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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.

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.

GNU gperf 3.0.3			   May 2007			      GPERF(1)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | AUTHOR | REPORTING BUGS | COPYRIGHT | SEE ALSO

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