.\" Copyright (c) 2001-2003 The Open Group, All Rights Reserved 
.TH "<stdarg.h>" P 2003 "IEEE/The Open Group" "POSIX Programmer's Manual"
.\" <stdarg.h> 
.SH NAME
stdarg.h \- handle variable argument list
.SH SYNOPSIS
.LP
\fB#include <stdarg.h>
.br
.sp
void va_start(va_list\fP \fIap\fP\fB,\fP \fIargN\fP\fB);
.br
void va_copy(va_list\fP \fIdest\fP\fB, va_list\fP \fIsrc\fP\fB);
.br
type va_arg(va_list\fP \fIap\fP\fB,\fP \fItype\fP\fB);
.br
void va_end(va_list\fP \fIap\fP\fB);
.br
\fP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
The \fI<stdarg.h>\fP header shall contain a set of macros which allows
portable functions that accept variable argument
lists to be written. Functions that have variable argument lists (such
as \fIprintf\fP())
but do not use these macros are inherently non-portable, as different
systems use different argument-passing conventions.
.LP
The type \fBva_list\fP shall be defined for variables used to traverse
the list.
.LP
The \fIva_start\fP() macro is invoked to initialize \fIap\fP to the
beginning of the list before any calls to
\fIva_arg\fP().
.LP
The \fIva_copy\fP() macro initializes \fIdest\fP as a copy of \fIsrc\fP,
as if the \fIva_start\fP() macro had been applied
to \fIdest\fP followed by the same sequence of uses of the \fIva_arg\fP()
macro as had previously been used to reach the present
state of \fIsrc\fP. Neither the \fIva_copy\fP() nor \fIva_start\fP()
macro shall be invoked to reinitialize \fIdest\fP without
an intervening invocation of the \fIva_end\fP() macro for the same
\fIdest\fP.
.LP
The object \fIap\fP may be passed as an argument to another function;
if that function invokes the \fIva_arg\fP() macro with
parameter \fIap\fP, the value of \fIap\fP in the calling function
is unspecified and shall be passed to the \fIva_end\fP() macro
prior to any further reference to \fIap\fP. The parameter \fIargN\fP
is the identifier of the rightmost parameter in the variable
parameter list in the function definition (the one just before the
\&...). If the parameter \fIargN\fP is declared with the
\fBregister\fP storage class, with a function type or array type,
or with a type that is not compatible with the type that results
after application of the default argument promotions, the behavior
is undefined.
.LP
The \fIva_arg\fP() macro shall return the next argument in the list
pointed to by \fIap\fP. Each invocation of \fIva_arg\fP()
modifies \fIap\fP so that the values of successive arguments are returned
in turn. The \fItype\fP parameter shall be a type name
specified such that the type of a pointer to an object that has the
specified type can be obtained simply by postfixing a
\fB'*'\fP to type. If there is no actual next argument, or if \fItype\fP
is not compatible with the type of the actual next
argument (as promoted according to the default argument promotions),
the behavior is undefined, except for the following cases:
.IP " *" 3
One type is a signed integer type, the other type is the corresponding
unsigned integer type, and the value is representable in
both types.
.LP
.IP " *" 3
One type is a pointer to \fBvoid\fP and the other is a pointer to
a character type.
.LP
.IP " *" 3
Both types are pointers. 
.LP
.LP
Different types can be mixed, but it is up to the routine to know
what type of argument is expected.
.LP
The \fIva_end\fP() macro is used to clean up; it invalidates \fIap\fP
for use (unless \fIva_start\fP() or \fIva_copy\fP() is
invoked again).
.LP
Each invocation of the \fIva_start\fP() and \fIva_copy\fP() macros
shall be matched by a corresponding invocation of the
\fIva_end\fP() macro in the same function.
.LP
Multiple traversals, each bracketed by \fIva_start\fP() ... \fIva_end\fP(),
are possible.
.SH EXAMPLES
.LP
This example is a possible implementation of \fIexecl\fP():
.sp
.RS
.nf

\fB#include <stdarg.h>
.sp

#define  MAXARGS     31

.sp

/*
 * execl is called by
 * execl(file, arg1, arg2, ..., (char *)(0));
 */
int execl(const char *file, const char *args, ...)
{
    va_list ap;
    char *array[MAXARGS +1];
    int argno = 0;
.sp

    va_start(ap, args);
    while (args != 0 && argno < MAXARGS)
    {
        array[argno++] = args;
        args = va_arg(ap, const char *);
    }
    array[argno] = (char *) 0;
    va_end(ap);
    return execv(file, array);
}
\fP
.fi
.RE
.LP
\fIThe following sections are informative.\fP
.SH APPLICATION USAGE
.LP
It is up to the calling routine to communicate to the called routine
how many arguments there are, since it is not always
possible for the called routine to determine this in any other way.
For example, \fIexecl\fP() is passed a null pointer to signal the
end of the list. The \fIprintf\fP() function can tell how many arguments
are there by the \fIformat\fP argument.
.SH RATIONALE
.LP
None.
.SH FUTURE DIRECTIONS
.LP
None.
.SH SEE ALSO
.LP
The System Interfaces volume of IEEE\ Std\ 1003.1-2001, \fIexec\fP,
\fIprintf\fP()
.SH COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .