iconv_open(3C) Standard C Library Functions iconv_open(3C)NAMEiconv_open - code conversion allocation function
SYNOPSIS
#include <iconv.h>
iconv_t iconv_open(const char *tocode, const char *fromcode);
DESCRIPTION
The iconv_open() function returns a conversion descriptor that
describes a conversion from the codeset specified by the string pointed
to by the fromcode argument to the codeset specified by the string
pointed to by the tocode argument. For state-dependent encodings, the
conversion descriptor will be in a codeset-dependent initial shift
state, ready for immediate use with the iconv(3C) function.
Settings of fromcode and tocode and their permitted combinations are
implementation-dependent.
The iconv_open() function supports the alias of the encoding name spec‐
ified in tocode and fromcode. The alias table of the encoding name is
described in the file /usr/lib/iconv/alias. See alias(4).
When fromcode and tocode are indicating the same codeset name and there
is no corresponding conversion explicitly defined in the current sys‐
tem, a conversion descriptor for a simple byte-by-byte pass-through
iconv code conversion returns as a fallback code conversion.
A conversion descriptor remains valid in a process until that process
closes it.
For examples using the iconv_open() function, see iconv(3C).
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion iconv_open() returns a conversion descrip‐
tor for use on subsequent calls to iconv(). Otherwise, iconv_open()
returns (iconv_t) −1 and sets errno to indicate the error.
ERRORS
The iconv_open function may fail if:
EMFILE {OPEN_MAX} files descriptors are currently open in the call‐
ing process.
ENFILE Too many files are currently open in the system.
ENOMEM Insufficient storage space is available.
EINVAL The conversion specified by fromcode and tocode is not sup‐
ported by the implementation.
FILES
/usr/lib/iconv/alias alias table file of the encoding name
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Committed │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│MT-Level │MT-Safe │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Standard │See standards(5). │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOexec(2), iconv(3C), iconv_close(3C), malloc(3C), alias(4),
attributes(5), standards(5)NOTES
The iconv_open() function uses malloc(3C) to allocate space for inter‐
nal buffer areas. iconv_open() may fail if there is insufficient stor‐
age space to accommodate these buffers.
Portable applications must assume that conversion descriptors are not
valid after a call to one of the exec functions (see exec(2)).
With the simple byte-by-byte pass-through iconv code conversion, there
is no checking on illegal input byte or incomplete character or shift
sequence.
SunOS 5.11 13 Nov 2009 iconv_open(3C)
