MBSINIT(3P)

🌸 MBSINIT(3P) — bestie's guide to the POSIX Programmer's Manual 🌸

okay so like, hi?? welcome to MBSINIT(3P), which lives in the POSIX Programmer's Manual and is genuinely one of the shortest little guys in the whole wide-character family. don't let the size fool you though, she's important 💅

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🫶 PROLOG (the lil heads-up)

This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ — so like, if you're on Linux, pls go consult the corresponding Linux manual page for the deets on Linux behavior. orrr the interface may not be implemented on Linux at all. it's giving "check first, bestie" 💀

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✨ NAME ✨

mbsinit — determine conversion object status

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <wchar.h>

int mbsinit(const mbstate_t *ps);

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So the functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. And listen — any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional, fr fr. This volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard. no drama, the ISO C standard is the main character here 👑

Now the actual tea: if ps is not a null pointer, the mbsinit() function shall determine whether the object pointed to by ps describes an initial conversion state. that's it. that's the whole job. queen of knowing whether u are at the start of things 🌸

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🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

mbsinit() shall return non-zero if:

• ps is a null pointer, or
• the pointed-to object describes an initial conversion state

otherwise, it shall return zero.

⚠️ and now the scary part: if an mbstate_t object is altered by any of the functions described as "restartable", and is then used with a different character sequence, or in the other conversion direction, or with a different LC_CTYPE category setting than on earlier function calls, the behavior is undefined. like, undefined undefined. do not do this. i'm begging 🫠

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🙈 ERRORS 🙈

No errors are defined. none. zero. not a single one. iconic behavior honestly ✨

The following sections are informative. (translation: the vibes continue, but these bits are extra 🎀)

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

None.

literally none bestie, there's nothing here, moving on 💜

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🌈 APPLICATION USAGE 🌈

Okay this is the part that actually explains the whole situation, so pay attention 👀

The mbstate_t object is used to describe the current conversion state from a particular character sequence to a wide-character sequence (or vice versa) under the rules of a particular setting of the LC_CTYPE category of the current locale.

The initial conversion state corresponds, for a conversion in either direction, to the beginning of a new character sequence in the initial shift state. A zero valued mbstate_t object is at least one way to describe an initial conversion state. And a zero valued mbstate_t object can be used to initiate conversion involving any character sequence, in any LC_CTYPE category setting. so like, zero it out and you're golden, no cap 🫶

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🧚 RATIONALE 🧚

None.

(the committee had nothing to add, she said what she said 💅)

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⭐ FUTURE DIRECTIONS ⭐

None.

the future is bright and also empty, slay ✨

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• mbrlen()
• mbrtowc()
• mbsrtowcs()
• wcrtomb()
• wcsrtombs()

The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <wchar.h>

like, go read those too, they're the rest of the friend group and they all hang out together 💖

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

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okay that's the whole page, mwah 💋 this was brought to you by IEEE/The Open Group, 2017, and the manual page MBSINIT(3P) — stay hydrated, check your conversion state, and don't ever reuse an altered mbstate_t bestie i'm serious 😭💖