Exactly, in TIFF.xs double is simply cast to float, no issues with that. My confusion was about line 337, where double is expected as argument. But, what I just found in plain Wikipedia:

Another consideration is the default argument promotions applied to the unnamed arguments. A float will automatically be promoted to a double. Likewise, arguments of types narrower than an int will be promoted to int or unsigned int. The function receiving the unnamed arguments must expect the promoted type.

That answers my question about libtiff code. And, perhaps implicitly, addresses the question about FFI: for variadic functions, promoted args types must be specified (i.e. not float, but double). OK, now I'm educated:)

A float will automatically be promoted to a double

I wasn't aware of this, either.
I've eventually located this info in K&R (2nd Edition) in section A7 - "A7.3.2 Function Calls".
Thanks for spreading the education !!

Cheers,
Rob

That's why there's no printf length modifier for char, float or double.

signed char c = 123;
int         i = 123;
float       f = 123;
double      d = 123;

printf("%d\n", i);   // ok
printf("%d\n", c);   // ok, even though %d expects int.
printf("%f\n", d);   // ok
printf("%f\n", f);   // ok, even though %f expects double.
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(Not sure why there's one for short since they are guaranteed to be no larger than an int and unsigned int respectively.)

Seeking work! You can reach me at ikegami@adaelis.com

There is one for char (hh).

The reason it and the one for short (h) exists is purely for symmetry with scanf (which needs to know the type of object at the provided address).

Seeking work! You can reach me at ikegami@adaelis.com