Re: str{n,}casecmp(3) and <strings.h> (was: Conflicting alias for some man pages)

[Alejandro Colomar <alx.manpages@gmail.com>]

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On 12/9/22 21:43, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> Hi Branden,
> 
> On 12/9/22 21:37, G. Branden Robinson wrote:
>> On another topic, I will stump again for the idea of having separate
>> strings.h(3) and string.h(3) pages instead of the single string(3) page
>> we see here.  :)
>>
>> On yet another topic, the history of strcasecmp() seems incomplete, and
>> fails to motivate why "strings.h" (note the additional "s") even exists.
>>
>> NOTES
>>         The strcasecmp() and strncasecmp() functions first appeared  in
>>         4.4BSD, where they were declared in <string.h>.  Thus, for rea‐
>>         sons of historical compatibility, the glibc  <string.h>  header
>>         file also declares these functions, if the _DEFAULT_SOURCE (or,
>>         in glibc 2.19 and earlier, _BSD_SOURCE) feature test  macro  is
>>         defined.
>>
>> They're older than the above indicates.  strings.h as a _file_ is at
>> least as old as 4.2BSD (1983),[1] a decade before 4.4BSD.
>> str{n,}casecmp() came in with 4.3BSD-Tahoe (June 1988).[2]  In
>> 4.3BSD-Reno (June 1989), strings.h became a stump that loaded
>> <string.h>,[3] where it remained and after which the man-pages history
>> above picks up the story.
>>
>> Want a patch?
> 
> Sure, patches are always welcome!  =)
> 
> Maybe that info would be better in string(3).

Oh, I missed your suggestion about having two separate pages for string.h and 
strings.h.  Please go ahead.  I like it.

> 
>>
>> [1] https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=4.2BSD/usr/include/strings.h
>> [2] 
>> https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=4.3BSD-Tahoe/usr/include/strings.h
>> [3] https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=4.3BSD-Reno/include/strings.h
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex
> 

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>

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