### 3.7 `atof`, `atoff`—string to double or float ¶

Synopsis

    #include <stdlib.h>
    double atof(const char *s);
    float atoff(const char *s);

Description
`atof` converts the initial portion of a string to a `double`. `atoff` converts the initial portion of a string to a `float`.

The functions parse the character string s, locating a substring which can be converted to a floating-point value. The substring must match the format:

     [+|-]digits[.][digits][(e|E)[+|-]digits]

The substring converted is the longest initial fragment of s that has the expected format, beginning with the first non-whitespace character. The substring is empty if `str` is empty, consists entirely of whitespace, or if the first non-whitespace character is something other than `+`, `-`, `.`, or a digit.

`atof(s)` is implemented as `strtod(s, NULL)`. `atoff(s)` is implemented as `strtof(s, NULL)`.

Returns
`atof` returns the converted substring value, if any, as a `double`; or `0.0`, if no conversion could be performed. If the correct value is out of the range of representable values, plus or minus `HUGE_VAL` is returned, and `ERANGE` is stored in `errno`. If the correct value would cause underflow, `0.0` is returned and `ERANGE` is stored in `errno`.

`atoff` obeys the same rules as `atof`, except that it returns a `float`.

Portability
`atof` is ANSI C. `atof`, `atoi`, and `atol` are subsumed by `strod` and `strol`, but are used extensively in existing code. These functions are less reliable, but may be faster if the argument is verified to be in a valid range.

Supporting OS subroutines required: `close`, `fstat`, `isatty`, `lseek`, `read`, `sbrk`, `write`.