summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/manual/ctype.texi
blob: 2d73d4e728a2d15fbdd0c53afbed3b2053860c44 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
@node Character Handling, String and Array Utilities, Memory, Top
@c %MENU% Character testing and conversion functions
@chapter Character Handling

Programs that work with characters and strings often need to classify a
character---is it alphabetic, is it a digit, is it whitespace, and so
on---and perform case conversion operations on characters.  The
functions in the header file @file{ctype.h} are provided for this
purpose.
@pindex ctype.h

Since the choice of locale and character set can alter the
classifications of particular character codes, all of these functions
are affected by the current locale.  (More precisely, they are affected
by the locale currently selected for character classification---the
@code{LC_CTYPE} category; see @ref{Locale Categories}.)

The @w{ISO C} standard specifies two different sets of functions.  The
one set works on @code{char} type characters, the other one on
@code{wchar_t} wide characters (@pxref{Extended Char Intro}).

@menu
* Classification of Characters::       Testing whether characters are
			                letters, digits, punctuation, etc.

* Case Conversion::                    Case mapping, and the like.
* Classification of Wide Characters::  Character class determination for
                                        wide characters.
* Using Wide Char Classes::            Notes on using the wide character
                                        classes.
* Wide Character Case Conversion::     Mapping of wide characters.
@end menu

@node Classification of Characters, Case Conversion,  , Character Handling
@section Classification of Characters
@cindex character testing
@cindex classification of characters
@cindex predicates on characters
@cindex character predicates

This section explains the library functions for classifying characters.
For example, @code{isalpha} is the function to test for an alphabetic
character.  It takes one argument, the character to test, and returns a
nonzero integer if the character is alphabetic, and zero otherwise.  You
would use it like this:

@smallexample
if (isalpha (c))
  printf ("The character `%c' is alphabetic.\n", c);
@end smallexample

Each of the functions in this section tests for membership in a
particular class of characters; each has a name starting with @samp{is}.
Each of them takes one argument, which is a character to test, and
returns an @code{int} which is treated as a boolean value.  The
character argument is passed as an @code{int}, and it may be the
constant value @code{EOF} instead of a real character.

The attributes of any given character can vary between locales.
@xref{Locales}, for more information on locales.@refill

These functions are declared in the header file @file{ctype.h}.
@pindex ctype.h

@cindex lower-case character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int islower (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c The is* macros call __ctype_b_loc to get the ctype array from the
@c current locale, and then index it by c.  __ctype_b_loc reads from
@c thread-local memory the (indirect) pointer to the ctype array, which
@c may involve one word access to the global locale object, if that's
@c the active locale for the thread, and the array, being part of the
@c locale data, is undeletable, so there's no thread-safety issue.  We
@c might want to mark these with @mtslocale to flag to callers that
@c changing locales might affect them, even if not these simpler
@c functions.
Returns true if @var{c} is a lower-case letter.  The letter need not be
from the Latin alphabet, any alphabet representable is valid.
@end deftypefun

@cindex upper-case character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isupper (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is an upper-case letter.  The letter need not be
from the Latin alphabet, any alphabet representable is valid.
@end deftypefun

@cindex alphabetic character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isalpha (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is an alphabetic character (a letter).  If
@code{islower} or @code{isupper} is true of a character, then
@code{isalpha} is also true.

In some locales, there may be additional characters for which
@code{isalpha} is true---letters which are neither upper case nor lower
case.  But in the standard @code{"C"} locale, there are no such
additional characters.
@end deftypefun

@cindex digit character
@cindex decimal digit character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isdigit (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a decimal digit (@samp{0} through @samp{9}).
@end deftypefun

@cindex alphanumeric character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isalnum (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is an alphanumeric character (a letter or
number); in other words, if either @code{isalpha} or @code{isdigit} is
true of a character, then @code{isalnum} is also true.
@end deftypefun

@cindex hexadecimal digit character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isxdigit (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a hexadecimal digit.
Hexadecimal digits include the normal decimal digits @samp{0} through
@samp{9} and the letters @samp{A} through @samp{F} and
@samp{a} through @samp{f}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex punctuation character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int ispunct (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a punctuation character.
This means any printing character that is not alphanumeric or a space
character.
@end deftypefun

@cindex whitespace character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isspace (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a @dfn{whitespace} character.  In the standard
@code{"C"} locale, @code{isspace} returns true for only the standard
whitespace characters:

@table @code
@item ' '
space

@item '\f'
formfeed

@item '\n'
newline

@item '\r'
carriage return

@item '\t'
horizontal tab

@item '\v'
vertical tab
@end table
@end deftypefun

@cindex blank character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isblank (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a blank character; that is, a space or a tab.
This function was originally a GNU extension, but was added in @w{ISO C99}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex graphic character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isgraph (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a graphic character; that is, a character
that has a glyph associated with it.  The whitespace characters are not
considered graphic.
@end deftypefun

@cindex printing character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int isprint (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a printing character.  Printing characters
include all the graphic characters, plus the space (@samp{ }) character.
@end deftypefun

@cindex control character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iscntrl (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a control character (that is, a character that
is not a printing character).
@end deftypefun

@cindex ASCII character
@comment ctype.h
@comment SVID, BSD
@deftypefun int isascii (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{c} is a 7-bit @code{unsigned char} value that fits
into the US/UK ASCII character set.  This function is a BSD extension
and is also an SVID extension.
@end deftypefun

@node Case Conversion, Classification of Wide Characters, Classification of Characters, Character Handling
@section Case Conversion
@cindex character case conversion
@cindex case conversion of characters
@cindex converting case of characters

This section explains the library functions for performing conversions
such as case mappings on characters.  For example, @code{toupper}
converts any character to upper case if possible.  If the character
can't be converted, @code{toupper} returns it unchanged.

These functions take one argument of type @code{int}, which is the
character to convert, and return the converted character as an
@code{int}.  If the conversion is not applicable to the argument given,
the argument is returned unchanged.

@strong{Compatibility Note:} In pre-@w{ISO C} dialects, instead of
returning the argument unchanged, these functions may fail when the
argument is not suitable for the conversion.  Thus for portability, you
may need to write @code{islower(c) ? toupper(c) : c} rather than just
@code{toupper(c)}.

These functions are declared in the header file @file{ctype.h}.
@pindex ctype.h

@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int tolower (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c The to* macros/functions call different functions that use different
@c arrays than those of__ctype_b_loc, but the access patterns and
@c thus safety guarantees are the same.
If @var{c} is an upper-case letter, @code{tolower} returns the corresponding
lower-case letter.  If @var{c} is not an upper-case letter,
@var{c} is returned unchanged.
@end deftypefun

@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int toupper (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
If @var{c} is a lower-case letter, @code{toupper} returns the corresponding
upper-case letter.  Otherwise @var{c} is returned unchanged.
@end deftypefun

@comment ctype.h
@comment SVID, BSD
@deftypefun int toascii (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
This function converts @var{c} to a 7-bit @code{unsigned char} value
that fits into the US/UK ASCII character set, by clearing the high-order
bits.  This function is a BSD extension and is also an SVID extension.
@end deftypefun

@comment ctype.h
@comment SVID
@deftypefun int _tolower (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
This is identical to @code{tolower}, and is provided for compatibility
with the SVID.  @xref{SVID}.@refill
@end deftypefun

@comment ctype.h
@comment SVID
@deftypefun int _toupper (int @var{c})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
This is identical to @code{toupper}, and is provided for compatibility
with the SVID.
@end deftypefun


@node Classification of Wide Characters, Using Wide Char Classes, Case Conversion, Character Handling
@section Character class determination for wide characters

@w{Amendment 1} to @w{ISO C90} defines functions to classify wide
characters.  Although the original @w{ISO C90} standard already defined
the type @code{wchar_t}, no functions operating on them were defined.

The general design of the classification functions for wide characters
is more general.  It allows extensions to the set of available
classifications, beyond those which are always available.  The POSIX
standard specifies how extensions can be made, and this is already
implemented in the @glibcadj{} implementation of the @code{localedef}
program.

The character class functions are normally implemented with bitsets,
with a bitset per character.  For a given character, the appropriate
bitset is read from a table and a test is performed as to whether a
certain bit is set.  Which bit is tested for is determined by the
class.

For the wide character classification functions this is made visible.
There is a type classification type defined, a function to retrieve this
value for a given class, and a function to test whether a given
character is in this class, using the classification value.  On top of
this the normal character classification functions as used for
@code{char} objects can be defined.

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftp {Data type} wctype_t
The @code{wctype_t} can hold a value which represents a character class.
The only defined way to generate such a value is by using the
@code{wctype} function.

@pindex wctype.h
This type is defined in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftp

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun wctype_t wctype (const char *@var{property})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c Although the source code of wctype contains multiple references to
@c the locale, that could each reference different locale_data objects
@c should the global locale object change while active, the compiler can
@c and does combine them all into a single dereference that resolves
@c once to the LCTYPE locale object used throughout the function, so it
@c is safe in (optimized) practice, if not in theory, even when the
@c locale changes.  Ideally we'd explicitly save the resolved
@c locale_data object to make it visibly safe instead of safe only under
@c compiler optimizations, but given the decision that setlocale is
@c MT-Unsafe, all this would afford us would be the ability to not mark
@c this function with @mtslocale.
The @code{wctype} returns a value representing a class of wide
characters which is identified by the string @var{property}.  Beside
some standard properties each locale can define its own ones.  In case
no property with the given name is known for the current locale
selected for the @code{LC_CTYPE} category, the function returns zero.

@noindent
The properties known in every locale are:

@multitable @columnfractions .25 .25 .25 .25
@item
@code{"alnum"} @tab @code{"alpha"} @tab @code{"cntrl"} @tab @code{"digit"}
@item
@code{"graph"} @tab @code{"lower"} @tab @code{"print"} @tab @code{"punct"}
@item
@code{"space"} @tab @code{"upper"} @tab @code{"xdigit"}
@end multitable

@pindex wctype.h
This function is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

To test the membership of a character to one of the non-standard classes
the @w{ISO C} standard defines a completely new function.

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswctype (wint_t @var{wc}, wctype_t @var{desc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c The compressed lookup table returned by wctype is read-only.
This function returns a nonzero value if @var{wc} is in the character
class specified by @var{desc}.  @var{desc} must previously be returned
by a successful call to @code{wctype}.

@pindex wctype.h
This function is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

To make it easier to use the commonly-used classification functions,
they are defined in the C library.  There is no need to use
@code{wctype} if the property string is one of the known character
classes.  In some situations it is desirable to construct the property
strings, and then it is important that @code{wctype} can also handle the
standard classes.

@cindex alphanumeric character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswalnum (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c The implicit wctype call in the isw* functions is actually an
@c optimized version because the category has a known offset, but the
@c wctype is equally safe when optimized, unsafe with changing locales
@c if not optimized (thus @mtslocale).  Since it's not a macro, we
@c always optimize, and the locale can't change in any MT-Safe way, it's
@c fine.  The test whether wc is ASCII to use the non-wide is*
@c macro/function doesn't bring any other safety issues: the test does
@c not depend on the locale, and each path after the decision resolves
@c the locale object only once.
This function returns a nonzero value if @var{wc} is an alphanumeric
character (a letter or number); in other words, if either @code{iswalpha}
or @code{iswdigit} is true of a character, then @code{iswalnum} is also
true.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("alnum"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex alphabetic character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswalpha (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is an alphabetic character (a letter).  If
@code{iswlower} or @code{iswupper} is true of a character, then
@code{iswalpha} is also true.

In some locales, there may be additional characters for which
@code{iswalpha} is true---letters which are neither upper case nor lower
case.  But in the standard @code{"C"} locale, there are no such
additional characters.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("alpha"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex control character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswcntrl (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a control character (that is, a character that
is not a printing character).

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("cntrl"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex digit character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswdigit (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a digit (e.g., @samp{0} through @samp{9}).
Please note that this function does not only return a nonzero value for
@emph{decimal} digits, but for all kinds of digits.  A consequence is
that code like the following will @strong{not} work unconditionally for
wide characters:

@smallexample
n = 0;
while (iswdigit (*wc))
  @{
    n *= 10;
    n += *wc++ - L'0';
  @}
@end smallexample

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("digit"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex graphic character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswgraph (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a graphic character; that is, a character
that has a glyph associated with it.  The whitespace characters are not
considered graphic.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("graph"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex lower-case character
@comment ctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswlower (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a lower-case letter.  The letter need not be
from the Latin alphabet, any alphabet representable is valid.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("lower"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex printing character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswprint (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a printing character.  Printing characters
include all the graphic characters, plus the space (@samp{ }) character.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("print"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex punctuation character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswpunct (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a punctuation character.
This means any printing character that is not alphanumeric or a space
character.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("punct"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex whitespace character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswspace (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a @dfn{whitespace} character.  In the standard
@code{"C"} locale, @code{iswspace} returns true for only the standard
whitespace characters:

@table @code
@item L' '
space

@item L'\f'
formfeed

@item L'\n'
newline

@item L'\r'
carriage return

@item L'\t'
horizontal tab

@item L'\v'
vertical tab
@end table

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("space"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex upper-case character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswupper (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is an upper-case letter.  The letter need not be
from the Latin alphabet, any alphabet representable is valid.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("upper"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@cindex hexadecimal digit character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswxdigit (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a hexadecimal digit.
Hexadecimal digits include the normal decimal digits @samp{0} through
@samp{9} and the letters @samp{A} through @samp{F} and
@samp{a} through @samp{f}.

@noindent
This function can be implemented using

@smallexample
iswctype (wc, wctype ("xdigit"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
It is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@Theglibc{} also provides a function which is not defined in the
@w{ISO C} standard but which is available as a version for single byte
characters as well.

@cindex blank character
@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun int iswblank (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
Returns true if @var{wc} is a blank character; that is, a space or a tab.
This function was originally a GNU extension, but was added in @w{ISO C99}.
It is declared in @file{wchar.h}.
@end deftypefun

@node Using Wide Char Classes, Wide Character Case Conversion, Classification of Wide Characters, Character Handling
@section Notes on using the wide character classes

The first note is probably not astonishing but still occasionally a
cause of problems.  The @code{isw@var{XXX}} functions can be implemented
using macros and in fact, @theglibc{} does this.  They are still
available as real functions but when the @file{wctype.h} header is
included the macros will be used.  This is the same as the
@code{char} type versions of these functions.

The second note covers something new.  It can be best illustrated by a
(real-world) example.  The first piece of code is an excerpt from the
original code.  It is truncated a bit but the intention should be clear.

@smallexample
int
is_in_class (int c, const char *class)
@{
  if (strcmp (class, "alnum") == 0)
    return isalnum (c);
  if (strcmp (class, "alpha") == 0)
    return isalpha (c);
  if (strcmp (class, "cntrl") == 0)
    return iscntrl (c);
  @dots{}
  return 0;
@}
@end smallexample

Now, with the @code{wctype} and @code{iswctype} you can avoid the
@code{if} cascades, but rewriting the code as follows is wrong:

@smallexample
int
is_in_class (int c, const char *class)
@{
  wctype_t desc = wctype (class);
  return desc ? iswctype ((wint_t) c, desc) : 0;
@}
@end smallexample

The problem is that it is not guaranteed that the wide character
representation of a single-byte character can be found using casting.
In fact, usually this fails miserably.  The correct solution to this
problem is to write the code as follows:

@smallexample
int
is_in_class (int c, const char *class)
@{
  wctype_t desc = wctype (class);
  return desc ? iswctype (btowc (c), desc) : 0;
@}
@end smallexample

@xref{Converting a Character}, for more information on @code{btowc}.
Note that this change probably does not improve the performance
of the program a lot since the @code{wctype} function still has to make
the string comparisons.  It gets really interesting if the
@code{is_in_class} function is called more than once for the
same class name.  In this case the variable @var{desc} could be computed
once and reused for all the calls.  Therefore the above form of the
function is probably not the final one.


@node Wide Character Case Conversion, , Using Wide Char Classes, Character Handling
@section Mapping of wide characters.

The classification functions are also generalized by the @w{ISO C}
standard.  Instead of just allowing the two standard mappings, a
locale can contain others.  Again, the @code{localedef} program
already supports generating such locale data files.

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftp {Data Type} wctrans_t
This data type is defined as a scalar type which can hold a value
representing the locale-dependent character mapping.  There is no way to
construct such a value apart from using the return value of the
@code{wctrans} function.

@pindex wctype.h
@noindent
This type is defined in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftp

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun wctrans_t wctrans (const char *@var{property})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c Similar implementation, same caveats as wctype.
The @code{wctrans} function has to be used to find out whether a named
mapping is defined in the current locale selected for the
@code{LC_CTYPE} category.  If the returned value is non-zero, you can use
it afterwards in calls to @code{towctrans}.  If the return value is
zero no such mapping is known in the current locale.

Beside locale-specific mappings there are two mappings which are
guaranteed to be available in every locale:

@multitable @columnfractions .5 .5
@item
@code{"tolower"} @tab @code{"toupper"}
@end multitable

@pindex wctype.h
@noindent
These functions are declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun wint_t towctrans (wint_t @var{wc}, wctrans_t @var{desc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c Same caveats as iswctype.
@code{towctrans} maps the input character @var{wc}
according to the rules of the mapping for which @var{desc} is a
descriptor, and returns the value it finds.  @var{desc} must be
obtained by a successful call to @code{wctrans}.

@pindex wctype.h
@noindent
This function is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

For the generally available mappings, the @w{ISO C} standard defines
convenient shortcuts so that it is not necessary to call @code{wctrans}
for them.

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun wint_t towlower (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
@c Same caveats as iswalnum, just using a wctrans rather than a wctype
@c table.
If @var{wc} is an upper-case letter, @code{towlower} returns the corresponding
lower-case letter.  If @var{wc} is not an upper-case letter,
@var{wc} is returned unchanged.

@noindent
@code{towlower} can be implemented using

@smallexample
towctrans (wc, wctrans ("tolower"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
@noindent
This function is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

@comment wctype.h
@comment ISO
@deftypefun wint_t towupper (wint_t @var{wc})
@safety{@prelim{}@mtsafe{@mtslocale{}}@assafe{}@acsafe{}}
If @var{wc} is a lower-case letter, @code{towupper} returns the corresponding
upper-case letter.  Otherwise @var{wc} is returned unchanged.

@noindent
@code{towupper} can be implemented using

@smallexample
towctrans (wc, wctrans ("toupper"))
@end smallexample

@pindex wctype.h
@noindent
This function is declared in @file{wctype.h}.
@end deftypefun

The same warnings given in the last section for the use of the wide
character classification functions apply here.  It is not possible to
simply cast a @code{char} type value to a @code{wint_t} and use it as an
argument to @code{towctrans} calls.