Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!rice!sun-spots-request
From: bob@omni.com (Bob Weissman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Why is sprintf ifdef-ed out of <stdio.h>?
Keywords: SunOS
Message-ID: <324@brazos.Rice.edu>
Date: 20 Jul 89 20:28:40 GMT
Sender: root@rice.edu
Organization: Sun-Spots
Lines: 16
Approved: Sun-Spots@rice.edu
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 80, message 9 of 15

/usr/include/stdio.h has the declaration of sprintf() ifdef-ed out:

    /*      @(#)stdio.h 1.12 88/02/07 SMI; from UCB 1.4 06/30/83    */
    ...
    #ifdef vax
    char    *sprintf();             /* too painful to do right */
    #endif

Why is this?  It implies programs which use it have to declare it
themselves.

And what is so painful about the ifdef-ed out declaration, anyway?

Bob Weissman
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