EC_DICT_SET(3)

💖 EC_DICT_SET(3) — the libecoli era 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page from the Libecoli Programmer's Manual, and it's all about ec_dict_set from <ecoli/dict.h>. yes we're doing C today. yes it's giving low-level. yes you're gonna slay it. 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

ec_dict_set — put a thing in the hash table, or swap out the thing that's already there. add or replace, your call, she does both. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <ecoli/dict.h>

int ec_dict_set(
    struct ec_dict     *dict,     /* The hash table. */
    const char         *key,      /* The key string. Must not be NULL. */
    void               *val,      /* The pointer to be saved in the hash table. */
    /*
     * An optional pointer to a destructor function called when an object is
     * destroyed (ec_dict_del() or ec_dict_free()).
     */
    ec_dict_elt_free_t  free_cb
);

so like, four things go in:

• dict — the hash table itself. the main character. 👑
• key — the key string. and bestie, listen, it must NOT be NULL. no cap, that's a hard rule, don't test her. 🙈
• val — the pointer you want her to hold onto inside the hash table. that's the whole point, that's the vibe. ✨
• free_cb — an optional pointer to a destructor function. it gets called whenever an object is destroyed, aka when ec_dict_del() or ec_dict_free() comes for it. it's giving cleanup crew energy. 🧹

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💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

0 when it works. -1 when it doesn't, and then errno gets set because of course it does. 😭

okay but here's the tea: on error, the value you passed in gets freed — literally free_cb(val) is called. so don't go touching that pointer afterwards, she's gone, she's been freed, rest in peace. 💀

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

the whole friend group, go say hi:

• ec_dict_iter(3)
• ec_dict_has_key(3)
• ec_dict_free(3)
• ec_dict_iter_get_val(3)
• ec_dict_len(3)
• ec_dict_dup(3)
• ec_dict_del(3)
• ec_dict(3)
• ec_dict_get(3)
• ec_dict_dump(3)
• ec_dict_iter_next(3)
• ec_dict_iter_get_key(3)

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright (C) 2010-2026 Olivier Matz, Robin Jarry.

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and that's the whole page bestie, written by the libecoli girlies, dated 2026-06-11, version libecoli. mwah. go forth and set some dicts. 💖✨🎀