# Variadic functions

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< c

Variadic functions are functions (e.g. printf) which take a variable number of arguments.

The declaration of a variadic function uses an ellipsis as the last parameter, e.g. int printf(const char* format, ...);. See variadic arguments for additional detail on the syntax and automatic argument conversions.

Accessing the variadic arguments from the function body uses the following library facilities:

##### Macros

Defined in header `<stdarg.h>`
va_start | enables access to variadic function arguments (function macro)
va_arg | accesses the next variadic function argument (function macro)
va_copy (C99) | makes a copy of the variadic function arguments (function macro)
va_end | ends traversal of the variadic function arguments (function macro)

##### Type

va_list | holds the information needed by va_start, va_arg, va_end, and va_copy (typedef)

### Example

Print values of different types.

Run this code

    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <stdarg.h>

    void simple_printf(const char* fmt, ...)
    {
        va_list args;
        va_start(args, fmt);

        while (*fmt != '\0') {
            if (*fmt == 'd') {
                int i = va_arg(args, int);
                printf("%d\n", i);
            } else if (*fmt == 'c') {
                // note automatic conversion to integral type
                int c = va_arg(args, int);
                printf("%c\n", c);
            } else if (*fmt == 'f') {
                double d = va_arg(args, double);
                printf("%f\n", d);
            }
            ++fmt;
        }

        va_end(args);
    }

    int main(void)
    {
        simple_printf("dcff", 3, 'a', 1.999, 42.5);
    }

Output:

    3
    a
    1.999000
    42.50000

### References

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

  - 7.16 Variable arguments <stdarg.h> (p: 269-272)

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

  - 7.15 Variable arguments <stdarg.h> (p: 249-252)

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

  - 4.8 VARIABLE ARGUMENTS <stdarg.h>

### See also

C++ documentation for Variadic functions

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