UNICODE_DEFAULT_CHSE(3)

💖 unicode_default_chset — bestie, let's talk character sets ✨

okay so this is a page from the Courier Unicode Library, and it lives in section 3 of the manual (yes, UNICODE_DEFAULT_CHSE(3), that's the one 🎀). Two lil functions, both of them just wanna tell you what character set you're living in. no drama, no arguments, just vibes and a const char *. let's GO 💅

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

unicode_default_chset, unicode_locale_chset — return the system character set name 🦋

fr fr that's the whole job. they hand you back the name.

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <courier-unicode.h>

const char *unicode_default_chset(void);

const char *unicode_locale_chset(void);

both of them: zero arguments, one const char * back. iconic minimalism, no cap 👑

---

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so there's two of them and they are not the same thing, bestie, do not conflate 🫶

• unicode_default_chset() — this one returns the name of the system environment character set. and usually that's nl_langinfo(CODESET), or it comes from some suitable environment variable. that's the system-wide vibe, the big picture, the whole machine's energy 🌈
• unicode_locale_chset() — this one returns the name of the current application locale's character set. so like, your app's locale specifically, not the whole system's. main character energy but scoped to your program 💅

so: one is the system's set, one is your app's locale set. both come back as a name. that's it. that's the function 😭 so simple, so slay.

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• courier-unicode(7)
• unicode_convert_tocase(3)

go read those too, iykyk 📚

---

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Sam Varshavchik

• Author

---

and that's a wrap on UNICODE_DEFAULT_CHSE(3) from the Courier Unicode Library, dated 04/12/2026 💖✨ stan the character set functions, they're doing their best and their best is literally just returning a string. periodt 🎀🦋🌸