logb

float       logbf( float arg );

double      logb( double arg );

long double logbl( long double arg );

#define logb( arg )

Formally, the unbiased exponent is the signed integral part of log
r|arg| (returned by this function as a floating-point value), for non-zero arg, where r is FLT_RADIX. If arg is subnormal, it is treated as though it was normalized.

Parameters

Return value

If no errors occur, the unbiased exponent of arg is returned as a signed floating-point value.

If a domain error occurs, an implementation-defined value is returned.

If a pole error occurs, -HUGE_VAL, -HUGE_VALF, or -HUGE_VALL is returned.

Error handling

Errors are reported as specified in math_errhandling.

Domain or range error may occur if arg is zero.

If the implementation supports IEEE floating-point arithmetic (IEC 60559),

• If arg is ±0, -∞ is returned and FE_DIVBYZERO is raised.
• If arg is ±∞, +∞ is returned
• If arg is NaN, NaN is returned.
• In all other cases, the result is exact (FE_INEXACT is never raised) and the current rounding mode is ignored

Notes

POSIX requires that a pole error occurs if arg is ±0.

The value of the exponent returned by logb is always 1 less than the exponent retuned by frexp because of the different normalization requirements: for the exponent e returned by logb, |arg*r-e
| is between 1 and r (typically between 1 and 2), but for the exponent e returned by frexp, |arg*2-e
| is between 0.5 and 1.

Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <float.h>
#include <fenv.h>
 
#pragma STDC FENV_ACCESS ON
int main(void)
{
    double f = 123.45;
    printf("Given the number %.2f or %a in hex,\n", f, f);
 
    double f3;
    double f2 = modf(f, &f3);
    printf("modf() makes %.0f + %.2f\n", f3, f2);
 
    int i;
    f2 = frexp(f, &i);
    printf("frexp() makes %f * 2^%d\n", f2, i);
 
    i = logb(f);
    printf("logb()/logb() make %f * %d^%d\n", f/scalbn(1.0, i), FLT_RADIX, i);
 
    // error handling
    feclearexcept(FE_ALL_EXCEPT);
    printf("logb(0) = %f\n", logb(0));
    if(fetestexcept(FE_DIVBYZERO)) puts("    FE_DIVBYZERO raised");
}

Given the number 123.45 or 0x1.edccccccccccdp+6 in hex,
modf() makes 123 + 0.45
frexp() makes 0.964453 * 2^7
logb()/logb() make 1.928906 * 2^6
logb(0) = -Inf
    FE_DIVBYZERO raised

References

• C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
  • 7.12.6.11 The logb functions (p: 246)
  • 7.25 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: 373-375)
  • F.10.3.11 The logb functions (p: 522)
• C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
  • 7.12.6.11 The logb functions (p: 227)
  • 7.22 Type-generic math <tgmath.h> (p: 335-337)
  • F.9.3.11 The logb functions (p: 459)

See also