This section provides information about the notation conventions and function descriptions used in this reference.

The documentation for each function contains the following sections:

Syntax

The function syntax describes the C-language calling syntax of the function and gives a brief description.

Programming Note
The functions in this book are spelled in mixed-case for readability but are known to the system as uppercase character strings. If you are using a compiler that generates a mixed-case external name, you should code the functions in uppercase.

Parameters
Each parameter is listed with its C-language data type, parameter type, and a brief description.

• All data types are written in uppercase to match the header files. A data type of "Pxxxxxxx" implicitly defines a pointer to the data type "xxxxxxx".

  The term NULL applied to a parameter indicates the presence of the parameter, with no value.

  Refer to Data Types for a complete list of all data types and their descriptions.

• There are three parameter types:

  Input

  Specified by the programmer.
  Output
  Returned by the function.
  Input/Output
  Specified by the programmer and modified by the function.
  
  A brief description is provided with each parameter. Where appropriate, restrictions are also included. In some cases, the parameter points to a structure.
  Returns
  A list of possible return codes or errors (when appropriate) is included in this section. Some functions do not have return codes. Refer to Errors for a complete list of all return codes and their descriptions.
  Remarks
  This section contains additional information about the function, when required.
  Related Functions
  This list shows the functions (if any) that are related to the function being described.
  Example Code
  An example for each function is shown in the C programming language.

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