The setlocale() function is defined in <clocale> header file.
setlocale() prototype
int setlocale(int category, const char* locale);
The setlocale function is used to set a specified system locale for the given category. The setlocale function can also be used to query the current C locale.
This can be done by passing a null pointer in place of locale.
setlocale() Parameters
- category: Specifies which locale information of the program is affected. The possible macros for category are:
| Macros | Description |
|---|---|
| LC_ALL | Selects all the C locale |
| LC_COLLATE | Selection the collation category |
| LC_CTYPE | Selects the character classification category |
| LC_MONETARY | Selects the monetary formatting category |
| LC_NUMERIC | Selects the numeric formatting category |
| LC_TIME | Selects the time formatting category |
- locale: A system specific locale identifier. If it is a null pointer, a call to setlocale() queries the current C locale.
setlocale() Return value
- On success, the setlocale() function returns a pointer to the string identifying the C locale after applying the changes.
- On failure it returns a null pointer.
Example: How setlocale() function works?
#include <clocale>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
char *str;
setlocale(LC_ALL, "en_US.utf8");
str = setlocale(LC_ALL, NULL);
cout << "Current locale: " << str << endl;
cout << "Changing locale " << endl;
setlocale(LC_ALL, "en_GB.utf8");
str = setlocale(LC_ALL, NULL);
wcout << "Current locale: " << str << endl;
return 0;
}
When you run the program, the output will be:
Current locale: en_US.utf8 Changing locale Current locale: en_GB.utf8
