nl_langinfo() — Retrieve Locale Information

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Format

#include <langinfo.h>
#include <nl_types.h>
char *nl_langinfo(nl_item item);

Language Level

XPG4

Threadsafe

No

Locale Sensitive

The behavior of this function might be affected by the LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, LC_MONETARY, LC_NUMERIC, and LC_TIME categories of the current locale. This function is not available when LOCALETYPE(*CLD) is specified on the compilation command. For more information, see Understanding CCSIDs and Locales.

Description

The nl_langinfo() function retrieves from the current locale the string that describes the requested information specified by item.

The retrieval of the following information from the current locale is supported:

Item Explanation
CODESET CCSID of locale in character form
D_T_FMT string for formatting date and time
D_FMT date format string
T_FMT time format string
T_FMT_AMPM a.m. or p.m. time format string
AM_STR Ante Meridian affix
PM_STR Post Meridian affix
DAY_1 name of the first day of the week (for example, Sunday)
DAY_2 name of the second day of the week (for example, Monday)
DAY_3 name of the third day of the week (for example, Tuesday)
DAY_4 name of the fourth day of the week (for example, Wednesday)
DAY_5 name of the fifth day of the week (for example, Thursday)
DAY_6 name of the sixth day of the week (for example, Friday)
DAY_7 name of the seventh day of the week (for example, Saturday)
ABDAY_1 abbreviated name of the first day of the week
ABDAY_2 abbreviated name of the second day of the week
ABDAY_3 abbreviated name of the third day of the week
ABDAY_4 abbreviated name of the fourth day of the week
ABDAY_5 abbreviated name of the fifth day of the week
ABDAY_6 abbreviated name of the sixth day of the week
ABDAY_7 abbreviated name of the seventh day of the week
MON_1 name of the first month of the year
MON_2 name of the second month of the year
MON_3 name of the third month of the year
MON_4 name of the fourth month of the year
MON_5 name of the fifth month of the year
MON_6 name of the sixth month of the year
MON_7 name of the seventh month of the year
MON_8 name of the eighth month of the year
MON_9 name of the ninth month of the year
MON_10 name of the tenth month of the year
MON_11 name of the eleventh month of the year
MON_12 name of the twelfth month of the year
ABMON_1 abbreviated name of the first month of the year
ABMON_2 abbreviated name of the second month of the year
ABMON_3 abbreviated name of the third month of the year
ABMON_4 abbreviated name of the fourth month of the year
ABMON_5 abbreviated name of the fifth month of the year
ABMON_6 abbreviated name of the sixth month of the year
ABMON_7 abbreviated name of the seventh month of the year
ABMON_8 abbreviated name of the eighth month of the year
ABMON_9 abbreviated name of the ninth month of the year
ABMON_10 abbreviated name of the tenth month of the year
ABMON_11 abbreviated name of the eleventh month of the year
ABMON_12 abbreviated name of the twelfth month of the year
ERA era description segments
ERA_D_FMT era date format string
ERA_D_T_FMT era date and time format string
ERA_T_FMT era time format string
ALT_DIGITS alternative symbols for digits
RADIXCHAR radix character
THOUSEP separator for thousands
YESEXPR affirmative response expression
NOEXPR negative response expression
YESSTR affirmative response for yes/no queries
NOSTR negative response for yes/no queries
CRNCYSTR currency symbol, preceded by '-' if the symbol should appear before the value, '+' if the symbol should appear after the value, or '.' if the symbol should replace the radix character

Returned Value

The nl_langinfo() function returns a pointer to a null-ended string containing information concerning the active language or cultural area. The active language or cultural area is determined by the most recent setlocale() call. The array pointed to by the returned value is modified by subsequent calls to the function. The array should not be changed by the user's program.

If the item is not valid, the function returns a pointer to an empty string.

Example

This example retrieves the name of the codeset using the nl_langinfo() function. 
#include <langinfo.h>
#include <locale.h>
#include <nl_types.h>
#include <stdio.h>
 
int main(void)
{
   printf("Current codeset is %s\n", nl_langinfo(CODESET));
   return 0;
}
 
/************************************************************************
 
  The output should be similar to:
 
  Current codeset is 37
 
************************************************************************/

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