setlocale

Name

setlocale - set the current locale

Library

libc.lib

Synopsis

#include <locale.h>

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

Return values

Upon successful completion, setlocale returns the string associated with the specified category for the requested locale. The setlocale function returns NULL and fails to change the locale if the given combination of category and locale makes no sense.

Detailed description

The 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 setlocale function recognizes several categories of routines. These are the categories and the sets of routines they select:

`LC_ALL`	Set the entire locale generically.
`LC_COLLATE`	Set a locale for string collation routines. Currently locale setting does not have effect on this category.
`LC_CTYPE`	This controls recognition of upper and lower case, alphabetic or non-alphabetic characters, and so on. Currently locale setting does not have effect on this category.
`LC_MESSAGES`
	Set a locale for message catalogs. Currently this category is not supported.
`LC_MONETARY`
	Set a locale for formatting monetary values; this affects the `localeconv` function.
`LC_NUMERIC`	Set a locale for formatting numbers. This controls the formatting of decimal points in input and output of floating point numbers in functions such as `printf` and `scanf,` as well as values returned by `localeconv.`
`LC_TIME`	Set a locale for formatting dates and times using the `strftime` 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 only function in the library that sets the locale is setlocale; the locale is never changed as a side effect of some other routine.

Examples

#include<stdio.h>
#include<locale.h>
int main()
{
        //Set the locale to UK English
        char* locale = setlocale(LC_ALL,"en_GB.ISO-8859-1");
        //Check whether locale setting is succesful or not
        if(NULL != locale)
        {
                printf("Locale setting is successful\n");
                printf("Locale is set to %s\n", locale);
        }
        else
        {
                printf("Locale setting failed\n");
        }
        return 0;
}

Output

Locale setting is successful
Locale is set to en_GB.ISO-8859-1

Errors

No errors are defined.

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