<refentry id="glib-Character-Set-Conversion">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>Character Set Conversion</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo>GLIB Library</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>Character Set Conversion</refname><refpurpose>convert strings between different character sets using <function><link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link></function>.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv><title>Synopsis</title>
<synopsis>
#include <glib.h>
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-convert">g_convert</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-convert-with-fallback">g_convert_with_fallback</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *fallback,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
struct <link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link>;
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-convert-with-iconv">g_convert_with_iconv</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
#define <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-CAPS">G_CONVERT_ERROR</link>
<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> <link linkend="g-iconv-open">g_iconv_open</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset);
<link linkend="size-t">size_t</link> <link linkend="g-iconv">g_iconv</link> (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **inbuf,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *inbytes_left,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **outbuf,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *outbytes_left);
<link linkend="gint">gint</link> <link linkend="g-iconv-close">g_iconv_close</link> (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8">g_locale_to_utf8</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8">g_filename_to_utf8</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8">g_filename_from_utf8</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-filename-from-uri">g_filename_from_uri</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *uri,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **hostname,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-filename-to-uri">g_filename_to_uri</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *filename,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *hostname,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* <link linkend="g-locale-from-utf8">g_locale_from_utf8</link> (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
enum <link linkend="GConvertError">GConvertError</link>;
<link linkend="gboolean">gboolean</link> <link linkend="g-get-charset">g_get_charset</link> (G_CONST_RETURN <link linkend="char">char</link> **charset);
</synopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>
</para>
<refsect2 id="file-name-encodings">
<title>File Name Encodings</title>
<para>
Historically, Unix has not had a defined encoding for file
names: a file name is valid as long as it does not have path
separators in it ("/"). However, displaying file names may
require conversion: from the character set in which they were
created, to the character set in which the application
operates. Consider the Spanish file name
"<filename>Presentación.sxi</filename>". If the
application which created it uses ISO-8859-1 for its encoding,
then the actual file name on disk would look like this:
</para>
<programlisting id="filename-iso8859-1">
Character: P r e s e n t a c i ó n . s x i
Hex code: 50 72 65 73 65 6e 74 61 63 69 f3 6e 2e 73 78 69
</programlisting>
<para>
However, if the application use UTF-8, the actual file name on
disk would look like this:
</para>
<programlisting id="filename-utf-8">
Character: P r e s e n t a c i ó n . s x i
Hex code: 50 72 65 73 65 6e 74 61 63 69 c3 b3 6e 2e 73 78 69
</programlisting>
<para>
Glib uses UTF-8 for its strings, and GUI toolkits like GTK+
that use Glib do the same thing. If you get a file name from
the file system, for example, from
<function>readdir(3)</function> or from <link
linkend="g_dir_read_name"><function><link linkend="g-dir-read-name"><function>g_dir_read_name()</function></link></function></link>,
and you wish to display the file name to the user, you
<emphasis>will</emphasis> need to convert it into UTF-8. The
opposite case is when the user types the name of a file he
wishes to save: the toolkit will give you that string in
UTF-8 encoding, and you will need to convert it to the
character set used for file names before you can create the
file with <function>open(2)</function> or
<function>fopen(3)</function>.
</para>
<para>
By default, Glib assumes that file names on disk are in UTF-8
encoding. This is a valid assumption for file systems which
were created relatively recently: most applications use UTF-8
encoding for their strings, and that is also what they use for
the file names they create. However, older file systems may
still contain file names created in "older" encodings, such as
ISO-8859-1. In this case, for compatibility reasons, you may
want to instruct Glib to use that particular encoding for file
names rather than UTF-8. You can do this by specifying the
encoding for file names in the <link
linkend="G_FILENAME_ENCODING"><envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar></link>
environment variable. For example, if your installation uses
ISO-8859-1 for file names, you can put this in your
<filename>~/.profile</filename>:
</para>
<programlisting>
export G_FILENAME_ENCODING=ISO-8859-1
</programlisting>
<para>
Glib provides the functions <link
linkend="g_filename_to_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8"><function>g_filename_to_utf8()</function></link></function></link>
and <link
linkend="g_filename_from_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8"><function>g_filename_from_utf8()</function></link></function></link>
to perform the necessary conversions. These functions convert
file names from the encoding specified in
<envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar> to UTF-8 and vice-versa.
<xref linkend="file-name-encodings-diagram"/> illustrates how
these functions are used to convert between UTF-8 and the
encoding for file names in the file system.
</para>
<figure id="file-name-encodings-diagram">
<title>Conversion between File Name Encodings</title>
<graphic fileref="file-name-encodings.png" format="PNG"/>
</figure>
<refsect3 id="file-name-encodings-checklist">
<title>Checklist for Application Writers</title>
<para>
This section is a practical summary of the detailed
description above. You can use this as a checklist of
things to do to make sure your applications process file
name encodings correctly.
</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
If you get a file name from the file system from a
function such as <function>readdir(3)</function> or
<function><link linkend="gtk-file-chooser-get-filename"><function>gtk_file_chooser_get_filename()</function></link></function>,
you do not need to do any conversion to pass that
file name to functions like <function>open(2)</function>,
<function>rename(2)</function>, or
<function>fopen(3)</function> — those are "raw"
file names which the file system understands.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
If you need to display a file name, convert it to UTF-8
first by using <link
linkend="g_filename_to_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8"><function>g_filename_to_utf8()</function></link></function></link>.
If conversion fails, display a string like
"<literal>Unknown file name</literal>". <emphasis>Do
not</emphasis> convert this string back into the
encoding used for file names if you wish to pass it to
the file system; use the original file name instead.
For example, the document window of a word processor
could display "Unknown file name" in its title bar but
still let the user save the file, as it would keep the
raw file name internally. This can happen if the user
has not set the <envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar>
environment variable even though he has files whose
names are not encoded in UTF-8.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
If your user interface lets the user type a file name
for saving or renaming, convert it to the encoding used
for file names in the file system by using <link
linkend="g_filename_from_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8"><function>g_filename_from_utf8()</function></link></function></link>.
Pass the converted file name to functions like
<function>fopen(3)</function>. If conversion fails, ask
the user to enter a different file name. This can
happen if the user types Japanese characters when
<envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar> is set to
<literal>ISO-8859-1</literal>, for example.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</refsect3>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Details</title>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert"/>g_convert ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_convert (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> name of character set into which to convert <parameter>str</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> character set of <parameter>str</parameter>.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
<link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert-with-fallback"/>g_convert_with_fallback ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert_with_fallback</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_convert_with_fallback (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *fallback,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another, possibly
including fallback sequences for characters not representable
in the output. Note that it is not guaranteed that the specification
for the fallback sequences in <parameter>fallback</parameter> will be honored. Some
systems may do a approximate conversion from <parameter>from_codeset</parameter>
to <parameter>to_codeset</parameter> in their <link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link> functions,
in which case GLib will simply return that approximate conversion.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> name of character set into which to convert <parameter>str</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> character set of <parameter>str</parameter>.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>fallback</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> UTF-8 string to use in place of character not
present in the target encoding. (This must be
in the target encoding), if <literal>NULL</literal>, characters
not in the target encoding will be represented
as Unicode escapes \uxxxx or \Uxxxxyyyy.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
<link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="GIConv"/>struct GIConv</title>
<indexterm><primary>GIConv</primary></indexterm><programlisting>struct GIConv;</programlisting>
<para>
The <structname>GIConv</structname> struct wraps an
<function><link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link></function> conversion descriptor. It contains private data
and should only be accessed using the following functions.
</para></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert-with-iconv"/>g_convert_with_iconv ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert_with_iconv</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_convert_with_iconv (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
<link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="G-CONVERT-ERROR-CAPS"/>G_CONVERT_ERROR</title>
<indexterm><primary>G_CONVERT_ERROR</primary></indexterm><programlisting>#define G_CONVERT_ERROR g_convert_error_quark()
</programlisting>
<para>
Error domain for character set conversions. Errors in this domain will
be from the <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> enumeration. See <link linkend="GError"><type>GError</type></link> for information on
error domains.
</para></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv-open"/>g_iconv_open ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv_open</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> g_iconv_open (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv-open"><function>iconv_open()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> destination codeset
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> source codeset
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a "conversion descriptor", or (GIConv)-1 if
opening the converter failed.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv"/>g_iconv ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="size-t">size_t</link> g_iconv (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **inbuf,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *inbytes_left,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **outbuf,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *outbytes_left);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>inbuf</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> bytes to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>inbytes_left</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> inout parameter, bytes remaining to convert in <parameter>inbuf</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>outbuf</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> converted output bytes
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>outbytes_left</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> inout parameter, bytes available to fill in <parameter>outbuf</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> count of non-reversible conversions, or -1 on error
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv-close"/>g_iconv_close ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv_close</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gint">gint</link> g_iconv_close (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv-close"><function>iconv_close()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation. Should be called to clean up
the conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link> when
you are done converting things.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> -1 on error, 0 on success
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-locale-to-utf8"/>g_locale_to_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_locale_to_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_locale_to_utf8 (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string which is in the encoding used for strings by
the C runtime (usually the same as that used by the operating
system) in the current locale into a UTF-8 string.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>opsysstring</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a string in the encoding of the current locale
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-to-utf8"/>g_filename_to_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_to_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_filename_to_utf8 (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string which is in the encoding used for filenames
into a UTF-8 string.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>opsysstring</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a string in the encoding for filenames
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-from-utf8"/>g_filename_from_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_from_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_filename_from_utf8 (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from UTF-8 to the encoding used for filenames.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>utf8string</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a UTF-8 encoded string.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-from-uri"/>g_filename_from_uri ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_from_uri</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_filename_from_uri (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *uri,
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **hostname,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts an escaped ASCII-encoded URI to a local filename in the
encoding used for filenames.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>uri</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a uri describing a filename (escaped, encoded in ASCII).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>hostname</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> Location to store hostname for the URI, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
If there is no hostname in the URI, <literal>NULL</literal> will be
stored in this location.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a newly-allocated string holding the resulting
filename, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-to-uri"/>g_filename_to_uri ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_to_uri</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_filename_to_uri (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *filename,
const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *hostname,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts an absolute filename to an escaped ASCII-encoded URI.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>filename</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> an absolute filename specified in the encoding
used for filenames by the operating system.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>hostname</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> A UTF-8 encoded hostname, or <literal>NULL</literal> for none.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a newly-allocated string holding the resulting
URI, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-locale-from-utf8"/>g_locale_from_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_locale_from_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>* g_locale_from_utf8 (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
<link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
<link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
<link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from UTF-8 to the encoding used for strings by
the C runtime (usually the same as that used by the operating
system) in the current locale.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>utf8string</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> a UTF-8 encoded string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the number of bytes in the
input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
Even if the conversion was successful, this may be
less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
at the end of the input. If the error
<link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
stored will the byte offset after the last valid
input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not
including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="GConvertError"/>enum GConvertError</title>
<indexterm><primary>GConvertError</primary></indexterm><programlisting>typedef enum
{
G_CONVERT_ERROR_NO_CONVERSION,
G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE,
G_CONVERT_ERROR_FAILED,
G_CONVERT_ERROR_PARTIAL_INPUT,
G_CONVERT_ERROR_BAD_URI,
G_CONVERT_ERROR_NOT_ABSOLUTE_PATH
} GConvertError;
</programlisting>
<para>
Error codes returned by character set conversion routines.
</para><variablelist role="enum">
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_NO_CONVERSION</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Conversion between the requested character sets
is not supported.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Invalid byte sequence in conversion input.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_FAILED</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Conversion failed for some reason.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_PARTIAL_INPUT</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Partial character sequence at end of input.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_BAD_URI</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>URI is invalid.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_NOT_ABSOLUTE_PATH</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Pathname is not an absolute path.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-get-charset"/>g_get_charset ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_get_charset</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gboolean">gboolean</link> g_get_charset (G_CONST_RETURN <link linkend="char">char</link> **charset);</programlisting>
<para>
Obtains the character set for the current locale; you might use
this character set as an argument to <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link>, to convert from
the current locale's encoding to some other encoding. (Frequently
<link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-from-utf8"><function>g_locale_from_utf8()</function></link> are nice shortcuts,
though.)
</para>
<para>
The return value is <literal>TRUE</literal> if the locale's encoding is UTF-8, in that
case you can perhaps avoid calling <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link>.
</para>
<para>
The string returned in <parameter>charset</parameter> is not allocated, and should not be
freed.</para>
<para>
</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>charset</parameter> :</term>
<listitem><simpara> return location for character set name
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> <literal>TRUE</literal> if the returned charset is UTF-8
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
</refsect1>
</refentry>