In this source code example, we will see how to use the sscanf() function in C programming with an example.

Function Overview

sscanf() is like the twin of sprintf(). But instead of creating strings, sscanf() reads data from a string. Think of it as the reverse of sprintf(). It is in the C library <stdio.h>.

Source Code Example

#include <stdio.h> int main() { char info[] = "Ram 25 painter"; char name[10]; int age; char job[20]; // Reading data from a string into different variables sscanf(info, "%s %d %s", name, &age, job); printf("Name: %s\n", name); printf("Age: %d\n", age); printf("Job: %s\n", job); char moreInfo[] = "10.5 2023"; double salary; int year; // Reading a double and an int from another string sscanf(moreInfo, "%lf %d", &salary, &year); printf("Salary: %.1lf thousand\n", salary); printf("Year: %d\n", year); return 0; } 

Output

Name: Ram Age: 25 Job: painter Salary: 10.5 thousand Year: 2023 

Explanation

Look at the code, and you'll see:

1. We used sscanf() to get Ram's name, age, and job from a string.

2. We used it again to learn about his salary and the year from a different string.

In short, sscanf() is super useful when you want to take apart a string and find out what's inside!