WCSLEN(3P)

💖 WCSLEN(3P) — the POSIX Programmer's Manual one, bestie 💖

okay so before we even start: this page lives in the POSIX Programmer's Manual (that's the manual name, in case you were wondering who invited her). ✨

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🌸 PROLOG 🌸

okay so real talk, this manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. the Linux implementation of this interface may differ — so if you're on Linux, go consult the corresponding Linux manual page for the actual tea on Linux behavior. OR, plot twist, the interface might not even be implemented on Linux at all. 🙈 so like, check first, bestie.

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🎀 NAME 🎀

wcslen, wcsnlen — get length of a fixed-sized wide-character string

yes girl, it's the length-getter. that's the whole job. 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <wchar.h>

size_t wcslen(const wchar_t *ws);
size_t wcsnlen(const wchar_t *ws, size_t maxlen);

look at her. two little functions. so cute. so powerful. 🫶

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so for wcslen(): the functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. and if there's any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard? that's unintentional, no cap. this volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard. periodt.

so what does wcslen() actually do? she shall compute the number of wide-character codes in the wide-character string to which ws points, and she does NOT include the terminating null wide-character code. like, the null is not invited to the count. she said no. 💀

now wcsnlen() — she's the cautious one. she shall compute the smaller of these two things:

1. the number of wide characters in the array to which ws points, not including any terminating null wide-character code
2. the value of maxlen

and listen, wcsnlen() shall never examine more than the first maxlen characters of the wide-character array pointed to by ws. she respects the boundary. she's got boundaries. we love that for her. 🦋

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🌈 RETURN VALUE 🌈

• wcslen() shall return the length of ws. that's it, that's the return. iconic behavior honestly.
• wcsnlen() shall return the number of wide characters preceding the first null wide-character code in the array to which ws points — if ws contains a null wide-character code within the first maxlen wide characters. otherwise? she shall return maxlen. simple as that. 💅

and no return values are reserved to indicate an error. so like, don't go looking for an error code in the return value, bestie, there isn't one hiding there.

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💀 ERRORS 💀

No errors are defined.

literally nothing. zero. the void. no error codes here. 🙈

and then the page is like, "the following sections are informative." okay queen, go off. ✨

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

None.

not a single example. we're rawdogging this one, i guess. 😭

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🧚 APPLICATION USAGE 🧚

None.

nope. nothing here either.

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👑 RATIONALE 👑

None.

the reasoning? nonexistent. she just IS. main character energy. 💅

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🦋 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 🦋

None.

she's not going anywhere, bestie. she's staying exactly like this. ✨

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

• strlen()
• The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <wchar.h>

iykyk — if you know strlen(), you basically know the vibe, just wider. 🫶

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🌸 COPYRIGHT 🌸

okay so legal bestie moment, gotta say it all:

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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so yeah, if you spot a typo, it's probably a conversion oopsie, not a you problem. go report it. 🎀

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and that's the page, babes. this little baddie came to you courtesy of IEEE/The Open Group, 2017, and yes, that footer date is doing numbers. 💅✨ go forth and count your wide characters responsibly. mwah. 💖