[#BloombergLP-bslx-TestInStream-getLength]
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If required, throw a `TestInStreamException` (see `throwExceptionIfInputLimitExhausted`); otherwise, consume the 8‐bit unsigned integer type code, verify the type of the next value in this stream, consume that 8‐bit unsigned integer or 32‐bit signed integer value representing a length (see the `bslx` package‐level documentation) into the specified `variable` if its type is appropriate, update the cursor location, and return a reference to this stream. Consume an 8‐bit unsigned integer if the most significant bit of this byte is 0, otherwise consume a 32‐bit signed integer and set the most significant bit to zero in the resultant `variable`. If the type is incorrect, then this stream is marked invalid and the value of `variable` is unchanged. If this stream is initially invalid, this operation has no effect. If this function otherwise fails to extract a valid value, this stream is marked invalid and the value of `variable` is undefined.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<bslx_testinstream.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
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xref:BloombergLP/bslx/TestInStream.adoc[TestInStream]&
getLength(int& variable);
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