/ini

C library for parsing and creating INI files

Primary LanguageCMIT LicenseMIT

ini

Overview

ini is a simple C library for parsing and creating INI files. It possesses the following characteristics:

  • Compatible with C89
  • Has no external dependencies

INI files are commonly used to store configuration data, and our library makes it easy to read and write these files in C programs.

Table of Contents

Installation

To use this library in your own project, simply download the source code from the repository and link the ini.c and ini.h files with your project.

Usage

This library provides a set of functions for reading and writing INI files. Here's an example of how to read an INI file:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "ini_file.h"

int main(const int argc, const char **const argv) {
    Ini_File *ini_file;
    size_t section_index, property_index;
    char *value;
    double number;
    
    /* Check that the user provided an argument specifying the INI file name */
    if (argc < 2) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s file_name.ini\n", argv[0]);
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    
    /* Parse the INI file and store the resulting data structure in a variable */
    ini_file = ini_file_parse(argv[1], NULL);
    
    /* Check that the INI file was parsed successfully */
    if (ini_file == NULL) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Was not possible to parse the ini_file \"%s\"\n", argv[1]);
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    
    /* Print the properties from the INI file to the console (useful for debug purposes) */
    printf("\nThe properties retrieved from the the ini file \"%s\" are:\n\n", argv[1]);
    ini_file_print_to(ini_file, stdout);

    /* You can iterate over the sections and keys */
    for (section_index = 0; section_index < ini_file->sections_size; section_index++) {
        Ini_Section *section = &ini_file->sections[section_index];
        printf("[%s]\n", section->name);
        for (property_index = 0; property_index < section->properties_size; property_index++) {
            Key_Value_Pair *property = &section->properties[property_index];
            printf("%s = %s\n", property->key, property->value);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }

    /* You can search for a property */
    if (ini_file_find_property(ini_file, "section", "key", &value) != ini_no_error) {
        fprintf(stderr, "\nIt was not possible to find the specified key!\n");
    }
    printf("\nThe specified key equals to: %s\n", value);

    /* You can search for a property and convert it directly to a number */
    if (ini_file_find_double(ini_file, "section", "key", &number) != ini_no_error) {
        fprintf(stderr, "\nIt was not possible to find the specified key!\n");
    }
    printf("\nThe specified key equals to: %g\n", number);
    
    /* Free the memory used by the INI file data structure */
    ini_file_free(ini_file);
    
    /* Return 0 to indicate success */
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

For a complete list of functions and their documentation, see the ini.h header file.

Examples

In the examples folder, you can find complete examples of how to use the library. To compile them, simply type make at your terminal. Run the executables and follow the instructions provided.

License

This project is released under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more information.