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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,
                     char **restrict inbuf, size_t *restrict inbytesleft,
                     char **restrict outbuf, size_t *restrict 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 *outbytesleft 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 converted input bytes, it increments
       *outbuf and decrements *outbytesleft by the number of converted output bytes, and it updates the con-version conversion
       version 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 performed during this call.

       3. An incomplete multibyte sequence is encountered in the input, and the input byte  sequence  termi-nates terminates
       nates  after it. In this case it sets errno to EINVAL and returns (size_t)(-1). *inbuf is left point-ing pointing
       ing to the beginning of the incomplete multibyte sequence.

       4. The output buffer has no more room for the next converted 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 conversion state to the initial state and
       store  a  corresponding shift sequence at *outbuf.  At most *outbytesleft 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 decrements *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 converted 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 encountered in the input.

       EINVAL An incomplete multibyte sequence has been encountered in the input.

CONFORMING TO
       UNIX98

SEE ALSO
       iconv_open(3), iconvctl(3), iconv_close(3)



GNU                                           February 2, 2004                                      ICONV(3)