WCTYPE(3P)

🦋 PROLOG 🦋

okay so real talk before we even start: this manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. That's the whole vibe of this page. But bestie, heads up — the Linux implementation of this interface may differ (so go consult the corresponding Linux manual page for the deets on Linux behavior), or honestly the interface might not even be implemented on Linux at all. 🙈

---

✨ NAME ✨

wctype, wctype_l — define character class

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <wctype.h>

wctype_t wctype(const char *property);
wctype_t wctype_l(const char *property, locale_t locale);

---

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

okay so for wctype() first: the functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. And like, any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional — no drama intended fr. This volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard. periodt.

The wctype() and wctype_l() functions are defined for valid character class names as defined in the current locale, or in the locale represented by locale, respectively.

The property argument is a string identifying a generic character class for which codeset-specific type information is required. And bestie, the following character class names shall be defined in all locales:

alnum   digit   punct
alpha   graph   space
blank   lower   upper
cntrl   print   xdigit

Additional character class names defined in the locale definition file (category LC_CTYPE) can also be specified. slay, extra classes, we love options.

These functions shall return a value of type wctype_t, which can be used as the second argument to subsequent calls of iswctype() and iswctype_l(). 👑

The wctype() and wctype_l() functions shall determine values of wctype_t according to the rules of the coded character set defined by character type information in the current locale, or in the locale represented by locale, respectively (category LC_CTYPE).

The values returned by wctype() shall be valid until a call to setlocale() that modifies the category LC_CTYPE.

The values returned by wctype_l() shall be valid only in calls to iswctype_l() with a locale represented by locale with the same LC_CTYPE category value. like, same locale energy only, no mixing.

The behavior is undefined if the locale argument to wctype_l() is the special locale object LC_GLOBAL_LOCALE or is not a valid locale object handle. 💀 Do not do this. It's giving chaos and we're not about that.

---

🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

The wctype() and wctype_l() functions shall return 0 if the given character class name is not valid for the current locale (category LC_CTYPE); otherwise, they shall return an object of type wctype_t that can be used in calls to iswctype() and iswctype_l().

So like: 0 = nope, not valid. anything else = here's your lil token, go feed it to iswctype(). 🎀

---

🧚 ERRORS 🧚

No errors are defined. iconic, zero problems, nothing to report.

The following sections are informative.

---

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

None. 😭

---

🍓 APPLICATION USAGE 🍓

None. 🫶

---

⭐ RATIONALE ⭐

None. ✨

---

💜 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 💜

None. 🌸

---

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• iswctype()

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

---

📜 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 .

---

and that's the whole page bestie 💖 this one came to you courtesy of IEEE/The Open Group, dated 2017 — WCTYPE(3P), that's a wrap, mwah 💅