iconv(3)						     Library Functions Manual							  iconv(3)

NAME

       iconv - Converts a string of characters from one codeset to another codeset

LIBRARY

       The iconv library (libiconv)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <iconv.h>

       size_t iconv(
	       iconv_t cd,
	       const char **inbuf,
	       size_t *inbytesleft,
	       char **outbuf,
	       size_t *outbytesleft);

       The following nonstandard interface is supported in libiconv only for compatibility with versions of DIGITAL UNIX earlier than Version 4.0:

       size_t iconv(
	       iconv_t cd,
	       char **inbuf,
	       size_t *inbytesleft,
	       char **outbuf,
	       size_t *outbytesleft);

STANDARDS

       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       iconv(): XSH5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS

       Specifies  the  conversion  descriptor  that points to the correct codeset converter Points to a variable that points to the beginning of a
       buffer that contains the characters to be converted Points to an integer that contains the number of bytes in inbuf still to  be  converted
       Points to a variable that points to the buffer that contains the characters that have been converted Points to an integer that contains the
       number of free bytes in outbuf

DESCRIPTION

       The iconv() function converts a string of characters in inbuf into a different codeset and returns the results in outbuf. The required con-
       verter is identified by cd, which must be a valid descriptor returned by a previous successful call to the iconv_open() function.

       On  calling,  the  inbytesleft  parameter  indicates  the number of bytes in inbuf to be converted and outbytesleft indicates the number of
       available bytes in outbuf.

       For codesets that include shift-state sequences, a call to iconv() in which inbuf is or points to a null pointer places the  cd	conversion
       descriptor  into  its initial shift state. In this case, as long as outbuf is not (or does not point to) a null pointer, the call places in
       outbuf the byte sequence that changes the output buffer to its initial shift state.  If the output buffer is not large enough to  hold  the
       entire  reset sequence, the call fails and sets errno to [E2BIG].  Any subsequent calls in which inbuf is not (or does not point to) a null
       pointer cause the conversion to take place from the current state of the conversion descriptor.	See the RESTRICTIONS section for  informa-
       tion about support of shift-state encoding.

       If a sequence of input bytes does not form a character that is valid in the input codeset, conversion stops after the previous successfully
       converted character. If the input buffer ends with an incomplete character or shift sequence, conversion stops after the last byte sequence
       that  was  successfully	converted  to a character.  If the output is not large enough to hold the entire sequence of converted characters,
       conversion stops just prior to the input byte sequence that would cause the output buffer to overflow.

       On return from the call: The inbuf value is updated to point to the byte following the  last  byte  used  successfully  in  conversion  The
       inbytesleft  value is decremented to reflect the number of input bytes still not converted The outbuf value is updated to point to the byte
       following the last output byte of successfully converted data The outbytesleft value is decremented to reflect the number  of  bytes  still
       available  in the output buffer.  For codesets that include shift-state encoding, the conversion descriptor is updated to reflect the shift
       state in effect at the end of the last successfully converted byte sequence.

       It is possible for input data to include a character that is valid in the input codeset but for which an identical character does not exist
       in  the output codeset.	The output character for such cases is defined by the converter that iconv() applies when converting from one par-
       ticular codeset to another.  In other words, the output character in this case can vary from one codeset converter to another.

RESTRICTIONS

       Currently, the operating system does not include locales whose codesets use shift-state encoding.  Some sections  of  this  reference  page
       refer  to iconv() behavior with respect to conversion of shift sequences.  This information is included only for your convenience in devel-
       oping portable applications that run on multiple platforms, some of which may supply locales whose codesets do use shift-state encoding.

RETURN VALUES

       The iconv() function updates the variables pointed to by the call arguments to reflect the extent of the conversion and returns the  number
       of  non-identical  conversions  performed.  If  the  function  is  successful and converts the entire input string, the value pointed to by
       inbytesleft will be 0 (zero).

       If an error occurs, the function returns (size_t)-1 and sets errno to indicate the condition.

ERRORS

       If any of the following conditions occur, the iconv() function sets errno to the corresponding value: The outbuf buffer	is  too  small	to
       contain	all  the converted characters. The character that causes the overflow is not converted and inbytesleft indicates the bytes left to
       be converted, including the character that caused the overflow. The inbuf parameter points to the first byte of the characters left to con-
       vert.  The cd parameter does not specify a valid converter descriptor.  An input character does not belong to the input codeset. No conver-
       sion is attempted on the invalid character and inbytesleft indicates the bytes left to be  converted,  including  the  first  byte  of  the
       invalid character. The inbuf parameter points to the first byte of the invalid character sequence.

	      The  values  of  outbuf and outbytesleft are updated according to the number of characters that were previously converted.  The last
	      character or shift sequence in the inbuf parameter was not complete.  The inbytesleft parameter indicates the number of input  bytes
	      still not converted.

RELATED INFORMATION

       Functions: iconv_close(3), iconv_open(3)

       Commands: iconv(1), genxlt(1)

       Others: iconv_intro(5), standards(5) delim off

																	  iconv(3)