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uloc.h File Reference

C API: Locale. More...

#include "unicode/utypes.h"

Go to the source code of this file.

Defines

#define ULOC_CHINESE   "zh"
#define ULOC_ENGLISH   "en"
#define ULOC_FRENCH   "fr"
#define ULOC_GERMAN   "de"
#define ULOC_ITALIAN   "it"
#define ULOC_JAPANESE   "ja"
#define ULOC_KOREAN   "ko"
#define ULOC_SIMPLIFIED_CHINESE   "zh_CN"
#define ULOC_TRADITIONAL_CHINESE   "zh_TW"
#define ULOC_CANADA   "en_CA"
#define ULOC_CANADA_FRENCH   "fr_CA"
#define ULOC_CHINA   "zh_CN"
#define ULOC_PRC   "zh_CN"
#define ULOC_FRANCE   "fr_FR"
#define ULOC_GERMANY   "de_DE"
#define ULOC_ITALY   "it_IT"
#define ULOC_JAPAN   "ja_JP"
#define ULOC_KOREA   "ko_KR"
#define ULOC_TAIWAN   "zh_TW"
#define ULOC_UK   "en_GB"
#define ULOC_US   "en_US"
#define ULOC_LANG_CAPACITY   12
#define ULOC_COUNTRY_CAPACITY   4
#define ULOC_FULLNAME_CAPACITY   50

Functions

U_CAPI const char *U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDefault (void)
 Gets ICU's default locale. More...

U_CAPI void U_EXPORT2 uloc_setDefault (const char *localeID, UErrorCode *status)
 Sets ICU's default locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getLanguage (const char *localeID, char *language, int32_t languageCapacity, UErrorCode *err)
 Gets the language code for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getCountry (const char *localeID, char *country, int32_t countryCapacity, UErrorCode *err)
 Gets the country code for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getVariant (const char *localeID, char *variant, int32_t variantCapacity, UErrorCode *err)
 Gets the variant code for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getName (const char *localeID, char *name, int32_t nameCapacity, UErrorCode *err)
 Gets the full name for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI const char *U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISO3Language (const char *localeID)
 Gets the ISO language code for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI const char *U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISO3Country (const char *localeID)
 Gets the ISO country code for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI uint32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getLCID (const char *localeID)
 Gets the Win32 LCID value for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayLanguage (const char *locale, const char *inLocale, UChar *language, int32_t languageCapacity, UErrorCode *status)
 Gets the language name suitable for display for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayCountry (const char *locale, const char *inLocale, UChar *country, int32_t countryCapacity, UErrorCode *status)
 Gets the country name suitable for display for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayVariant (const char *locale, const char *inLocale, UChar *variant, int32_t variantCapacity, UErrorCode *status)
 Gets the variant code suitable for display for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayName (const char *localeID, const char *inLocaleID, UChar *result, int32_t maxResultSize, UErrorCode *err)
 Gets the full name suitable for display for the specified locale. More...

U_CAPI const char *U_EXPORT2 uloc_getAvailable (int32_t n)
 Gets the specified locale from a list of all available locales. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_countAvailable (void)
 Gets the size of the all available locale list. More...

U_CAPI const char *const
*U_EXPORT2 
uloc_getISOLanguages (void)
 Gets a list of all available language codes defined in ISO 639. More...

U_CAPI const char *const
*U_EXPORT2 
uloc_getISOCountries (void)
 Gets a list of all available 2-letter country codes defined in ISO 639. More...

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getParent (const char *localeID, char *parent, int32_t parentCapacity, UErrorCode *err)
 Truncate the locale ID string to get the parent locale ID. More...


Detailed Description

C API: Locale.

ULoc C API for Locale

A Locale represents a specific geographical, political, or cultural region. An operation that requires a Locale to perform its task is called locale-sensitive and uses the Locale to tailor information for the user. For example, displaying a number is a locale-sensitive operation--the number should be formatted according to the customs/conventions of the user's native country, region, or culture. In the C APIs, a locales is simply a const char string.

You create a Locale with one of the three options listed below. Each of the component is separated by '_' in the locale string.

 
       newLanguage
 
       newLanguage + newCountry
 
       newLanguage + newCountry + newVariant
The first option is a valid ISO Language Code. These codes are the lower-case two-letter codes as defined by ISO-639. You can find a full list of these codes at a number of sites, such as:
http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/http/related/iso639.txt

The second option includes an additonal ISO Country Code. These codes are the upper-case two-letter codes as defined by ISO-3166. You can find a full list of these codes at a number of sites, such as:
http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de/diverse/doc/ISO_3166.html

The third option requires another additonal information--the Variant. The Variant codes are vendor and browser-specific. For example, use WIN for Windows, MAC for Macintosh, and POSIX for POSIX. Where there are two variants, separate them with an underscore, and put the most important one first. For example, a Traditional Spanish collation might be referenced, with "ES", "ES", "Traditional_WIN".

Because a Locale is just an identifier for a region, no validity check is performed when you specify a Locale. If you want to see whether particular resources are available for the Locale you asked for, you must query those resources. For example, ask the UNumberFormat for the locales it supports using its getAvailable method.
Note: When you ask for a resource for a particular locale, you get back the best available match, not necessarily precisely what you asked for. For more information, look at UResourceBundle.

The Locale provides a number of convenient constants that you can use to specify the commonly used locales. For example, the following refers to a locale for the United States:

 
       ULOC_US

Once you've specified a locale you can query it for information about itself. Use uloc_getCountry to get the ISO Country Code and uloc_getLanguage to get the ISO Language Code. You can use uloc_getDisplayCountry to get the name of the country suitable for displaying to the user. Similarly, you can use uloc_getDisplayLanguage to get the name of the language suitable for displaying to the user. Interestingly, the uloc_getDisplayXXX methods are themselves locale-sensitive and have two versions: one that uses the default locale and one that takes a locale as an argument and displays the name or country in a language appropriate to that locale.

The ICU provides a number of services that perform locale-sensitive operations. For example, the unum_xxx functions format numbers, currency, or percentages in a locale-sensitive manner.

 
     UErrorCode success = U_ZERO_ERROR;
     UNumberFormat *nf;
     const char* myLocale = "fr_FR";
 
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_DEFAULT, NULL, success );          
     unum_close(nf);
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_CURRENCY, NULL, success );
     unum_close(nf);
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_PERCENT, NULL, success );   
     unum_close(nf);
Each of these methods has two variants; one with an explicit locale and one without; the latter using the default locale.
 
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_DEFAULT, myLocale, success );          
     unum_close(nf);
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_CURRENCY, myLocale, success );
     unum_close(nf);
     nf = unum_open( UNUM_PERCENT, myLocale, success );   
     unum_close(nf);
A Locale is the mechanism for identifying the kind of services (UNumberFormat) that you would like to get. The locale is just a mechanism for identifying these services.

Each international serivce that performs locale-sensitive operations allows you to get all the available objects of that type. You can sift through these objects by language, country, or variant, and use the display names to present a menu to the user. For example, you can create a menu of all the collation objects suitable for a given language. Such classes implement these three class methods:

 
       const char* uloc_getAvailable(int32_t index);
       int32_t uloc_countAvailable();
       int32_t
       uloc_getDisplayName(const char* localeID,
                 const char* inLocaleID, 
                 UChar* result,
                 int32_t maxResultSize,
                  UErrorCode* err);

Concerning POSIX/RFC1766 Locale IDs, the getLanguage/getCountry/getVariant/getName functions do understand the POSIX type form of language_COUNTRY.ENCODING@VARIANT and if there is not an ICU-stype variant, uloc_getVariant() for example will return the one listed after the @at sign. As well, the hyphen "-" is recognized as a country/variant separator similarly to RFC1766. So for example, "en-us" will be interpreted as en_US. As a result, uloc_getName() is far from a no-op, and will have the effect of converting POSIX/RFC1766 IDs into ICU form, although it does NOT map any of the actual codes (i.e. russian->ru) in any way. Applications should call uloc_getName() at the point where a locale ID is coming from an external source (user entry, OS, web browser) and pass the resulting string to other ICU functions. For example, don't use de-de@EURO as an argument to resourcebundle.


Function Documentation

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_countAvailable void   
 

Gets the size of the all available locale list.

Returns:
the size of the locale list @stable

U_CAPI const char* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getAvailable int32_t    n
 

Gets the specified locale from a list of all available locales.

The return value is a pointer to an item of a locale name array. Both this array and the pointers it contains are owned by ICU and should not be deleted or written through by the caller. The locale name is terminated by a null pointer.

Parameters:
n  the specific locale name index of the available locale list
Returns:
a specified locale name of all available locales @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getCountry const char *    localeID,
char *    country,
int32_t    countryCapacity,
UErrorCode   err
 

Gets the country code for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the country code with
country  the country code for localeID
languageCapacity  the size of the coutry buffer to store the country code with
err  error information if retrieving the country code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the country code. If it's greater than countryCapacity, the returned country code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI const char* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDefault void   
 

Gets ICU's default locale.

This pointer and/or the contents of the pointer may become invalid if the uloc_setDefault() is called, so copy the contents of the pointer before calling uloc_setDefault().

Returns:
the ICU default locale @system @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayCountry const char *    locale,
const char *    inLocale,
UChar   country,
int32_t    countryCapacity,
UErrorCode   status
 

Gets the country name suitable for display for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the displayable country code with
country  the displayable country code for localeID
languageCapacity  the size of the coutry buffer to store the displayable country code with
err  error information if retrieving the displayable country code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the displayable country code. If it's greater than countryCapacity, the returned displayable country code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayLanguage const char *    locale,
const char *    inLocale,
UChar   language,
int32_t    languageCapacity,
UErrorCode   status
 

Gets the language name suitable for display for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the ISO langauge code with
language  the displayable langauge code for localeID
languageCapacity  the size of the language buffer to store the displayable language code with
err  error information if retrieving the displayable language code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the displayable langauge code. If it's greater than languageCapacity, the returned language code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayName const char *    localeID,
const char *    inLocaleID,
UChar   result,
int32_t    maxResultSize,
UErrorCode   err
 

Gets the full name suitable for display for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the displayable name with
variant  the displayable name for localeID
variantCapacity  the size of the name buffer to store the displayable full name with
err  error information if retrieving the displayable name failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the displayable name. If it's greater than variantCapacity, the returned displayable name will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getDisplayVariant const char *    locale,
const char *    inLocale,
UChar   variant,
int32_t    variantCapacity,
UErrorCode   status
 

Gets the variant code suitable for display for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the displayable variant code with
variant  the displayable variant code for localeID
variantCapacity  the size of the variant buffer to store the displayable variant code with
err  error information if retrieving the displayable variant code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the displayable variant code. If it's greater than variantCapacity, the returned displayable variant code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI const char* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISO3Country const char *    localeID
 

Gets the ISO country code for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the ISO country code with
Returns:
country the ISO country code for localeID @stable

U_CAPI const char* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISO3Language const char *    localeID
 

Gets the ISO language code for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the ISO langauge code with
Returns:
language the ISO langauge code for localeID @stable

U_CAPI const char* const* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISOCountries void   
 

Gets a list of all available 2-letter country codes defined in ISO 639.

This is a pointer to an array of pointers to arrays of char. All of these pointers are owned by ICU-- do not delete them, and do not write through them. The array is terminated with a null pointer.

Returns:
a list of all available country codes @stable

U_CAPI const char* const* U_EXPORT2 uloc_getISOLanguages void   
 

Gets a list of all available language codes defined in ISO 639.

This is a pointer to an array of pointers to arrays of char. All of these pointers are owned by ICU-- do not delete them, and do not write through them. The array is terminated with a null pointer.

Returns:
a list of all available language codes @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getLanguage const char *    localeID,
char *    language,
int32_t    languageCapacity,
UErrorCode   err
 

Gets the language code for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the ISO langauge code with
language  the langauge code for localeID
languageCapacity  the size of the language buffer to store the language code with
err  error information if retrieving the language code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the langauge code. If it's greater than languageCapacity, the returned language code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI uint32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getLCID const char *    localeID
 

Gets the Win32 LCID value for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the Win32 LCID value with
Returns:
country the Win32 LCID for localeID @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getName const char *    localeID,
char *    name,
int32_t    nameCapacity,
UErrorCode   err
 

Gets the full name for the specified locale.

Note: This has the effect of 'canonicalizing' the string to a certain extent. Upper and lower case are set as needed, and if the components were in 'POSIX' format they are changed to ICU format. It does NOT map aliased names in any way. See the top of this header file.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the full name with
name  the full name for localeID
nameCapacity  the size of the name buffer to store the full name with
err  error information if retrieving the full name failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the full name. If it's greater than nameCapacity, the returned full name will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getParent const char *    localeID,
char *    parent,
int32_t    parentCapacity,
UErrorCode   err
 

Truncate the locale ID string to get the parent locale ID.

Copies the part of the string before the last underscore. The parent locale ID will be an empty string if there is no underscore, or if there is only one underscore at localeID[0].

Parameters:
localeID  Input locale ID string.
parent  Output string buffer for the parent locale ID.
parentCapacity  Size of the output buffer.
err  A UErrorCode value.
Returns:
The length of the parent locale ID. @stable

U_CAPI int32_t U_EXPORT2 uloc_getVariant const char *    localeID,
char *    variant,
int32_t    variantCapacity,
UErrorCode   err
 

Gets the variant code for the specified locale.

Parameters:
localeID  the locale to get the variant code with
variant  the variant code for localeID
variantCapacity  the size of the variant buffer to store the variant code with
err  error information if retrieving the variant code failed
Returns:
the actual buffer size needed for the variant code. If it's greater than variantCapacity, the returned variant code will be truncated. @stable

U_CAPI void U_EXPORT2 uloc_setDefault const char *    localeID,
UErrorCode   status
 

Sets ICU's default locale.

Call this once during setup or program initialization.

Parameters:
localeID  the new ICU default locale. A value of NULL will try to get the system's default locale.
status  the error information if the setting of default locale fails @system @stable


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