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iconv(3) Library Functions Manual iconv(3) NAME iconv - Converts a string of characters from one codeset to another codeset LIBRARY The iconv Library (libiconv.so, libiconv.a) SYNOPSIS #include <iconv.h> size_t iconv( iconv_t cd, const char **inbuf, size_t *inbytesleft, char **outbuf, size_t *outbytesleft); The following nonstandard interface is supported in libiconv only for backward compatibility with versions of DIGITAL UNIX earlier than Ver- sion 4.0: size_t iconv( iconv_t cd, char **inbuf, size_t *inbytesleft, char **outbuf, size_t *outbytesleft); STANDARDS Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry stan- dards as follows: iconv(): XPG4 Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about in- dustry standards and associated tags. PARAMETERS Specifies the conversion descriptor that points to the correct codeset converter Points to a variable that points to the beginning of a buffer that contains the characters to be converted Points to an integer that contains the number of bytes in inbuf still to be converted Points to a variable that points to the buffer that contains the characters that have been converted Points to an integer that contains the number of free bytes in outbuf DESCRIPTION The iconv() function converts a string of characters in inbuf into a different codeset and returns the results in outbuf. The required con- verter is identified by cd, which must be a valid descriptor returned by a previous successful call to the iconv_open() function. On calling, the inbytesleft parameter indicates the number of bytes in inbuf to be converted and outbytesleft indicates the number of avail- able bytes in outbuf. For codesets that include shift-state sequences, a call to iconv() in which inbuf is or points to a null pointer places the cd conversion de- scriptor into its initial shift state. In this case, as long as outbuf is not (or does not point to) a null pointer, the call places in outbuf the byte sequence that changes the output buffer to its initial shift state. If the output buffer is not large enough to hold the entire re- set sequence, the call fails and sets errno to [E2BIG]. Any subsequent calls in which inbuf is not (or does not point to) a null pointer cause the conversion to take place from the current state of the conversion descriptor. See the RESTRICTIONS section for information about support of shift-state encoding on DIGITAL UNIX systems. If a sequence of input bytes does not form a character that is valid in the input codeset, conversion stops after the previous successfully converted character. If the input buffer ends with an incomplete char- acter or shift sequence, conversion stops after the last byte sequence that was successfully converted to a character. If the output is not large enough to hold the entire sequence of converted characters, con- version stops just prior to the input byte sequence that would cause the output buffer to overflow. On return from the call: The inbuf value is updated to point to the byte following the last byte used successfully in conversion The in- bytesleft value is decremented to reflect the number of input bytes still not converted The outbuf value is updated to point to the byte following the last output byte of successfully converted data The out- bytesleft value is decremented to reflect the number of bytes still available in the output buffer. For codesets that include shift-state encoding, the conversion descriptor is updated to reflect the shift state in effect at the end of the last successfully converted byte se- quence. It is possible for input data to include a character that is valid in the input codeset but for which an identical character does not exist in the output codeset. The output character for such cases is defined by the converter that iconv() applies when converting from one particu- lar codeset to another. In other words, the output character in this case can vary from one codeset converter to another. RESTRICTIONS Currently, the DIGITAL UNIX product does not include locales whose codesets use shift-state encoding. Some sections of this reference page refer to iconv() behavior with respect to conversion of shift se- quences. This information is included only for your convenience in de- veloping portable applications that run on multiple platforms, some of which may supply locales whose codesets do use shift-state encoding. RETURN VALUES The iconv() function updates the variables pointed to by the call argu- ments to reflect the extent of the conversion and returns the number of non-identical conversions performed. If the function is successful and converts the entire input string, the value pointed to by inbytesleft will be 0 (zero). If an error occurs, the function returns (size_t)-1 and sets errno to indicate the condition. ERRORS If any of the following conditions occur, the iconv() function sets er- rno to the corresponding value: The outbuf buffer is too small to con- tain all the converted characters. The character that causes the over- flow is not converted and inbytesleft indicates the bytes left to be converted, including the character that caused the overflow. The inbuf parameter points to the first byte of the characters left to convert. The cd parameter does not specify a valid converter descriptor. An in- put character does not belong to the input codeset. No conversion is attempted on the invalid character and inbytesleft indicates the bytes left to be converted, including the first byte of the invalid charac- ter. The inbuf parameter points to the first byte of the invalid char- acter sequence. The values of outbuf and outbytesleft are updated according to the number of characters that were previously converted. The last character or shift sequence in the inbuf parameter was not complete. The inbytesleft parameter indicates the number of in- put bytes still not converted. RELATED INFORMATION Functions: iconv_close(3), iconv_open(3) Commands: iconv(1), genxlt(1) Others: iconv_intro(5), standards(5) delim off iconv(3)