Index: lib/libc/string/memcmp.3 =================================================================== --- lib/libc/string/memcmp.3 +++ lib/libc/string/memcmp.3 @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" -.Dd August 15, 2016 +.Dd June 5, 2024 .Dt MEMCMP 3 .Os .Sh NAME @@ -45,27 +45,25 @@ The .Fn memcmp function -compares byte string +compares byte object .Fa b1 -against byte string +against byte object .Fa b2 . -Both strings are assumed to be +Both objects are assumed to be .Fa len bytes long. .Sh RETURN VALUES The .Fn memcmp -function -returns zero if the two strings are identical, -otherwise returns the difference between the first two differing bytes -(treated as -.Vt "unsigned char" -values, so that -.Sq Li \e200 -is greater than -.Sq Li \&\e0 , -for example). -Zero-length strings are always identical. +function returns zero if the two objects are identical. +Zero-length objects are considered identical. +The +.Fn memcmp +function returns a negative value if the first differing byte has a lower +value in +.Fa b1 +and a positive value if the first differing byte has a higher value in +.Fa b1 . .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr bcmp 3 , .Xr strcasecmp 3 , @@ -80,3 +78,14 @@ function conforms to .St -isoC . +.Sh CAVEATS +If the objects differ, the C library +.Fn memcmp +implementation returns the difference between the first two differing bytes +.Po treated as +.Vt "unsigned char" +values +.Pc . +This behavior is not specified by +.St -isoC , +is not portable, and may not occur in light of compiler optimizations.