Passing multiple arguments

[cypherzero]

Some C functions like printf take an unlimited number of arguments of various types.
Does anyone know how such a function is created, stdio.h doesn't give much of a clue, specifying only '...' and not how the values are actually obtained by the function itself.

Thanks in advance.

[weaknessforcats]

Check out the va_arg macros and the ellipsis operator.

The printf() function prototype looks like:

int printf(const char* arg, ...);
 

The arg string is parsed using macros:

va_list
va_start
va_arg
va_end

The ellipsis (...) is a placeholder for a variable number of arguments.

In the case of printf(), the number of % signs is counted and that tells how many arguments the ellipsis contains.

Just read up on how to use these macros.

It's in the K&R ANSI C Programming Language Prentice Hall 1988.