MBSINIT(3POSIX)

💖 MBSINIT(3POSIX) — the POSIX Programmer's Manual glow-up 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the POSIX Programmer's Manual, page MBSINIT(3POSIX), section 3. this is the manual-name-and-title situation folded in all cute at the top so you never lose your place. 🎀

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✨ PROLOG ✨

so like, real talk first: this manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. but — and this is important, don't skip it — the Linux implementation of this interface may differ, so go consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details on Linux behavior. OR, plot twist, the interface may not even be implemented on Linux at all. 💀 not me finding out the hard way.

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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 👑

okay so the functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional (we would NEVER). this volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard, periodt.

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. she's simple, she's iconic. 💅

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💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

the mbsinit() function shall return non-zero if ps is a null pointer, or if the pointed-to object describes an initial conversion state. otherwise, it shall return zero. binary queen behavior fr fr.

🚨 okay so here's the part that's giving undefined behavior, and I need you to actually read it: 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. don't do it. 🙈

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🍓 ERRORS 🍓

No errors are defined.

the following sections are informative. (so like, the vibe sections, not the binding ones. iykyk.)

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

None. 😭 literally none. we have no examples. the author said "figure it out bestie."

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🧚 APPLICATION USAGE 🧚

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. she's the little bookmark that remembers where you were in the conversion. 🎀

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 the slay part: a zero valued mbstate_t object can be used to initiate conversion involving any character sequence, in any LC_CTYPE category setting. universal. unbothered. multitalented. 👑

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⭐ RATIONALE ⭐

None.

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🎀 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 🎀

None.

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

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

and also: The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <wchar.h> 🫶

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💅 COPYRIGHT 💅

okay so legal moment, but make it cute:

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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and that's the whole page bestie 💖 shoutout to IEEE and The Open Group for putting this out in 2017 under the MBSINIT(3POSIX) name — go forth, check your conversion states, and stay in your initial shift state. slay. 👑✨🌸