hdf_sort_obj(3)

💖 hdf_sort_obj(3) 💖

okay bestie, gather round, we're talking about hdf_sort_obj from util/neo_hdf.h — yes it's a section 3 library call, yes it's iconic, no I will not be normal about it ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

hdf_sort_obj — sort the children of an HDF node. that's it. that's the whole job. and it ATE. 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <util/neo_hdf.h>

hdf_sort_obj()

she's simple, she's clean, she's lowkey mysterious about her parameters (we'll get there, bestie, keep reading 🫶)

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• h — an HDF node. your lil guy. the one whose children are about to get a glow-up reorder ✨
• compareFunc — a function which returns 1, 0, or -1 depending on some criteria. okay so the tea here is that the arguments to this sort function are pointers to pointers to HDF elements. like, a double pointer. i know. i know. but stay with me. for example:

int sortByName(const void *a, const void *b) {
HDF **ha = (HDF **)a;
HDF **hb = (HDF **)b;
*
return strcasecmp(hdf_obj_name(*ha), hdf_obj_name(*hb));
}
*

see? you cast to HDF **, you deref once, you call hdf_obj_name on each, and strcasecmp does the vibes check for you. so slay. 🔥

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

hdf_sort_obj will sort the children of an HDF node, based on the given comparison function. periodt.

the way it actually works is genuinely kind of a serve: it creates an array of the pointers for each child object of h, uses qsort to sort that array, and then re-orders the linked list of children to match the new order. so like, temporary array era, then linked list glow-up. 💖

now here's the detail you can NOT skip: the qsort compare function uses a pointer to the value in the array, which in our case is a pointer to an HDF struct. so your comparison function should work on HDF ** pointers. double pointer. iykyk. if you write it with a single pointer you're gonna have a bad time, and not the cute kind. 😭

👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

None. as in, nothing. zero. void energy. but bestie, the h children will be sorted — that's the whole reward, the side effect IS the moment. ✨

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

the whole friend group, fr fr:

• hdf_set_symlink(3)
• hdf_get_valuef(3)
• compareFunc)(3)
• hdf_dump_str(3)
• hdf_get_int_value(3)
• hdf_read_string_ignore(3)
• hdf_copy(3)
• hdf_get_node(3)
• hdf_set_value(3)
• hdf_obj_child(3)
• hdf_read_string(3)
• hdf_set_buf(3)
• hdf_register_fileload(3)
• hdf_get_obj(3)
• hdf_get_attr(3)
• hdf_obj_top(3)
• hdf_dump_format(3)
• hdf_destroy(3)
• hdf_init(3)
• hdf_obj_value(3)
• hdf_write_string(3)
• hdf_set_valuevf(3)
• hdf_sort_obj(3)
• hdf_write_file_atomic(3)
• hdf_obj_attr(3)
• hdf_set_valuef(3)
• hdf_get_copy(3)
• hdf_write_file(3)
• hdf_get_valuevf(3)
• hdf_set_int_value(3)
• hdf_dump(3)
• hdf_get_value(3)
• hdf_set_copy(3)
• hdf_obj_next(3)
• hdf_search_path(3)
• hdf_obj_name(3)
• hdf_set_attr(3)
• hdf_get_child(3)
• hdf_remove_tree

(yes that last one is missing its (3) — i'm not touching it, it's part of the lore 🙈)

and that's the page, bestie!! 🎀 this lil baddie is brought to you by ClearSilver, dated 12 July 2007 — yes she's vintage, yes she still hits, no notes. go sort something. 💜🦋✨