| SETLOCALE(3) | Library Functions Manual | SETLOCALE(3) | 
setlocale, localeconv —
#include <locale.h>
char *
  
  setlocale(int
    category, const char
    *locale);
struct lconv *
  
  localeconv(void);
setlocale() function sets the C library's notion of
  natural language formatting style for particular sets of routines. Each such
  style is called a ‘locale’ and is invoked using an appropriate
  name passed as a C string. The localeconv() routine
  returns the current locale's parameters for formatting numbers.
The setlocale() function recognizes
    several categories of routines. These are the categories and the sets of
    routines they select:
LC_ALLLC_COLLATEstrcoll() and
      strxfrm().LC_CTYPEsetrunelocale() function.LC_MESSAGESLC_MONETARYlocaleconv() function.LC_NUMERICprintf() and
      scanf(), as well as values returned by
      localeconv().LC_TIMEstrftime() function.Only three locales are defined by default, the empty string
    "" which denotes the native environment,
    and the "C" and
    "POSIX" locales, which denote the C
    language environment. A locale argument of
    NULL causes setlocale() to
    return the current locale. By default, C programs start in the
    "C" locale. The format of the locale
    string is described in
  nls(7).
The only function in the library that sets the locale is
    setlocale(); the locale is never changed as a side
    effect of some other routine.
Changing the setting of LC_MESSAGES has no
    effect on catalogs that have already been opened by
    catopen(3).
The localeconv() function returns a
    pointer to a structure which provides parameters for formatting numbers,
    especially currency values:
struct lconv {
	char	*decimal_point;
	char	*thousands_sep;
	char	*grouping;
	char	*int_curr_symbol;
	char	*currency_symbol;
	char	*mon_decimal_point;
	char	*mon_thousands_sep;
	char	*mon_grouping;
	char	*positive_sign;
	char	*negative_sign;
	char	int_frac_digits;
	char	frac_digits;
	char	p_cs_precedes;
	char	p_sep_by_space;
	char	n_cs_precedes;
	char	n_sep_by_space;
	char	p_sign_posn;
	char	n_sign_posn;
	char	int_p_cs_precedes;
	char	int_n_cs_precedes;
	char	int_p_sep_by_space;
	char	int_n_sep_by_space;
	char	int_p_sign_posn;
	char	int_n_sign_posn;
};
The individual fields have the following meanings:
CHAR_MAX. If the list is terminated with 0, the
      last group size before the 0 is repeated to account for all the digits. If
      the list is terminated with CHAR_MAX, no more
      grouping is performed.The positional parameters in p_sign_posn, n_sign_posn, int_p_sign_posn and int_n_sign_posn are encoded as follows:
01234Unless mentioned above, an empty string as a value for a field
    indicates a zero length result or a value that is not in the current locale.
    A CHAR_MAX result similarly denotes an unavailable
    value.
setlocale() function returns
  NULL and fails to change the locale if the given
  combination of category and locale
  makes no sense. The localeconv() function returns a
  pointer to a static object which may be altered by later calls to
  setlocale() or localeconv().
setlocale(LC_ALL, "de"); setlocale(LC_COLLATE, "fr");
When a process is started, its current locale is set to the C or POSIX locale. An internationalized program that depends on locale data not defined in the C or POSIX locale must invoke the setlocale subroutine in the following manner before using any of the locale-specific information:
setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
setlocale() and localeconv()
  functions conform to ANSI X3.159-1989
  (“ANSI C89”) and ISO/IEC
  9899:1990 (“ISO C90”).
The int_p_cs_precedes, int_n_cs_precedes, int_p_sep_by_space, int_n_sep_by_space, int_p_sign_posn and int_n_sign_posn members of struct lconv were introduced in ISO/IEC 9899:1999 (“ISO C99”).
setlocale() and localeconv()
  functions first appeared in 4.4BSD.
"C" and
  "POSIX" locales for all but the
  LC_CTYPE locale.
In spite of the gnarly currency support in
    localeconv(), the standards don't include any
    functions for generalized currency formatting.
LC_COLLATE does not make sense for many
    languages. Use of LC_MONETARY could lead to
    misleading results until we have a real time currency conversion function.
    LC_NUMERIC and LC_TIME are
    personal choices and should not be wrapped up with the other categories.
Multibyte locales aren't supported for static binaries.
| May 30, 2003 | NetBSD 9.3 |