Parse a bounded simple record with sscanf.

C: A width limit protects the destination buffer and the consumed count detects trailing junk.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <limits.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <time.h>

int main(void) {
    const char *text="Ada:42";
    char name[16];
    int score,consumed=0;
    if (sscanf(text,"%15[^:]:%d%n",name,&score,&consumed)!=2 || text[consumed]!='\0') return 1;
    printf("%s %d\n",name,score);
    return 0;
}

Expected output EXAMPLE

Ada 42

Details

Save as snippet.c; compile with gcc -std=c17 -Wall -Wextra snippet.c -lm -o snippet, then run ./snippet. A width limit protects the destination buffer and the consumed count detects trailing junk.

Keep in mind

This fixed trusted fixture fits int. For untrusted numeric input, use strtol with explicit range checks rather than relying on sscanf numeric conversion.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · 2026-11-02 18:02:40 UTC · gcc (Ubuntu 13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04.1) 13.3.0 · gcc 4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1

Test inputs, results and environment

The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Unprivileged snippet process, external networking disabled, read-only root filesystem, and a fresh temporary working directory. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.

Architecture / host kernel: x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Snippet identity / locale: uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged) / C.UTF-8
Interpreter invocation: gcc -std=c17 -Wall -Wextra -Werror snippet.c -lm -o snippet && ./snippet
Container image ID: sha256:32dc2d998158b6554c99b73b533f423696a0f3e31e8cbea9db10b5eee9a2fadd
Code SHA-256: 42b869672314681621556041c4457861c8def798f6d4e9484ac5819d8b7bcc31
Dependencies: gcc 4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1

Test input setup

These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.

# No input files required.

Observed standard output

Ada 42

Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.