Basic Types: GLib Reference Manual

## Basic Types Basic Types — standard GLib types, defined for ease-of-use and portability |

## Functions

#define | G_GINT64_CONSTANT()
#define | G_GUINT64_CONSTANT()
#define | G_GOFFSET_CONSTANT()

## Types and Values

typedef | gboolean
typedef | gpointer
typedef | gconstpointer
typedef | gchar
typedef | guchar
typedef | gint
#define | G_MININT
#define | G_MAXINT
typedef | guint
#define | G_MAXUINT
typedef | gshort
#define | G_MINSHORT
#define | G_MAXSHORT
typedef | gushort
#define | G_MAXUSHORT
typedef | glong
#define | G_MINLONG
#define | G_MAXLONG
typedef | gulong
#define | G_MAXULONG
typedef | gint8
#define | G_MININT8
#define | G_MAXINT8
typedef | guint8
#define | G_MAXUINT8
typedef | gint16
#define | G_MININT16
#define | G_MAXINT16
#define | G_GINT16_MODIFIER
#define | G_GINT16_FORMAT
typedef | guint16
#define | G_MAXUINT16
#define | G_GUINT16_FORMAT
typedef | gint32
#define | G_MININT32
#define | G_MAXINT32
#define | G_GINT32_MODIFIER
#define | G_GINT32_FORMAT
typedef | guint32
#define | G_MAXUINT32
#define | G_GUINT32_FORMAT
typedef | gint64
#define | G_MININT64
#define | G_MAXINT64
#define | G_GINT64_MODIFIER
#define | G_GINT64_FORMAT
typedef | guint64
#define | G_MAXUINT64
#define | G_GUINT64_FORMAT
typedef | gfloat
#define | G_MINFLOAT
#define | G_MAXFLOAT
typedef | gdouble
#define | G_MINDOUBLE
#define | G_MAXDOUBLE
typedef | gsize
#define | G_MAXSIZE
#define | G_GSIZE_MODIFIER
#define | G_GSIZE_FORMAT
typedef | gssize
#define | G_MINSSIZE
#define | G_MAXSSIZE
#define | G_GSSIZE_MODIFIER
#define | G_GSSIZE_FORMAT
typedef | goffset
#define | G_MINOFFSET
#define | G_MAXOFFSET
#define | G_GOFFSET_MODIFIER
#define | G_GOFFSET_FORMAT
typedef | gintptr
#define | G_GINTPTR_MODIFIER
#define | G_GINTPTR_FORMAT
typedef | guintptr
#define | G_GUINTPTR_FORMAT

## Includes

    #include <glib.h>

## Description

GLib defines a number of commonly used types, which can be divided into several groups:

- New types which are not part of standard C (but are defined in various C standard library header files) — gboolean, gssize.

- Integer types which are guaranteed to be the same size across all platforms — gint8, guint8, gint16, guint16, gint32, guint32, gint64, guint64.

- Types which are easier to use than their standard C counterparts - gpointer, gconstpointer, guchar, guint, gushort, gulong.

- Types which correspond exactly to standard C types, but are included for completeness — gchar, gint, gshort, glong, gfloat, gdouble.

- Types which correspond exactly to standard C99 types, but are available to use even if your compiler does not support C99 — gsize, goffset, gintptr, guintptr.

GLib also defines macros for the limits of some of the standard integer and floating point types, as well as macros for suitable `printf()` formats for these types.

Note that depending on the platform and build configuration, the format macros might not be compatible with the system provided `printf()` function, because GLib might use a different `printf()` implementation internally. The format macros will always work with GLib API (like `g_print()`), and with any C99 compatible `printf()` implementation.

## Functions

### G_GINT64_CONSTANT()

    #define G_GINT64_CONSTANT(val) (val##L)

This macro is used to insert 64-bit integer literals into the source code.

#### Parameters

val | a literal integer value, e.g. 0x1d636b02300a7aa7 |

### G_GUINT64_CONSTANT()

    #define G_GUINT64_CONSTANT(val) (val##UL)

This macro is used to insert 64-bit unsigned integer literals into the source code.

#### Parameters

val | a literal integer value, e.g. 0x1d636b02300a7aa7U |

Since: 2.10

### G_GOFFSET_CONSTANT()

    #define G_GOFFSET_CONSTANT(val) G_GINT64_CONSTANT(val)

This macro is used to insert goffset 64-bit integer literals into the source code.

See also G_GINT64_CONSTANT.

#### Parameters

val | a literal integer value, e.g. 0x1d636b02300a7aa7 |

Since: 2.20

## Types and Values

### gboolean

    typedef gint   gboolean;

A standard boolean type. Variables of this type should only contain the value `TRUE` or `FALSE`.

Never directly compare the contents of a gboolean variable with the values `TRUE` or `FALSE`. Use `if (condition)` to check a gboolean is "true", instead of `if (condition == TRUE)`. Likewise use `if (!condition)` to check a gboolean is "false".

There is no validation when assigning to a gboolean variable and so it could contain any value represented by a gint. This is why the use of `if (condition)` is recommended. All non-zero values in C evaluate to "true".

### gpointer

    typedef void* gpointer;

An untyped pointer. gpointer looks better and is easier to use than void*.

### gconstpointer

    typedef const void *gconstpointer;

An untyped pointer to constant data. The data pointed to should not be changed.

This is typically used in function prototypes to indicate that the data pointed to will not be altered by the function.

### gchar

    typedef char   gchar;

Corresponds to the standard C char type.

### guchar

    typedef unsigned char   guchar;

Corresponds to the standard C unsigned char type.

### gint

    typedef int    gint;

Corresponds to the standard C int type. Values of this type can range from G_MININT to G_MAXINT.

### G_MININT

    #define G_MININT INT_MIN

The minimum value which can be held in a gint.

### G_MAXINT

    #define G_MAXINT INT_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gint.

### guint

    typedef unsigned int    guint;

Corresponds to the standard C unsigned int type. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUINT.

### G_MAXUINT

    #define G_MAXUINT UINT_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a guint.

### gshort

    typedef short  gshort;

Corresponds to the standard C short type. Values of this type can range from G_MINSHORT to G_MAXSHORT.

### G_MINSHORT

    #define G_MINSHORT SHRT_MIN

The minimum value which can be held in a gshort.

### G_MAXSHORT

    #define G_MAXSHORT SHRT_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gshort.

### gushort

    typedef unsigned short  gushort;

Corresponds to the standard C unsigned short type. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUSHORT.

### G_MAXUSHORT

    #define G_MAXUSHORT USHRT_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gushort.

### glong

    typedef long   glong;

Corresponds to the standard C long type. Values of this type can range from G_MINLONG to G_MAXLONG.

### G_MINLONG

    #define G_MINLONG LONG_MIN

The minimum value which can be held in a glong.

### G_MAXLONG

    #define G_MAXLONG LONG_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a glong.

### gulong

    typedef unsigned long   gulong;

Corresponds to the standard C unsigned long type. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXULONG.

### G_MAXULONG

    #define G_MAXULONG ULONG_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gulong.

### gint8

    typedef signed char gint8;

A signed integer guaranteed to be 8 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from G_MININT8 (= -128) to G_MAXINT8 (= 127).

### G_MININT8

    #define G_MININT8 ((gint8) (-G_MAXINT8 - 1))

The minimum value which can be held in a gint8.

Since: 2.4

### G_MAXINT8

    #define G_MAXINT8 ((gint8)  0x7f)

The maximum value which can be held in a gint8.

Since: 2.4

### guint8

    typedef unsigned char guint8;

An unsigned integer guaranteed to be 8 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUINT8 (= 255).

### G_MAXUINT8

    #define G_MAXUINT8 ((guint8) 0xff)

The maximum value which can be held in a guint8.

Since: 2.4

### gint16

    typedef signed short gint16;

A signed integer guaranteed to be 16 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from G_MININT16 (= -32,768) to G_MAXINT16 (= 32,767).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT16_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GINT16_FORMAT`.

### G_MININT16

    #define G_MININT16 ((gint16) (-G_MAXINT16 - 1))

The minimum value which can be held in a gint16.

Since: 2.4

### G_MAXINT16

    #define G_MAXINT16 ((gint16)  0x7fff)

The maximum value which can be held in a gint16.

Since: 2.4

### G_GINT16_MODIFIER

    #define G_GINT16_MODIFIER "h"

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gint16 or guint16. It is a string literal, but doesn't include the percent-sign, such that you can add precision and length modifiers between percent-sign and conversion specifier and append a conversion specifier.

The following example prints "0x7b";

    1
    2
    gint16 value = 123;
    g_print ("%#" G_GINT16_MODIFIER "x", value);

Since: 2.4

### G_GINT16_FORMAT

    #define G_GINT16_FORMAT "hi"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gint16. It is a string literal, but doesn't include the percent-sign, such that you can add precision and length modifiers between percent-sign and conversion specifier.

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    gint16 in;
    gint32 out;
    sscanf ("42", "%" G_GINT16_FORMAT, &in)
    out = in * 1000;
    g_print ("%" G_GINT32_FORMAT, out);

### guint16

    typedef unsigned short guint16;

An unsigned integer guaranteed to be 16 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUINT16 (= 65,535).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT16_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GUINT16_FORMAT`.

### G_MAXUINT16

    #define G_MAXUINT16 ((guint16) 0xffff)

The maximum value which can be held in a guint16.

Since: 2.4

### G_GUINT16_FORMAT

    #define G_GUINT16_FORMAT "hu"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type guint16. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT

### gint32

    typedef signed int gint32;

A signed integer guaranteed to be 32 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from G_MININT32 (= -2,147,483,648) to G_MAXINT32 (= 2,147,483,647).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT32_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GINT32_FORMAT`.

### G_MININT32

    #define G_MININT32 ((gint32) (-G_MAXINT32 - 1))

The minimum value which can be held in a gint32.

Since: 2.4

### G_MAXINT32

    #define G_MAXINT32 ((gint32)  0x7fffffff)

The maximum value which can be held in a gint32.

Since: 2.4

### G_GINT32_MODIFIER

    #define G_GINT32_MODIFIER ""

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gint32 or guint32. It is a string literal. See also G_GINT16_MODIFIER.

Since: 2.4

### G_GINT32_FORMAT

    #define G_GINT32_FORMAT "i"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gint32. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

### guint32

    typedef unsigned int guint32;

An unsigned integer guaranteed to be 32 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUINT32 (= 4,294,967,295).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT32_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GUINT32_FORMAT`.

### G_MAXUINT32

    #define G_MAXUINT32 ((guint32) 0xffffffff)

The maximum value which can be held in a guint32.

Since: 2.4

### G_GUINT32_FORMAT

    #define G_GUINT32_FORMAT "u"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type guint32. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

### gint64

    typedef signed long gint64;

A signed integer guaranteed to be 64 bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from G_MININT64 (= -9,223,372,036,854,775,808) to G_MAXINT64 (= 9,223,372,036,854,775,807).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT64_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GINT64_FORMAT`.

### G_MININT64

    #define G_MININT64 ((gint64) (-G_MAXINT64 - G_GINT64_CONSTANT(1)))

The minimum value which can be held in a gint64.

### G_MAXINT64

    #define G_MAXINT64 G_GINT64_CONSTANT(0x7fffffffffffffff)

The maximum value which can be held in a gint64.

### G_GINT64_MODIFIER

    #define G_GINT64_MODIFIER "l"

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gint64 or guint64. It is a string literal.

Some platforms do not support printing 64-bit integers, even though the types are supported. On such platforms `G_GINT64_MODIFIER` is not defined.

Since: 2.4

### G_GINT64_FORMAT

    #define G_GINT64_FORMAT "li"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gint64. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

Some platforms do not support scanning and printing 64-bit integers, even though the types are supported. On such platforms `G_GINT64_FORMAT` is not defined. Note that `scanf()` may not support 64-bit integers, even if `G_GINT64_FORMAT` is defined. Due to its weak error handling, `scanf()` is not recommended for parsing anyway; consider using `g_ascii_strtoull()` instead.

### guint64

    typedef unsigned long guint64;

An unsigned integer guaranteed to be 64-bits on all platforms. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXUINT64 (= 18,446,744,073,709,551,615).

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINT64_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GUINT64_FORMAT`.

### G_MAXUINT64

    #define G_MAXUINT64 G_GUINT64_CONSTANT(0xffffffffffffffff)

The maximum value which can be held in a guint64.

### G_GUINT64_FORMAT

    #define G_GUINT64_FORMAT "lu"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type guint64. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

Some platforms do not support scanning and printing 64-bit integers, even though the types are supported. On such platforms `G_GUINT64_FORMAT` is not defined. Note that `scanf()` may not support 64-bit integers, even if `G_GINT64_FORMAT` is defined. Due to its weak error handling, `scanf()` is not recommended for parsing anyway; consider using `g_ascii_strtoull()` instead.

### gfloat

    typedef float   gfloat;

Corresponds to the standard C float type. Values of this type can range from -G_MAXFLOAT to G_MAXFLOAT.

### G_MINFLOAT

    #define G_MINFLOAT FLT_MIN

The minimum positive value which can be held in a gfloat.

If you are interested in the smallest value which can be held in a gfloat, use -`G_MAXFLOAT`.

### G_MAXFLOAT

    #define G_MAXFLOAT FLT_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gfloat.

### gdouble

    typedef double  gdouble;

Corresponds to the standard C double type. Values of this type can range from -G_MAXDOUBLE to G_MAXDOUBLE.

### G_MINDOUBLE

    #define G_MINDOUBLE DBL_MIN

The minimum positive value which can be held in a gdouble.

If you are interested in the smallest value which can be held in a gdouble, use -`G_MAXDOUBLE`.

### G_MAXDOUBLE

    #define G_MAXDOUBLE DBL_MAX

The maximum value which can be held in a gdouble.

### gsize

    typedef unsigned long gsize;

An unsigned integer type of the result of the sizeof operator, corresponding to the size_t type defined in C99. This type is wide enough to hold the numeric value of a pointer, so it is usually 32 bit wide on a 32-bit platform and 64 bit wide on a 64-bit platform. Values of this type can range from 0 to G_MAXSIZE.

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GSIZE_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GSIZE_FORMAT`.

### G_MAXSIZE

    #define G_MAXSIZE G_MAXULONG

The maximum value which can be held in a gsize.

Since: 2.4

### G_GSIZE_MODIFIER

    #define G_GSIZE_MODIFIER "l"

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gsize. It is a string literal.

Since: 2.6

### G_GSIZE_FORMAT

    #define G_GSIZE_FORMAT "lu"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gsize. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

Since: 2.6

### gssize

    typedef signed long gssize;

A signed variant of gsize, corresponding to the ssize_t defined on most platforms. Values of this type can range from G_MINSSIZE to G_MAXSSIZE.

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GSSIZE_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GSSIZE_FORMAT`.

### G_MINSSIZE

    #define G_MINSSIZE G_MINLONG

The minimum value which can be held in a gssize.

Since: 2.14

### G_MAXSSIZE

    #define G_MAXSSIZE G_MAXLONG

The maximum value which can be held in a gssize.

Since: 2.14

### G_GSSIZE_MODIFIER

    #define G_GSSIZE_MODIFIER "l"

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gssize. It is a string literal.

Since: 2.6

### G_GSSIZE_FORMAT

    #define G_GSSIZE_FORMAT "li"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gssize. See also G_GINT16_FORMAT.

Since: 2.6

### goffset

    typedef gint64 goffset;

A signed integer type that is used for file offsets, corresponding to the POSIX type `off_t` as if compiling with `_FILE_OFFSET_BITS` set to 64. goffset is always 64 bits wide, even on 32-bit architectures. Values of this type can range from G_MINOFFSET to G_MAXOFFSET.

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GOFFSET_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GOFFSET_FORMAT`.

Since: 2.14

### G_MINOFFSET

    #define G_MINOFFSET G_MININT64

The minimum value which can be held in a goffset.

### G_MAXOFFSET

    #define G_MAXOFFSET G_MAXINT64

The maximum value which can be held in a goffset.

### G_GOFFSET_MODIFIER

    #define G_GOFFSET_MODIFIER      G_GINT64_MODIFIER

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type goffset. It is a string literal. See also G_GINT64_MODIFIER.

Since: 2.20

### G_GOFFSET_FORMAT

    #define G_GOFFSET_FORMAT        G_GINT64_FORMAT

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type goffset. See also G_GINT64_FORMAT.

Since: 2.20

### gintptr

    typedef signed long gintptr;

Corresponds to the C99 type intptr_t, a signed integer type that can hold any pointer.

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINTPTR_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GINTPTR_FORMAT`.

Since: 2.18

### G_GINTPTR_MODIFIER

    #define G_GINTPTR_MODIFIER      "l"

The platform dependent length modifier for conversion specifiers for scanning and printing values of type gintptr or guintptr. It is a string literal.

Since: 2.22

### G_GINTPTR_FORMAT

    #define G_GINTPTR_FORMAT        "li"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type gintptr.

Since: 2.22

### guintptr

    typedef unsigned long guintptr;

Corresponds to the C99 type uintptr_t, an unsigned integer type that can hold any pointer.

To print or scan values of this type, use `G_GINTPTR_MODIFIER` and/or `G_GUINTPTR_FORMAT`.

Since: 2.18

### G_GUINTPTR_FORMAT

    #define G_GUINTPTR_FORMAT       "lu"

This is the platform dependent conversion specifier for scanning and printing values of type guintptr.

Since: 2.22