curl\_strnequal(3) Library Functions Manual curl\_strnequal(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

curl\_strnequal - compare two strings ignoring case

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
int curl_strnequal(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t length);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

The [*curl\_strnequal(3)*](/man/os/curl/curl_strnequal.3) function compares the two strings *str1* and *str2*, ignoring the case of the characters. It returns a non-zero (TRUE) integer if the strings are identical.

This function compares no more than the first *length* bytes of *str1* and *str2*.

This function uses plain ASCII based comparisons completely disregarding the locale - contrary to how **strcasecmp** and other system case insensitive string comparisons usually work.

This function is provided by libcurl to enable applications to compare strings in a truly portable manner. There are no standard portable case insensitive string comparison functions. This function works on all platforms.

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects all supported protocols

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{


  static const char *name = "compare";


  if(curl_strnequal(name, argv[1], 5))


    printf("Name and input matches in the 5 first bytes\n");
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.1

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

Non-zero if the strings are identical. Zero if they are not.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**curl\_strequal**(3)](/man/os/curl/curl_strequal.3), [**strcasecmp**(3)](/man/os/curl/strcasecmp.3), [**strcmp**(3)](/man/os/curl/strcmp.3)

2026-10-01 libcurl

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Document: curl_strnequal(3) from curl 8.22.0-r4 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/curl/curl.git