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ICONV(3) Linux Programmer's Manual ICONV(3)
NAME
iconv - perform character set conversion
SYNOPSIS
#include <iconv.h>
size_t iconv (iconv_t cd,
const char* * inbuf, size_t * inbytesleft,
char* * outbuf, size_t * outbytesleft);
DESCRIPTION
The argument cd must be a conversion descriptor created
using the function iconv_open.
The main case is when inbuf is not NULL and *inbuf is
not NULL. In this case, the iconv function converts the
multibyte sequence starting at *inbuf to a multibyte
sequence starting at *outbuf. At most *inbytesleft
bytes, starting at *inbuf, will be read. At most *out-
bytesleft bytes, starting at *outbuf, will be written.
The iconv function converts one multibyte character at a
time, and for each character conversion it increments
*inbuf and decrements *inbytesleft by the number of con-
verted input bytes, it increments *outbuf and decrements
*outbytesleft by the number of converted output bytes,
and it updates the conversion state contained in cd.
The conversion can stop for four reasons:
1. An invalid multibyte sequence is encountered in the
input. In this case it sets errno to EILSEQ and returns
(size_t)(-1). *inbuf is left pointing to the beginning
of the invalid multibyte sequence.
2. The input byte sequence has been entirely converted,
i.e. *inbytesleft has gone down to 0. In this case iconv
returns the number of non-reversible conversions per-
formed during this call.
3. An incomplete multibyte sequence is encountered in
the input, and the input byte sequence terminates after
it. In this case it sets errno to EINVAL and returns
(size_t)(-1). *inbuf is left pointing to the beginning
of the incomplete multibyte sequence.
4. The output buffer has no more room for the next con-
verted character. In this case it sets errno to E2BIG
and returns (size_t)(-1).
A different case is when inbuf is NULL or *inbuf is
NULL, but outbuf is not NULL and *outbuf is not NULL. In
this case, the iconv function attempts to set cd's con-
version state to the initial state and store a corre-
sponding shift sequence at *outbuf. At most *out-
bytesleft bytes, starting at *outbuf, will be written.
If the output buffer has no more room for this reset
sequence, it sets errno to E2BIG and returns
(size_t)(-1). Otherwise it increments *outbuf and decre-
ments *outbytesleft by the number of bytes written.
A third case is when inbuf is NULL or *inbuf is NULL,
and outbuf is NULL or *outbuf is NULL. In this case, the
iconv function sets cd's conversion state to the initial
state.
RETURN VALUE
The iconv function returns the number of characters con-
verted in a non-reversible way during this call;
reversible conversions are not counted. In case of
error, it sets errno and returns (size_t)(-1).
ERRORS
The following errors can occur, among others:
E2BIG There is not sufficient room at *outbuf.
EILSEQ An invalid multibyte sequence has been encoun-
tered in the input.
EINVAL An incomplete multibyte sequence has been encoun-
tered in the input.
CONFORMING TO
UNIX98
SEE ALSO
iconv_open(3), iconv_close(3)
GNU January 21, 2004 ICONV(3)