GPERF
Section: FSF (1)
Updated: January 2017
Page Index
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 specified
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 ANSI-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
'Perfect_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 function 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 variable, 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 table entries.
- --constants-prefix=PREFIX
-
Specify prefix for the constants like TOTAL_KEYWORDS.
- -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
'lengthtable'.
- -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 table, 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 allowable 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 associated 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 argument N indicates "how many times larger
or smaller" the associated 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 unsuccessful
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-gperf@gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1989-2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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.