scan_netstring(3)

✨ scan_netstring — NAME 💅

okay bestie so scan_netstring is literally the function that parses a netstring 🎀 no cap, that's the whole vibe. it lives in the libowfat library, section 3 of the manual, and it's giving "quietly essential utility" energy fr fr 🦋

🌸 SYNTAX 🌸

here's how you summon it:

#include <libowfat/scan.h>

size_t scan_netstring(const char *in,size_t len,char** dest, size_t
*slen);

yeah that's the whole thing. five arguments, no drama, just vibes ✨

🫶 DESCRIPTION 🫶

so here's the tea: scan_netstring tries to parse the netstring sitting in your input buffer, which is (in,len) — like, the pointer in and the length len, that's your buffer, periodt.

if that buffer contains a valid netstring, then the pair (*dest,*slen) gets set to the start and length of the transported string. slay 💖

but wait, important caveats, don't skip these bestie:

• that string is not zero terminated. like, do not go treating it like a C string, i'm begging 😭
• no copy is made. none. zero. scan_netstring just points *dest inside your input buffer, so it's a view not a clone 👑 the way it just points into the original buffer is so efficient honestly, ate and left no crumbs.

⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

• if parsing worked, you get the number of bytes in the netstring — and no, that's the outer representation, not the transported inner string, don't get it twisted 🙈
• if the input buffer did not contain a valid netstring (or a full one), you get 0. that's it. that's the signal 💀

🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

the raw memory buffer "foo" would become the netstring:

"3:foo,"

literally so simple, main character encoding behavior 🧚

🎀 SPEC 🎀

the official spec lives right here:

http://cr.yp.to/proto/netstrings.txt

go read it, it's giving foundational literature 📜✨

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• fmt_netstring(3) — the other half of the duo, the making side to this parsing side 🔥

and that's the page bestie! this one's from the Library Functions Manual, and it's scan_netstring(3) all the way down — same name up top, same name down bottom, iconic symmetry, we love a consistent queen 👑💅 🦋