April 19, 1994 BSEARCH 3

### NAME

bsearch - binary search of a sorted table

### LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

### SYNOPSIS

```void``*` bsearch(```const void *key``, const void *base``, size_t nmemb``, size_t size``, int (*compar) (const void *, const void *)`)

### DESCRIPTION

The bsearch(``) function searches an array of ```nmemb` objects, the initial member of which is pointed to by ```base`, for a member that matches the object pointed to by ```key`. The size of each member of the array is specified by ```size`.

The contents of the array should be in ascending sorted order according to the comparison function referenced by ```compar`. The ```compar` routine is expected to have two arguments which point to the ```key` object and to an array member, in that order, and should return an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if the ```key` object is found, respectively, to be less than, to match, or be greater than the array member.

### RETURN VALUES

The bsearch(``) function returns a pointer to a matching member of the array, or a null pointer if no match is found. If two members compare as equal, which member is matched is unspecified.

### SEE ALSO

db(3), lsearch(3), qsort(3), tsearch(3)

### STANDARDS

The bsearch(``) function conforms to ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C89'') .