[patch] strtod.3: Fix return value for underflow

[patch] strtod.3: Fix return value for underflow

[Jonathan Wakely]

In C89 strtod returns zero on underflow, but since C99 it can return
non-zero. This means the strtod.3 page contradicts all recent C and
POSIX standards. Both C and POSIX say "smallest normalized positive
number", but for consistency with HUGE_VAL, HUGE_VALF and HUGE_VALL
this patch uses the constants for those numbers.

Also slightly improve the presentation of return values for overflow.

diff --git a/man3/strtod.3 b/man3/strtod.3
index a271498d5..56ddb5f27 100644
--- a/man3/strtod.3
+++ b/man3/strtod.3
@@ -138,15 +138,23 @@ is stored in the location referenced by
 .IR endptr .
 .PP
 If the correct value would cause overflow, plus or minus
-.B HUGE_VAL
-.RB ( HUGE_VALF ,
-.BR HUGE_VALL )
-is returned (according to the sign of the value), and
+.BR HUGE_VAL ,
+.BR HUGE_VALF ,
+or
+.B HUGE_VALL
+is returned (according to the return type and sign of the value),
+and
 .B ERANGE
 is stored in
 .IR errno .
-If the correct value would cause underflow, zero is
-returned and
+.PP
+If the correct value would cause underflow,
+a value with magnitude no larger than
+.BR DBL_MIN ,
+.BR FLT_MIN ,
+or
+.B LDBL_MIN
+is returned and
 .B ERANGE
 is stored in
 .IR errno .

Re: [patch] strtod.3: Fix return value for underflow

[Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)]

Hi again Jonathan,

On 8/7/20 10:30 AM, Jonathan Wakely wrote:
> In C89 strtod returns zero on underflow, but since C99 it can return
> non-zero. This means the strtod.3 page contradicts all recent C and
> POSIX standards. Both C and POSIX say "smallest normalized positive
> number", but for consistency with HUGE_VAL, HUGE_VALF and HUGE_VALL
> this patch uses the constants for those numbers.
> 
> Also slightly improve the presentation of return values for overflow.


Thanks. I've also applied this patch.

Cheers,

Michael

> diff --git a/man3/strtod.3 b/man3/strtod.3
> index a271498d5..56ddb5f27 100644
> --- a/man3/strtod.3
> +++ b/man3/strtod.3
> @@ -138,15 +138,23 @@ is stored in the location referenced by
>   .IR endptr .
>   .PP
>   If the correct value would cause overflow, plus or minus
> -.B HUGE_VAL
> -.RB ( HUGE_VALF ,
> -.BR HUGE_VALL )
> -is returned (according to the sign of the value), and
> +.BR HUGE_VAL ,
> +.BR HUGE_VALF ,
> +or
> +.B HUGE_VALL
> +is returned (according to the return type and sign of the value),
> +and
>   .B ERANGE
>   is stored in
>   .IR errno .
> -If the correct value would cause underflow, zero is
> -returned and
> +.PP
> +If the correct value would cause underflow,
> +a value with magnitude no larger than
> +.BR DBL_MIN ,
> +.BR FLT_MIN ,
> +or
> +.B LDBL_MIN
> +is returned and
>   .B ERANGE
>   is stored in
>   .IR errno .
>