Generic wide character classification subroutines

In the globalization environment, you need the ability to create new character class properties. For example, several properties are defined for Japanese characters that are not applicable to the English language. As more languages are supported, a framework enabling applications to deal with a varying number of character properties is needed.

The wctype and iswctype subroutines allow handling of character classes in a general fashion. These subroutines are used to allow for both user-defined and language-specific character classes.

To create new character classifications for use with the wctype and iswctype subroutines, create a new character class in the LC_CTYPE category and generate the locale using the localedef command. A user application obtains this locale data with the setlocale subroutine. The program can then access the new classification subroutines by using the wctype subroutine to get the wctype_t property handle. It then passes to the iswctype subroutine both the property handle and the wide character code of the character to be tested.