Official Definition of sscanf() Format String?

See ISO/IEC 9899:1999 7.19.6.2 (fscanf) - this is the last C standard.

Thanks. I Googled that, but didn't get anything useful (or in English). – Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:07 @Jonathan Wood - Can send you the standard via email – artyom.

Stv Feb 23 at 18:14 That would be cool. I've added my email address to the end of my original question. I'll remove it shortly.

– Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:23 @Jonathan Wood - sent. – artyom. Stv Feb 23 at 18:50 Got it.

Many thanks! – Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:51.

The whole point of the standard (or most of the point anyway) is to provide answers for questions like this, so (at least to me) it seems like a copy of the standard would be the obvious reference. To save some money compared to the real standard, you can pretty easily go from a draft of the standard instead.

– Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:04 @Jonathan Wood: yes, that's correct. You can get the real standard from webstore.ansi. Org (among other places) but it costs at least a little money (it looks like it's $30 at the moment).

In fairness, as technical books go it's fairly inexpensive, but for most people's use, the free draft works just as well. – Jerry Coffin Feb 23 at 18:13 Wow, you learn something new every day. I don't have a problem with companies making money, but charging for a computer-related standards definition in this age of open information on the web really surprises me.

– Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:19 3 @Jonathon Wood: The ISO (and ANSI, IEC, etc.) sell standards largely because they have almost no other source of income. Some others (e.g. , ECMA) can afford to give standards away, largely because they're more or less "sponsored". The basic question is whether you're willing to pay extra for a standard in the hope of the sponsor having less influence over the result (though in cases like ISO 29500, that's open to question as well).

– Jerry Coffin Feb 23 at 18:39.

Well you need to decide what you are implementing. You can follow one of C or C++ standards or some platform specific extension (POSIX, GNU, MSVC). If you decide to follow one of the standards, just look into it and follow the specifications.

For platform specific stuff, you will need to follow the documentation of the specific platform.

I'm just trying to make a reasonable effort to be as compatible as I can with the largest number of sscanf() format strings already out there. – Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:06 @Jonathan :) Well, it's still your decision. If you simply specify in the documentation that you are following the C or C++ standard, it should be perfectly clear to everyone what features you support.

– Let_Me_Be Feb 23 at 18:10 Perhaps I'm missing your point. I agree with your comment above but the main person who isn't perfectly clear what features I would be supporting is me. – Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 18:28 @Jonathan Well, you need to choose.

Standard mandates the basic set of formatting flags = easier implementation, but fever features. If you choose one of the extensions, you will provide more features, but it will be harder to implement. Just make sure you choose one of them and follow it precisely to avoid confusion.

– Let_Me_Be Feb 23 at 18:33.

While you have to purchase the ISO standards, the late draft ISO/IEC 9899:TC2 (ISO C99) which is almost identical is freely available. Here for example: open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n11.... The sscanf function is defined in section 7.19.6.7.

However all the format specifier detail is given in the description of fscanf in 7.19.6.2.

Thanks for the additional information. – Jonathan Wood Feb 23 at 19:55.

In addition to the C stanard, there's also a POSIX standard which defines sscanf. That one is free, at unix.org/version3/. As usual with POSIX, it's upwards compatible.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.