How to convert Mac string to a Byte address in C

Question

I want to take MAC address from command line, so I got it as string...how do I can convert this 17 byte MAC string like \"00:0d:3f:cd:02:5f\" to 6 byte MAC Address in C

Answer 1

On a C99-conformant implementation, this should work

unsigned char mac[6];

sscanf(macStr, "%hhx:%hhx:%hhx:%hhx:%hhx:%hhx", &mac[0], &mac[1], &mac[2], &mac[3], &mac[4], &mac[5]);

Otherwise, you'll need:

unsigned int iMac[6];
unsigned char mac[6];
int i;

sscanf(macStr, "%x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x", &iMac[0], &iMac[1], &iMac[2], &iMac[3], &iMac[4], &iMac[5]);
for(i=0;i<6;i++)
    mac[i] = (unsigned char)iMac[i];