NAME

nl_langinfo - language information

SYNOPSIS

[XSI] #include <langinfo.h>

char *nl_langinfo(nl_item item);

DESCRIPTION

The nl_langinfo() function shall return a pointer to a string containing information relevant to the particular language or cultural area defined in the program's locale (see <langinfo.h>). The manifest constant names and values of item are defined in <langinfo.h>. For example:

nl_langinfo(ABDAY_1)

would return a pointer to the string "Dom" if the identified language was Portuguese, and "Sun" if the identified language was English.

Calls to setlocale() with a category corresponding to the category of item (see <langinfo.h>), or to the category LC_ALL , may overwrite the array pointed to by the return value.

The nl_langinfo() function need not be reentrant. A function that is not required to be reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

In a locale where langinfo data is not defined, nl_langinfo() shall return a pointer to the corresponding string in the POSIX locale. In all locales, nl_langinfo() shall return a pointer to an empty string if item contains an invalid setting.

This pointer may point to static data that may be overwritten on the next call.

ERRORS

No errors are defined.

EXAMPLES

Getting Date and Time Formatting Information

The following example returns a pointer to a string containing date and time formatting information, as defined in the LC_TIME category of the current locale.

#include <time.h>
#include <langinfo.h>
...
strftime(datestring, sizeof(datestring), nl_langinfo(D_T_FMT), tm);
...

APPLICATION USAGE

The array pointed to by the return value should not be modified by the program, but may be modified by further calls to nl_langinfo().

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

SEE ALSO

setlocale() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Chapter 7, Locale, <langinfo.h>, <nl_types.h>

CHANGE HISTORY

First released in Issue 2.

Issue 5

The last paragraph of the DESCRIPTION is moved from the APPLICATION USAGE section.

A note indicating that this function need not be reentrant is added to the DESCRIPTION.