ICONV(3)						   BSD Library Functions Manual 						  ICONV(3)

NAME

     iconv_open, iconv_close, iconv -- codeset conversion functions

LIBRARY

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

     #include <iconv.h>

     iconv_t
     iconv_open(const char *dstname, const char *srcname);

     int
     iconv_close(iconv_t cd);

     size_t
     iconv(iconv_t cd, const char ** restrict src, size_t * restrict srcleft, char ** restrict dst, size_t * restrict dstleft);

DESCRIPTION

     The iconv_open() function opens a converter from the codeset srcname to the codeset dstname and returns its descriptor.

     The iconv_close() function closes the specified converter cd.

     The iconv() function converts the string in the buffer *src of length *srcleft bytes and stores the converted string in the buffer *dst of
     size *dstleft bytes.  After calling iconv(), the values pointed to by src, srcleft, dst, and dstleft are updated as follows:

	   *src      Pointer to the byte just after the last character fetched.

	   *srcleft  Number of remaining bytes in the source buffer.

	   *dst      Pointer to the byte just after the last character stored.

	   *dstleft  Number of remainder bytes in the destination buffer.

     If the string pointed to by *src contains a byte sequence which is not a valid character in the source codeset, the conversion stops just
     after the last successful conversion.  If the output buffer is too small to store the converted character, the conversion also stops in the
     same way.	In these cases, the values pointed to by src, srcleft, dst, and dstleft are updated to the state just after the last successful
     conversion.

     If the string pointed to by *src contains a character which is valid under the source codeset but can not be converted to the destination
     codeset, the character is replaced by an ``invalid character'' which depends on the destination codeset, e.g., '?', and the conversion is
     continued.  iconv() returns the number of such ``invalid conversions''.

     If the source and/or destination codesets are stateful, iconv() places these into their initial state.  There are two special cases of
     iconv():

	   1.	If both dst and *dst are non-NULL, iconv() stores the shift sequence for the destination switching to the initial state in the
		buffer pointed to by *dst.  The buffer size is specified by the value pointed to by dstleft as above.  iconv() will fail if the
		buffer is too small to store the shift sequence.

	   2.	On the other hand, dst or *dst may be NULL.  In this case, the shift sequence for the destination switching to the initial state
		is discarded.

RETURN VALUES

     Upon successful completion of iconv_open(), it returns a conversion descriptor.  Otherwise, iconv_open() returns (iconv_t)-1 and sets errno
     to indicate the error.

     Upon successful completion of iconv_close(), it returns 0.  Otherwise, iconv_close() returns -1 and sets errno to indicate the error.

     Upon successful completion of iconv(), it returns the number of ``invalid'' conversions.  Otherwise, iconv() returns (size_t)-1 and sets
     errno to indicate the error.

ERRORS

     The iconv_open() function may cause an error in the following cases:

     [EINVAL]		There is no converter specified by srcname and dstname.

     [ENOMEM]		Memory is exhausted.

     The iconv_close() function may cause an error in the following case:

     [EBADF]		The conversion descriptor specified by cd is invalid.

     The iconv() function may cause an error in the following cases:

     [E2BIG]		The output buffer pointed to by *dst is too small to store the result string.

     [EBADF]		The conversion descriptor specified by cd is invalid.

     [EILSEQ]		The string pointed to by *src contains a byte sequence which does not describe a valid character of the source codeset.

     [EINVAL]		The string pointed to by *src terminates with an incomplete character or shift sequence.

SEE ALSO

     iconv(1)

STANDARDS

     iconv_open(), iconv_close(), and iconv() conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').

BUGS

     If iconv() is aborted due to the occurrence of some error, the ``invalid conversion'' count mentioned above is unfortunately lost.

BSD
								    May 5, 2010 							       BSD