# strspn

From cppreference.com
< c‎ | string‎ | byte

Defined in header `<string.h>` |  |
size_t strspn( const char *dest, const char *src ); |  |

Returns the length of the maximum initial segment (span) of the null-terminated byte string pointed to by `dest`, that consists of only the characters found in the null-terminated byte string pointed to by `src`.

The behavior is undefined if either `dest` or `src` is not a pointer to a null-terminated byte string.

### Parameters

dest | - | pointer to the null-terminated byte string to be analyzed
src | - | pointer to the null-terminated byte string that contains the characters to search for

### Return value

The length of the maximum initial segment that contains only characters from the null-terminated byte string pointed to by `src`

### Example

Run this code

    #include <string.h>
    #include <stdio.h>

    int main(void)
    {
        const char *string = "abcde312$#@";
        const char *low_alpha = "qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm";

        size_t spnsz = strspn(string, low_alpha);
        printf("After skipping initial lowercase letters from '%s'\n"
               "The remainder is '%s'\n", string, string+spnsz);
    }

Output:

    After skipping initial lowercase letters from 'abcde312$#@'
    The remainder is '312$#@'

### References

- C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):

  - 7.24.5.6 The strspn function (p: 369)

- C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):

  - 7.21.5.6 The strspn function (p: 332)

- C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):

  - 4.11.5.6 The strspn function

### See also

strcspn | returns the length of the maximum initial segment that consists of only the characters not found in another byte string (function)
wcsspn (C95) | returns the length of the maximum initial segment that consists of only the wide characters found in another wide string (function)
strpbrk | finds the first location of any character in one string, in another string (function)
C++ documentation for strspn

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