locale.h

2.6 locale.h

The locale header is useful for setting location specific information.

Variables:

struct lconv

Macros:

NULL
LC_ALL
LC_COLLATE
LC_CTYPE
LC_MONETARY
LC_NUMERIC
LC_TIME

Functions:

localeconv();
setlocale();

2.6.1 Variables and Definitions

The lconv structure contains the following variables in any order. The use of this structure is described in 2.6.3 localeconv.

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;

The LC_ macros are described in 2.6.2 setlocale. NULL is the value of a null pointer constant.

2.6.2 setlocale

Declaration:

char *setlocale(int category, const char *locale);

Sets or reads location dependent information.

category can be one of the following:

LC_ALL	Set everything.
LC_COLLATE	Affects strcoll and strxfrm functions.
LC_CTYPE	Affects all character functions.
LC_MONETARY	Affects the monetary information provided by localeconv function.
LC_NUMERIC	Affects decimal-point formatting and the information provided by localeconv function.
LC_TIME	Affects the strftime function.

A value of "C" for locale sets the locale to the normal C translation environment settings (default). A null value ("") sets the native environment settings. A null pointer (NULL) causes setlocale to return a pointer to the string associated with this category for the current settings (no changes occur). All other values are implementation-specific.

After a successful set, setlocale returns a pointer to a string which represents the previous location setting. On failure it returns NULL.

Example:

#include<locale.h>

#include<stdio.h>

 

int main(void)

{

  char *old_locale;

 

  old_locale=setlocale(LC_ALL,"C");

  printf("The preivous setting was %s.\n",old_locale);

  return 0;

}

2.6.3 localeconv

Declaration:

struct lconv *localeconv(void);

Sets the structure lconv to represent the current location settings.

The string pointers in the structure may point to a null string ("") which indicates that the value is not available. The char types are nonnegative numbers. If the value is CHAR_MAX, then the value is not available.

lconv variables:

char *decimal_point	Decimal point character used for non-monetary values.
char *thousands_sep	Thousands place separator character used for non-monetary values.
char *grouping	A string that indicates the size of each group of digits in non-monetary quantities. Each character represents an integer value which designates the number of digits in the current group. A value of 0 means that the previous value is to be used for the rest of the groups.
char *int_curr_symbol	A string of the international currency symbols used. The first three characters are those specified by ISO 4217:1987 and the fourth is the character which separates the currency symbol from the monetary quantity.
char *currency_symbol	The local symbol used for currency.
char *mon_decimal_point	The decimal point character used for monetary values.
char *mon_thousands_sep	The thousands place grouping character used for monetary values.
char *mon_grouping	A string whose elements define the size of the grouping of digits in monetary values. Each character represents an integer value which designates the number of digits in the current group. A value of 0 means that the previous value is to be used for the rest of the groups.
char *positive_sign	The character used for positive monetary values.
char *negative_sign	The character used for negative monetary values.
char int_frac_digits	Number of digits to show after the decimal point in international monetary values.
char frac_digits	Number of digits to show after the decimal point in monetary values.
char p_cs_precedes	If equal to 1, then the currency_symbol appears before a positive monetary value. If equal to 0, then the currency_symbol appears after a positive monetary value.
char p_sep_by_space	If equal to 1, then the currency_symbol is separated by a space from a positive monetary value. If equal to 0, then there is no space between the currency_symbol and a positive monetary value.
char n_cs_precedes	If equal to 1, then the currency_symbol precedes a negative monetary value. If equal to 0, then the currency_symbol succeeds a negative monetary value.
char n_sep_by_space	If equal to 1, then the currency_symbol is separated by a space from a negative monetary value. If equal to 0, then there is no space between the currency_symbol and a negative monetary value.
char p_sign_posn	Represents the position of the positive_sign in a positive monetary value.
char n_sign_posn	Represents the position of the negative_sign in a negative monetary value.

The following values are used for p_sign_posn and n_sign_posn:

0	Parentheses encapsulate the value and the currency_symbol.
1	The sign precedes the value and currency_symbol.
2	The sign succeeds the value and currency_symbol.
3	The sign immediately precedes the value and currency_symbol.
4	The sign immediately succeeds the value and currency_symbol.

Example:

 

#include<locale.h>

#include<stdio.h>

int main(void)

{

  struct lconv locale_structure;

  struct lconv *locale_ptr=&locale_structure;

 

  locale_ptr=lcoaleconv();

  printf("Decimal point:                   %s",locale_ptr->decimal_point);

  printf("Thousands Separator:             %s",locale_ptr->thousands_sep);

  printf("Grouping:                        %s",locale_ptr->grouping);

  printf("International Currency Symbol:   %s",locale_ptr->int_curr_symbol);

  printf("Currency Symbol:                 %s",locale_ptr->currency_symbol);

  printf("Monetary Decimal Point:          %s",locale_ptr->mon_decimal_point);

  printf("Monetary Thousands Separator:    %s",locale_ptr->mon_thousands_sep);

  printf("Monetary Grouping:               %s",locale_ptr->mon_grouping);

  printf("Monetary Positive Sign:          %s",locale_ptr->positive_sign);

  printf("Monetary Negative Sign:          %s",locale_ptr->negative_sign);

  printf("Monetary Intl Decimal Digits:    %c",locale_ptr->int_frac_digits);

  printf("Monetary Decimal Digits:         %c",locale_ptr->frac_digits);

  printf("Monetary + Precedes:             %c",locale_ptr->p_cs_precedes);

  printf("Monetary + Space:                %c",locale_ptr->p_sep_by_space);

  printf("Monetary - Precedes:             %c",locale_ptr->n_cs_precedes);

  printf("Monetary - Space:                %c",locale_ptr->n_sep_by_space);

  printf("Monetary + Sign Posn:            %c",locale_ptr->p_sign_posn);

  printf("Monetary - Sign Posn:            %c",locale_ptr->n_sign_posn);

 

 

With Thanks & Regards,

Rajesh S