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<a name="Conventions"></a>
<a name="SEC9"></a>
<h1 class="chapter"> <a href="libunistring.html#TOC9">2. Conventions</a> </h1>
<p>This chapter explains conventions valid throughout the libunistring library.
</p>
<a name="IDX14"></a>
<p>Variables of type <code>char *</code> denote C strings in locale encoding.
See <a href="libunistring_1.html#SEC4">Locale encodings</a>.
</p>
<p>Variables of type <code>uint8_t *</code> denote UTF-8 strings. Their units
are bytes.
</p>
<p>Variables of type <code>uint16_t *</code> denote UTF-16 strings, without byte
order mark. Their units are 2-byte words.
</p>
<p>Variables of type <code>uint32_t *</code> denote UTF-32 strings, without byte
order mark. Their units are 4-byte words.
</p>
<p>Argument pairs <code>(<var>s</var>, <var>n</var>)</code> denote a string
<code><var>s</var>[0..<var>n</var>-1]</code> with exactly <var>n</var> units.
</p>
<p>All functions with prefix ‘<samp>ulc_</samp>’ operate on C strings in locale
encoding.
</p>
<p>All functions with prefix ‘<samp>u8_</samp>’ operate on UTF-8 strings.
</p>
<p>All functions with prefix ‘<samp>u16_</samp>’ operate on UTF-16 strings.
</p>
<p>All functions with prefix ‘<samp>u32_</samp>’ operate on UTF-32 strings.
</p>
<p>For every function with prefix ‘<samp>u8_</samp>’, operating on UTF-8 strings,
there is also a corresponding function with prefix ‘<samp>u16_</samp>’,
operating on UTF-16 strings, and a corresponding function with prefix
‘<samp>u32_</samp>’, operating on UTF-32 strings. Their description is
analogous; in this documentation we describe only the function that
operates on UTF-8 strings, for brevity.
</p>
<p>A declaration with a variable <var>n</var> denotes the three concrete
declarations with <var>n</var> = 8, <var>n</var> = 16, <var>n</var> = 32.
</p>
<p>All parameters starting with ‘<samp>str</samp>’ and the parameters of
functions starting with <code>u8_str</code>/<code>u16_str</code>/<code>u32_str</code>
denote a NUL terminated string.
</p>
<a name="IDX15"></a>
<p>Error values are always returned through the <code>errno</code> variable,
usually with a return value that indicates the presence of an error
(NULL for functions that return an pointer, or -1 for functions that
return an <code>int</code>).
</p>
<p>Functions returning a string result take a
<code>(<var>resultbuf</var>, <var>lengthp</var>)</code>
argument pair. If <var>resultbuf</var> is not NULL and the result fits
into <code>*<var>lengthp</var></code> units, it is put in <var>resultbuf</var>, and
<var>resultbuf</var> is returned. Otherwise, a freshly allocated string
is returned. In both cases, <code>*<var>lengthp</var></code> is set to the
length (number of units) of the returned string. In case of error,
NULL is returned and <code>errno</code> is set.
</p>
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