void *bsearch( void *key, void *base, int nelem, int width,
int (*fcmp )())
- prototype in stdlib.h
- does binary search for items in a table which is
ALREADY sorted in ascending order
- base points to 0th element of table
- nelem contains number of entries in table
- width contains number of bytes in each entry
- key points to the search key
- fcmp() points to comparison routine, where key and elem are
passed to it as pointers. Function fcmp() returns:
integer < 0 if search key < elem;
integer = 0 if equal;
returns > 0 if search key > elem
- returns 0 if no match found, else address of first
entry that matches