'\" t
.\" Copyright, the authors of the Linux man-pages project
.\"
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: Linux-man-pages-copyleft
.\"
.TH gcvt 3 (date) "Linux man-pages (unreleased)"
.SH NAME
gcvt \- convert a floating-point number to a string
.SH LIBRARY
Standard C library
.RI ( libc ,\~ \-lc )
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B #include <stdlib.h>
.P
.BI "char *gcvt(double " number ", int " ndigit ", char *" buf );
.fi
.P
.RS -4
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
.BR feature_test_macros (7)):
.RE
.P
.BR gcvt ():
.nf
    Since glibc 2.17
        (_XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500 && ! (_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L))
            || /* glibc >= 2.20 */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
            || /* glibc <= 2.19 */ _SVID_SOURCE
    glibc 2.12 to glibc 2.16:
        (_XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500 && ! (_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200112L))
            || _SVID_SOURCE
    Before glibc 2.12:
        _SVID_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500
.\"        || _XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.BR gcvt ()
function converts
.I number
to a minimal length null-terminated ASCII string
and stores the result in
.IR buf .
It produces
.I ndigit
significant digits in either
.BR printf (3)
F format or E format.
.SH RETURN VALUE
The
.BR gcvt ()
function returns
.IR buf .
.SH ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
.BR attributes (7).
.TS
allbox;
lbx lb lb
l l l.
Interface	Attribute	Value
T{
.na
.nh
.BR gcvt ()
T}	Thread safety	MT-Safe
.TE
.SH STANDARDS
None.
.SH HISTORY
Marked as LEGACY in POSIX.1-2001.
POSIX.1-2008 removed it,
recommending the use of
.BR sprintf (3)
instead (though
.BR snprintf (3)
may be preferable).
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR ecvt (3),
.BR fcvt (3),
.BR sprintf (3)