gperf - generate a perfect hash function from a key set
gperf [OPTION]... [INPUT-FILE]
GPERF(1) FSF GPERF(1)
NAME
gperf - generate a perfect hash function from a key set
SYNOPSIS
gperf [OPTION]... [INPUT-FILE]
DESCRIPTION
GNU 'gperf' generates perfect hash functions.
If a long option shows an argument as mandatory, then it is mandatory
for the equivalent short option also.
Output file location:
--output-file=FILE Write output to specified file.
The results are written to standard output if no output file is speci-
fied or if it is -.
Input file interpretation:
-e, --delimiters=DELIMITER-LIST
Allow user to provide a string containing delimiters used to
separate keywords from their attributes. Default is ",".
-t, --struct-type
Allows the user to include a structured type declaration for
generated code. Any text before %% is considered part of the
type declaration. Key words and additional fields may follow
this, one group of fields per line.
--ignore-case
Consider upper and lower case ASCII characters as equivalent.
Note that locale dependent case mappings are ignored.
Language for the output code:
-L, --language=LANGUAGE-NAME
Generates code in the specified language. Languages handled are
currently C++, ANSI-C, C, and KR-C. The default is C.
Details in the output code:
-K, --slot-name=NAME
Select name of the keyword component in the keyword structure.
-F, --initializer-suffix=INITIALIZERS
Initializers for additional components in the keyword structure.
-H, --hash-function-name=NAME
Specify name of generated hash function. Default is 'hash'.
-N, --lookup-function-name=NAME
Specify name of generated lookup function. Default name is
'in_word_set'.
-Z, --class-name=NAME
Specify name of generated C++ class. Default name is 'Per-
fect_Hash'.
-7, --seven-bit
Assume 7-bit characters.
-l, --compare-lengths
Compare key lengths before trying a string comparison. This is
necessary if the keywords contain NUL bytes. It also helps cut
down on the number of string comparisons made during the lookup.
-c, --compare-strncmp
Generate comparison code using strncmp rather than strcmp.
-C, --readonly-tables
Make the contents of generated lookup tables constant, i.e.,
readonly.
-E, --enum
Define constant values using an enum local to the lookup func-
tion rather than with defines.
-I, --includes
Include the necessary system include file <string.h> at the
beginning of the code.
-G, --global-table
Generate the static table of keywords as a static global vari-
able, rather than hiding it inside of the lookup function (which
is the default behavior).
-P, --pic
Optimize the generated table for inclusion in shared libraries.
This reduces the startup time of programs using a shared library
containing the generated code.
-Q, --string-pool-name=NAME
Specify name of string pool generated by option --pic. Default
name is 'stringpool'.
--null-strings
Use NULL strings instead of empty strings for empty keyword ta-
ble entries.
-W, --word-array-name=NAME
Specify name of word list array. Default name is 'wordlist'.
--length-table-name=NAME
Specify name of length table array. Default name is 'length-
table'.
-S, --switch=COUNT
Causes the generated C code to use a switch statement scheme,
rather than an array lookup table. This can lead to a reduction
in both time and space requirements for some keyfiles. The COUNT
argument determines how many switch statements are generated. A
value of 1 generates 1 switch containing all the elements, a
value of 2 generates 2 tables with 1/2 the elements in each ta-
ble, etc. If COUNT is very large, say 1000000, the generated C
code does a binary search.
-T, --omit-struct-type
Prevents the transfer of the type declaration to the output
file. Use this option if the type is already defined elsewhere.
Algorithm employed by gperf:
-k, --key-positions=KEYS
Select the key positions used in the hash function. The allow-
able choices range between 1-255, inclusive. The positions are
separated by commas, ranges may be used, and key positions may
occur in any order. Also, the meta-character '*' causes the
generated hash function to consider ALL key positions, and $
indicates the "final character" of a key, e.g., $,1,2,4,6-10.
-D, --duplicates
Handle keywords that hash to duplicate values. This is useful
for certain highly redundant keyword sets.
-m, --multiple-iterations=ITERATIONS
Perform multiple choices of the -i and -j values, and choose the
best results. This increases the running time by a factor of
ITERATIONS but does a good job minimizing the generated table
size.
-i, --initial-asso=N
Provide an initial value for the associate values array. Default
is 0. Setting this value larger helps inflate the size of the
final table.
-j, --jump=JUMP-VALUE
Affects the "jump value", i.e., how far to advance the associ-
ated character value upon collisions. Must be an odd number,
default is 5.
-n, --no-strlen
Do not include the length of the keyword when computing the hash
function.
-r, --random
Utilizes randomness to initialize the associated values table.
-s, --size-multiple=N
Affects the size of the generated hash table. The numeric argu-
ment N indicates "how many times larger or smaller" the associ-
ated value range should be, in relationship to the number of
keys, e.g. a value of 3 means "allow the maximum associated
value to be about 3 times larger than the number of input keys".
Conversely, a value of 1/3 means "make the maximum associated
value about 3 times smaller than the number of input keys". A
larger table should decrease the time required for an unsuccess-
ful search, at the expense of extra table space. Default value
is 1.
Informative output:
-h, --help
Print this message.
-v, --version
Print the gperf version number.
-d, --debug
Enables the debugging option (produces verbose output to the
standard error).
AUTHOR
Written by Douglas C. Schmidt and Bruno Haible.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <bug-gnu-gperf@gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1989-1998, 2000-2004, 2006-2007 Free Software Foundation,
Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is
NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+------------------+
|Availability | developer/gperf |
+---------------+------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for gperf is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
the info and gperf programs are properly installed at your site, the
command
info gperf
should give you access to the complete manual.
NOTES
This software was built from source available at
https://java.net/projects/solaris-userland. The original community
source was downloaded from
http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gperf/gperf-3.0.3.tar.gz
Further information about this software can be found on the open source
community website at http://www.gnu.org/software/gperf/.
GNU gperf 3.0.3 May 2007 GPERF(1)