STABSEARCH

Section: C Library Functions (3)
Updated: 11/11/83
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NAME

stabsearch - best-match string table lookup

SYNOPSIS

int stabsearch (string,table,quiet);
char *string,**table;
int quiet;

DESCRIPTION

Stabsearch searches in the string table table, looking for a string which best matches string. If exactly one such string is found, then the index of that string is returned. If no such strings are found, then -1 is returned.

If quiet is false and several strings match reasonably, the user is given the option to approve or disapprove of the choice of matching strings. If he disapproves, then the few best matches are listed and -1 is returned.

If several strings match, then -2 will be returned. Before returning, if quiet is 0, then the user will be asked if he wants a list of matching strings; if he says "yes", then a list is printed.

The string table may be declared like this:


char *stable[] = {
        "first string",
        "second string",
        ...
        "n-th string",
        0};

Note that the last entry of the table must be a zero.

DIAGNOSTICS

If nothing matches at all, or if the user does not approve the choice of the best matching string, -1 is returned.