ICONV_OPEN(3C) Standard C Library Functions ICONV_OPEN(3C)

NAME

iconv_open - code conversion allocation function

SYNOPSIS

#include <iconv.h>

iconv_t iconv_open(const char *tocode, const char *fromcode);

DESCRIPTION

The iconv_open() function returns a conversion descriptor that describes
a conversion from the codeset specified by the string pointed to by the
fromcode argument to the codeset specified by the string pointed to by
the tocode argument. For state-dependent encodings, the conversion
descriptor will be in a codeset-dependent initial shift state, ready for
immediate use with the iconv(3C) function.


Settings of fromcode and tocode and their permitted combinations are
implementation-dependent.


The iconv_open() function supports the alias of the encoding name
specified in tocode and fromcode. The alias table of the encoding name
is described in the file /usr/lib/iconv/alias. See alias(5).


A conversion descriptor remains valid in a process until that process
closes it.


For examples using the iconv_open() function, see iconv(3C).

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion iconv_open() returns a conversion descriptor
for use on subsequent calls to iconv(). Otherwise, iconv_open() returns
(iconv_t) -1 and sets errno to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The iconv_open function may fail if:

EMFILE
{OPEN_MAX} files descriptors are currently open in the calling
process.


ENFILE
Too many files are currently open in the system.


ENOMEM
Insufficient storage space is available.


EINVAL
The conversion specified by fromcode and tocode is not
supported by the implementation.

FILES

/usr/lib/iconv/alias
alias table file of the encoding name

ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


+--------------------+-----------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|Interface Stability | Standard |
+--------------------+-----------------+
|MT-Level | MT-Safe |
+--------------------+-----------------+

SEE ALSO

exec(2), iconv(3C), iconv_close(3C), malloc(3C), alias(5), attributes(7)

NOTES

The iconv_open() function uses malloc(3C) to allocate space for internal
buffer areas. iconv_open() may fail if there is insufficient storage
space to accommodate these buffers.


Portable applications must assume that conversion descriptors are not
valid after a call to one of the exec functions (see exec(2)).

October 2, 2001 ICONV_OPEN(3C)