VIS(3)                    OpenBSD Programmer's Manual                   VIS(3)

NAME
     vis, strvis, strnvis, strvisx - visually encode characters

SYNOPSIS
     #include <stdlib.h>
     #include <vis.h>

     char *
     vis(char *dst, int c, int flag, int nextc);

     int
     strvis(char *dst, const char *src, int flag);

     int
     strnvis(char *dst, const char *src, size_t size, int flag);

     int
     strvisx(char *dst, const char *src, size_t len, int flag);

DESCRIPTION
     The vis() function copies into dst a string which represents the charac-
     ter c.  If c needs no encoding, it is copied in unaltered.  The string is
     NUL terminated and a pointer to the end of the string is returned.  The
     maximum length of any encoding is four characters (not including the
     trailing NUL); thus, when encoding a set of characters into a buffer, the
     size of the buffer should be four times the number of characters encoded,
     plus one for the trailing NUL.  The flag parameter is used for altering
     the default range of characters considered for encoding and for altering
     the visual representation.  The additional character, nextc, is only used
     when selecting the VIS_CSTYLE encoding format (explained below).

     The strvis(), strnvis() and strvisx() functions copy into dst a visual
     representation of the string src.  The strvis() function encodes charac-
     ters from src up to the first NUL.  The strnvis() function encodes char-
     acters from src up to the first NUL or the end of dst, as indicated by
     size.  The strvisx() function encodes exactly len characters from src
     (this is useful for encoding a block of data that may contain NULs).  All
     three forms NUL terminate dst, except for strnvis() when size is zero, in
     which case dst is not touched.  For strvis() and strvisx(), the size of
     dst must be four times the number of characters encoded from src (plus
     one for the NUL).  strvis() and strvisx() return the number of characters
     in dst (not including the trailing NUL).  strnvis() returns the length
     that dst would become if it were of unlimited size (similar to
     snprintf(3) or strlcpy(3)).  This can be used to detect truncation but it
     also means that the return value of strnvis() must not be used without
     checking it against size.

     The encoding is a unique, invertible representation composed entirely of
     graphic characters; it can be decoded back into the original form using
     the unvis(3) or strunvis(3) functions.

     There are two parameters that can be controlled: the range of characters
     that are encoded, and the type of representation used.  By default, all
     non-graphic characters except space, tab, and newline are encoded (see
     isgraph(3)).  The following flags alter this:

     VIS_GLOB    Also encode magic characters recognized by glob(3) (`*', `?',
                 `[') and `#'.

     VIS_SP      Also encode space.

     VIS_TAB     Also encode tab.

     VIS_NL      Also encode newline.

     VIS_WHITE   Synonym for VIS_SP | VIS_TAB | VIS_NL.

     VIS_SAFE    Only encode ``unsafe'' characters.  These are control charac-
                 ters which may cause common terminals to perform unexpected
                 functions.  Currently this form allows space, tab, newline,
                 backspace, bell, and return -- in addition to all graphic
                 characters -- unencoded.

     There are three forms of encoding.  All forms use the backslash `\' char-
     acter to introduce a special sequence; two backslashes are used to repre-
     sent a real backslash.  These are the visual formats:

     (default)   Use an `M' to represent meta characters (characters with the
                 8th bit set), and use a caret `^' to represent control char-
                 acters (see iscntrl(3)).  The following formats are used:

                 \^C    Represents the control character `C'.  Spans charac-
                        ters `\000' through `\037', and `\177' (as `\^?').

                 \M-C   Represents character `C' with the 8th bit set.  Spans
                        characters `\241' through `\376'.

                 \M^C   Represents control character `C' with the 8th bit set.
                        Spans characters `\200' through `\237', and `\377' (as
                        `\M^?').

                 \040   Represents ASCII space.

                 \240   Represents Meta-space.

     VIS_CSTYLE  Use C-style backslash sequences to represent standard non-
                 printable characters.  The following sequences are used to
                 represent the indicated characters:

                       \a - BEL (007)
                       \b - BS (010)
                       \f - NP (014)
                       \n - NL (012)
                       \r - CR (015)
                       \s - SP (040)
                       \t - HT (011)
                       \v - VT (013)
                       \0 - NUL (000)

                 When using this format, the nextc parameter is looked at to
                 determine if a NUL character can be encoded as `\0' instead
                 of `\000'.  If nextc is an octal digit, the latter represen-
                 tation is used to avoid ambiguity.

     VIS_OCTAL   Use a three digit octal sequence.  The form is `\ddd' where d
                 represents an octal digit.

     There is one additional flag, VIS_NOSLASH, which inhibits the doubling of
     backslashes and the backslash before the default format (that is, control
     characters are represented by `^C' and meta characters as `M-C').  With
     this flag set, the encoding is ambiguous and non-invertible.

SEE ALSO
     unvis(1), vis(1), snprintf(3), strlcpy(3), unvis(3)

HISTORY
     The vis(), strvis() and strvisx() functions first appeared in 4.4BSD.
     The strnvis() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.9.

OpenBSD 4.1                     August 8, 2005                               2
