[#BloombergLP-balm-MetricRegistry-getCategory]
= xref:BloombergLP.adoc[BloombergLP]::xref:BloombergLP/balm.adoc[balm]::xref:BloombergLP/balm/MetricRegistry.adoc[MetricRegistry]::getCategory
:relfileprefix: ../../../
:mrdocs:

Return the category for `category`, registering it if needed.

== Synopsis

Declared in `<balm_metricregistry.h>`

[source,cpp,subs="verbatim,replacements,macros,-callouts"]
----
xref:BloombergLP/balm/Category.adoc[Category] const*
getCategory(char const* category);
----

== Description

Return the address of the non‐modifiable `balm::Category` object for the specified `category`. If no corresponding category exists, register a new category and return the address of the newly‐created `balm::Category` object. The behavior is undefined unless `category` is null‐terminated. Note that this operation is guaranteed to return a valid address.

== Return Value

address of the category for `category`

== Parameters

[cols="1,4"]
|===
| Name| Description
| *category*
| null‐terminated category name
|===


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