_MIN < INT_MIN) {
        sprintf(s, "%ld", (long int)INT_MIN - 1L);
        assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_UNDERFLOW);
    }

    /* long overflow */
    sprintf(s, "%ld0", LONG_MAX);
    assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_OVERFLOW);

    /* long underflow */
    sprintf(s, "%ld0", LONG_MIN);
    assert(str2int(&i, s, 10) == STR2INT_UNDERFLOW);

    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

GitHub upstream.

Based on: https://stackoverflow.com/a/6154614/895245