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[] =         


        

Answer 1

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

Answer 2

You can always roll your own!

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <math.h>

int my_atoi(const char* snum)
{
    int idx, strIdx = 0, accum = 0, numIsNeg = 0;
    const unsigned int NUMLEN = (int)strlen(snum);

    /* Check if negative number and flag it. */
    if(snum[0] == 0x2d)
        numIsNeg = 1;

    for(idx = NUMLEN - 1; idx >= 0; idx--)
    {
        /* Only process numbers from 0 through 9. */
        if(snum[strIdx] >= 0x30 && snum[strIdx] <= 0x39)
            accum += (snum[strIdx] - 0x30) * pow(10, idx);

        strIdx++;
    }

    /* Check flag to see if originally passed -ve number and convert result if so. */
    if(!numIsNeg)
        return accum;
    else
        return accum * -1;
}

int main()
{
    /* Tests... */
    printf("Returned number is: %d\n", my_atoi("34574"));
    printf("Returned number is: %d\n", my_atoi("-23"));

    return 0;
}

This will do what you want without clutter.

Answer 3

Ok, I had the same problem.I came up with this solution.It worked for me the best.I did try atoi() but didn't work well for me.So here is my solution:

void splitInput(int arr[], int sizeArr, char num[])
{
    for(int i = 0; i < sizeArr; i++)
        // We are subtracting 48 because the numbers in ASCII starts at 48.
        arr[i] = (int)num[i] - 48;
}

Answer 4

Just wanted to share a solution for unsigned long aswell.

unsigned long ToUInt(char* str)
{
    unsigned long mult = 1;
    unsigned long re = 0;
    int len = strlen(str);
    for(int i = len -1 ; i >= 0 ; i--)
    {
        re = re + ((int)str[i] -48)*mult;
        mult = mult*10;
    }
    return re;
}

Answer 5

In C++, you can use a such function:

template <typename T>
T to(const std::string & s)
{
    std::istringstream stm(s);
    T result;
    stm >> result;

    if(stm.tellg() != s.size())
        throw error;

    return result;
}

This can help you to convert any string to any type such as float, int, double...

Answer 6

This function will help you

int strtoint_n(char* str, int n)
{
    int sign = 1;
    int place = 1;
    int ret = 0;

    int i;
    for (i = n-1; i >= 0; i--, place *= 10)
    {
        int c = str[i];
        switch (c)
        {
            case '-':
                if (i == 0) sign = -1;
                else return -1;
                break;
            default:
                if (c >= '0' && c <= '9')   ret += (c - '0') * place;
                else return -1;
        }
    }

    return sign * ret;
}

int strtoint(char* str)
{
    char* temp = str;
    int n = 0;
    while (*temp != '\0')
    {
        n++;
        temp++;
    }
    return strtoint_n(str, n);
}

Ref: http://amscata.blogspot.com/2013/09/strnumstr-version-2.html