<refentry id="glib-Character-Set-Conversion">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>Character Set Conversion</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo>GLIB Library</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>

<refnamediv>
<refname>Character Set Conversion</refname><refpurpose>convert strings between different character sets using <function><link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link></function>.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv><title>Synopsis</title>

<synopsis>

#include &lt;glib.h&gt;


<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-convert">g_convert</link>                       (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-convert-with-fallback">g_convert_with_fallback</link>         (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *fallback,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
struct      <link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link>;
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-convert-with-iconv">g_convert_with_iconv</link>            (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
#define     <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-CAPS">G_CONVERT_ERROR</link>
<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link>      <link linkend="g-iconv-open">g_iconv_open</link>                    (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset);
<link linkend="size-t">size_t</link>      <link linkend="g-iconv">g_iconv</link>                         (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **inbuf,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *inbytes_left,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **outbuf,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *outbytes_left);
<link linkend="gint">gint</link>        <link linkend="g-iconv-close">g_iconv_close</link>                   (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8">g_locale_to_utf8</link>                (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8">g_filename_to_utf8</link>              (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8">g_filename_from_utf8</link>            (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-filename-from-uri">g_filename_from_uri</link>             (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *uri,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **hostname,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-filename-to-uri">g_filename_to_uri</link>               (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *filename,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *hostname,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
<link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      <link linkend="g-locale-from-utf8">g_locale_from_utf8</link>              (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);
enum        <link linkend="GConvertError">GConvertError</link>;

<link linkend="gboolean">gboolean</link>    <link linkend="g-get-charset">g_get_charset</link>                   (G_CONST_RETURN <link linkend="char">char</link> **charset);

</synopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>









<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>

</para>

    <refsect2 id="file-name-encodings">
      <title>File Name Encodings</title>

      <para>
	Historically, Unix has not had a defined encoding for file
	names:  a file name is valid as long as it does not have path
	separators in it ("/").  However, displaying file names may
	require conversion:  from the character set in which they were
	created, to the character set in which the application
	operates.  Consider the Spanish file name
	"<filename>Presentaci&oacute;n.sxi</filename>".  If the
	application which created it uses ISO-8859-1 for its encoding,
	then the actual file name on disk would look like this:
      </para>

      <programlisting id="filename-iso8859-1">
Character:  P  r  e  s  e  n  t  a  c  i  &oacute;  n  .  s  x  i
Hex code:   50 72 65 73 65 6e 74 61 63 69 f3 6e 2e 73 78 69
      </programlisting>

      <para>
	However, if the application use UTF-8, the actual file name on
	disk would look like this:
      </para>

      <programlisting id="filename-utf-8">
Character:  P  r  e  s  e  n  t  a  c  i  &oacute;     n  .  s  x  i
Hex code:   50 72 65 73 65 6e 74 61 63 69 c3 b3 6e 2e 73 78 69
      </programlisting>

      <para>
	Glib uses UTF-8 for its strings, and GUI toolkits like GTK+
	that use Glib do the same thing.  If you get a file name from
	the file system, for example, from
	<function>readdir(3)</function> or from <link
	linkend="g_dir_read_name"><function><link linkend="g-dir-read-name"><function>g_dir_read_name()</function></link></function></link>,
	and you wish to display the file name to the user, you
	<emphasis>will</emphasis> need to convert it into UTF-8.  The
	opposite case is when the user types the name of a file he
	wishes to save:  the toolkit will give you that string in
	UTF-8 encoding, and you will need to convert it to the
	character set used for file names before you can create the
	file with <function>open(2)</function> or
	<function>fopen(3)</function>.
      </para>

      <para>
	By default, Glib assumes that file names on disk are in UTF-8
	encoding.  This is a valid assumption for file systems which
	were created relatively recently:  most applications use UTF-8
	encoding for their strings, and that is also what they use for
	the file names they create.  However, older file systems may
	still contain file names created in "older" encodings, such as
	ISO-8859-1.  In this case, for compatibility reasons, you may
	want to instruct Glib to use that particular encoding for file
	names rather than UTF-8.  You can do this by specifying the
	encoding for file names in the <link
	linkend="G_FILENAME_ENCODING"><envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar></link>
	environment variable.  For example, if your installation uses
	ISO-8859-1 for file names, you can put this in your
	<filename>~/.profile</filename>:
      </para>

      <programlisting>
export G_FILENAME_ENCODING=ISO-8859-1
      </programlisting>

      <para>
	Glib provides the functions <link
	linkend="g_filename_to_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8"><function>g_filename_to_utf8()</function></link></function></link>
	and <link
	linkend="g_filename_from_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8"><function>g_filename_from_utf8()</function></link></function></link>
	to perform the necessary conversions.  These functions convert
	file names from the encoding specified in
	<envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar> to UTF-8 and vice-versa.
	<xref linkend="file-name-encodings-diagram"/> illustrates how
	these functions are used to convert between UTF-8 and the
	encoding for file names in the file system.
      </para>

      <figure id="file-name-encodings-diagram">
	<title>Conversion between File Name Encodings</title>
	<graphic fileref="file-name-encodings.png" format="PNG"/>
      </figure>

      <refsect3 id="file-name-encodings-checklist">
	<title>Checklist for Application Writers</title>

	<para>
	  This section is a practical summary of the detailed
	  description above.  You can use this as a checklist of
	  things to do to make sure your applications process file
	  name encodings correctly.
	</para>

	<orderedlist>
	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      If you get a file name from the file system from a
	      function such as <function>readdir(3)</function> or
	      <function><link linkend="gtk-file-chooser-get-filename"><function>gtk_file_chooser_get_filename()</function></link></function>,
	      you do not need to do any conversion to pass that
	      file name to functions like <function>open(2)</function>,
	      <function>rename(2)</function>, or
	      <function>fopen(3)</function> &mdash; those are "raw"
	      file names which the file system understands.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>

	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      If you need to display a file name, convert it to UTF-8
	      first by using <link
	      linkend="g_filename_to_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-to-utf8"><function>g_filename_to_utf8()</function></link></function></link>.
	      If conversion fails, display a string like
	      "<literal>Unknown file name</literal>".  <emphasis>Do
	      not</emphasis> convert this string back into the
	      encoding used for file names if you wish to pass it to
	      the file system; use the original file name instead.
	      For example, the document window of a word processor
	      could display "Unknown file name" in its title bar but
	      still let the user save the file, as it would keep the
	      raw file name internally.  This can happen if the user
	      has not set the <envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar>
	      environment variable even though he has files whose
	      names are not encoded in UTF-8.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>

	  <listitem>
	    <para>
	      If your user interface lets the user type a file name
	      for saving or renaming, convert it to the encoding used
	      for file names in the file system by using <link
	      linkend="g_filename_from_utf8"><function><link linkend="g-filename-from-utf8"><function>g_filename_from_utf8()</function></link></function></link>.
	      Pass the converted file name to functions like
	      <function>fopen(3)</function>.  If conversion fails, ask
	      the user to enter a different file name.  This can
	      happen if the user types Japanese characters when
	      <envar>G_FILENAME_ENCODING</envar> is set to
	      <literal>ISO-8859-1</literal>, for example.
	    </para>
	  </listitem>
	</orderedlist>
      </refsect3>
    </refsect2>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
<title>Details</title>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert"/>g_convert ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_convert                       (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    name of character set into which to convert <parameter>str</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>  character set of <parameter>str</parameter>.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
              nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
              <link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert-with-fallback"/>g_convert_with_fallback ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert_with_fallback</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_convert_with_fallback         (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *fallback,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another, possibly
including fallback sequences for characters not representable
in the output. Note that it is not guaranteed that the specification
for the fallback sequences in <parameter>fallback</parameter> will be honored. Some
systems may do a approximate conversion from <parameter>from_codeset</parameter>
to <parameter>to_codeset</parameter> in their <link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link> functions, 
in which case GLib will simply return that approximate conversion.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>          the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>          the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>   name of character set into which to convert <parameter>str</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> character set of <parameter>str</parameter>.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>fallback</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>     UTF-8 string to use in place of character not
               present in the target encoding. (This must be
               in the target encoding), if <literal>NULL</literal>, characters
               not in the target encoding will be represented
               as Unicode escapes \uxxxx or \Uxxxxyyyy.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>   location to store the number of bytes in the
               input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
               Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
               less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
               at the end of the input.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
               including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>        location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
               errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
              nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
              <link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="GIConv"/>struct GIConv</title>
<indexterm><primary>GIConv</primary></indexterm><programlisting>struct GIConv;</programlisting>
<para>
The <structname>GIConv</structname> struct wraps an
<function><link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link></function> conversion descriptor. It contains private data
and should only be accessed using the following functions.
</para></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-convert-with-iconv"/>g_convert_with_iconv ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_convert_with_iconv</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_convert_with_iconv            (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *str,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from one character set to another.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>str</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the string to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>     conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> If the conversion was successful, a newly allocated
              nul-terminated string, which must be freed with
              <link linkend="g-free"><function>g_free()</function></link>. Otherwise <literal>NULL</literal> and <parameter>error</parameter> will be set.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="G-CONVERT-ERROR-CAPS"/>G_CONVERT_ERROR</title>
<indexterm><primary>G_CONVERT_ERROR</primary></indexterm><programlisting>#define G_CONVERT_ERROR g_convert_error_quark()
</programlisting>
<para>
Error domain for character set conversions. Errors in this domain will
be from the <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> enumeration. See <link linkend="GError"><type>GError</type></link> for information on 
error domains.
</para></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv-open"/>g_iconv_open ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv_open</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link>      g_iconv_open                    (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *to_codeset,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *from_codeset);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv-open"><function>iconv_open()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>to_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> destination codeset
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>from_codeset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> source codeset
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a "conversion descriptor", or (GIConv)-1 if
 opening the converter failed.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv"/>g_iconv ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="size-t">size_t</link>      g_iconv                         (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **inbuf,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *inbytes_left,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **outbuf,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *outbytes_left);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv"><function>iconv()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>inbuf</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> bytes to convert
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>inbytes_left</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> inout parameter, bytes remaining to convert in <parameter>inbuf</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>outbuf</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> converted output bytes
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>outbytes_left</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> inout parameter, bytes available to fill in <parameter>outbuf</parameter>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> count of non-reversible conversions, or -1 on error
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-iconv-close"/>g_iconv_close ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_iconv_close</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gint">gint</link>        g_iconv_close                   (<link linkend="GIConv">GIConv</link> converter);</programlisting>
<para>
Same as the standard UNIX routine <link linkend="iconv-close"><function>iconv_close()</function></link>, but
may be implemented via libiconv on UNIX flavors that lack
a native implementation. Should be called to clean up
the conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link> when
you are done converting things.
</para>
<para>
GLib provides <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> which are likely
more convenient than the raw iconv wrappers.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>converter</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> a conversion descriptor from <link linkend="g-iconv-open"><function>g_iconv_open()</function></link>
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> -1 on error, 0 on success
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-locale-to-utf8"/>g_locale_to_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_locale_to_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_locale_to_utf8                (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string which is in the encoding used for strings by
the C runtime (usually the same as that used by the operating
system) in the current locale into a UTF-8 string.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>opsysstring</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>   a string in the encoding of the current locale
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
                nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-to-utf8"/>g_filename_to_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_to_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_filename_to_utf8              (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *opsysstring,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string which is in the encoding used for filenames
into a UTF-8 string.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>opsysstring</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>   a string in the encoding for filenames
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
                nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-from-utf8"/>g_filename_from_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_from_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_filename_from_utf8            (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from UTF-8 to the encoding used for filenames.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>utf8string</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    a UTF-8 encoded string.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
                nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-from-uri"/>g_filename_from_uri ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_from_uri</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_filename_from_uri             (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *uri,
                                             <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> **hostname,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts an escaped ASCII-encoded URI to a local filename in the
encoding used for filenames.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>uri</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> a uri describing a filename (escaped, encoded in ASCII).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>hostname</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> Location to store hostname for the URI, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
           If there is no hostname in the URI, <literal>NULL</literal> will be
           stored in this location.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
        errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a newly-allocated string holding the resulting
              filename, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-filename-to-uri"/>g_filename_to_uri ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_filename_to_uri</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_filename_to_uri               (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *filename,
                                             const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *hostname,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts an absolute filename to an escaped ASCII-encoded URI.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>filename</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> an absolute filename specified in the encoding
           used for filenames by the operating system.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>hostname</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> A UTF-8 encoded hostname, or <literal>NULL</literal> for none.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
        errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> a newly-allocated string holding the resulting
              URI, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-locale-from-utf8"/>g_locale_from_utf8 ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_locale_from_utf8</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gchar">gchar</link>*      g_locale_from_utf8              (const <link linkend="gchar">gchar</link> *utf8string,
                                             <link linkend="gssize">gssize</link> len,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_read,
                                             <link linkend="gsize">gsize</link> *bytes_written,
                                             <link linkend="GError">GError</link> **error);</programlisting>
<para>
Converts a string from UTF-8 to the encoding used for strings by
the C runtime (usually the same as that used by the operating
system) in the current locale.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>utf8string</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    a UTF-8 encoded string 
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>len</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>           the length of the string, or -1 if the string is
                nul-terminated.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_read</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>    location to store the number of bytes in the
                input string that were successfully converted, or <literal>NULL</literal>.
                Even if the conversion was successful, this may be 
                less than <parameter>len</parameter> if there were partial characters
                at the end of the input. If the error
                <link linkend="G-CONVERT-ERROR-ILLEGAL-SEQUENCE-CAPS"><type>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</type></link> occurs, the value
                stored will the byte offset after the last valid
                input sequence.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>bytes_written</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> the number of bytes stored in the output buffer (not 
                including the terminating nul).
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><parameter>error</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara>         location to store the error occuring, or <literal>NULL</literal> to ignore
                errors. Any of the errors in <link linkend="GConvertError"><type>GConvertError</type></link> may occur.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> The converted string, or <literal>NULL</literal> on an error.
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="GConvertError"/>enum GConvertError</title>
<indexterm><primary>GConvertError</primary></indexterm><programlisting>typedef enum 
{
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_NO_CONVERSION,
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE,
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_FAILED,
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_PARTIAL_INPUT,
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_BAD_URI,
  G_CONVERT_ERROR_NOT_ABSOLUTE_PATH
} GConvertError;
</programlisting>
<para>
Error codes returned by character set conversion routines.
</para><variablelist role="enum">
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_NO_CONVERSION</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Conversion between the requested character sets
is not supported.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_ILLEGAL_SEQUENCE</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Invalid byte sequence in conversion input.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_FAILED</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Conversion failed for some reason.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_PARTIAL_INPUT</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Partial character sequence at end of input.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_BAD_URI</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>URI is invalid.
</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>G_CONVERT_ERROR_NOT_ABSOLUTE_PATH</literal></term>
<listitem><simpara>Pathname is not an absolute path.

</simpara></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title><anchor id="g-get-charset"/>g_get_charset ()</title>
<indexterm><primary>g_get_charset</primary></indexterm><programlisting><link linkend="gboolean">gboolean</link>    g_get_charset                   (G_CONST_RETURN <link linkend="char">char</link> **charset);</programlisting>
<para>
Obtains the character set for the current locale; you might use
this character set as an argument to <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link>, to convert from
the current locale's encoding to some other encoding. (Frequently
<link linkend="g-locale-to-utf8"><function>g_locale_to_utf8()</function></link> and <link linkend="g-locale-from-utf8"><function>g_locale_from_utf8()</function></link> are nice shortcuts,
though.)
</para>
<para>
The return value is <literal>TRUE</literal> if the locale's encoding is UTF-8, in that
case you can perhaps avoid calling <link linkend="g-convert"><function>g_convert()</function></link>.
</para>
<para>
The string returned in <parameter>charset</parameter> is not allocated, and should not be
freed.</para>
<para>

</para><variablelist role="params">
<varlistentry><term><parameter>charset</parameter>&nbsp;:</term>
<listitem><simpara> return location for character set name
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry><term><emphasis>Returns</emphasis> :</term><listitem><simpara> <literal>TRUE</literal> if the returned charset is UTF-8
</simpara></listitem></varlistentry>
</variablelist></refsect2>

</refsect1>




</refentry>
