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(libc.info)The Lame Way to Locale Data

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`localeconv': It is portable but ...
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   Together with the `setlocale' function the ISO C people invented the
`localeconv' function.  It is a masterpiece of poor design.  It is
expensive to use, not extendable, and not generally usable as it
provides access to only `LC_MONETARY' and `LC_NUMERIC' related
information.  Nevertheless, if it is applicable to a given situation it
should be used since it is very portable.  The function `strfmon'
formats monetary amounts according to the selected locale using this
information.

 - Function: struct lconv * localeconv (void)
     The `localeconv' function returns a pointer to a structure whose
     components contain information about how numeric and monetary
     values should be formatted in the current locale.

     You should not modify the structure or its contents.  The
     structure might be overwritten by subsequent calls to
     `localeconv', or by calls to `setlocale', but no other function in
     the library overwrites this value.

 - Data Type: struct lconv
     `localeconv''s return value is of this data type.  Its elements are
     described in the following subsections.

   If a member of the structure `struct lconv' has type `char', and the
value is `CHAR_MAX', it means that the current locale has no value for
that parameter.

General Numeric

Parameters for formatting numbers and

currency amounts.

Currency Symbol

How to print the symbol that identifies an

amount of money (e.g. `$').

Sign of Money Amount

How to print the (positive or negative) sign

for a monetary amount, if one exists.