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locale(4)
NAME
locale - Contains one or more categories that describe a locale
DESCRIPTION
A locale definition source file contains one or more categories that
describe a locale. You can convert a locale definition source file into a
locale by using the localedef command. Locales can be modified only by
editing a locale definition source file and then using the localedef
command again on the new source file.
Each locale source file section defines a category of locale data. A
source file cannot contain more than one section for the same category.
The following standard categories are supported:
LC_COLLATE
Defines character or string collation information
LC_CTYPE
Defines character classification, case conversion, and other character
properties or attributes
LC_MESSAGES
Defines the format for affirmative and negative responses
LC_MONETARY
Defines rules and symbols for formatting monetary numeric information
LC_NUMERIC
Defines a list of rules and symbols for formatting nonmonetary numeric
information
LC_TIME
Defines a list of rules and symbols for formatting time and date
information
You can include optional declarations at the beginning of your locale
source file to override the default comment and escape characters used in
locale category definitions:
· Escape character
The escape character is used in decimal or hexadecimal constants when
these are specified in the locale file. The default escape character
is the backslash (\). To define another escape character, include a
line with the following format:
escape_char <char_symbol>
· Comment character
The comment character is the first character of any comment entries in
the locale file. The default comment character is the number sign (#).
To define another comment character, use the following format:
comment_char <char_symbol>
In the preceding formats, <char_symbol> is the character's symbolic name as
defined in the charmap file used to build the locale's codeset. One or
more blank characters (spaces or tabs) must separate escape_char or
comment_char from <char_symbol>.
Each category source definition consists of the following:
· The category header (category_name)
· The associated keyword/value pairs that comprise the category body
· The category trailer (END category_name)
For example:
LC_CTYPE
<source for LC_CTYPE category>
END LC_CTYPE
The source for all of the categories is specified using keywords, strings,
character literals, and character symbols. Each keyword identifies either
a definition or a rule. The remainder of the statement containing the
keyword contains the operands to the keyword. Operands are separated from
the keyword by one or more blank characters (spaces or tabs). A statement
may be continued on the next line by placing a \ (backslash) as the last
character before the newline character that terminates the line. Lines
containing the # (comment character) in the first column are treated as
comment lines.
A symbolic name begins with the < (left-angle bracket) character and ends
with the > (right-angle bracket) character. The characters between the <
and the > can be any characters from the Portable Character Set, except for
control and space characters. For example, <A-diaeresis> could be a
symbolic name for a character. Any symbolic name referenced in the locale
source file must be defined in the Portable Character Set or in the
character set description (charmap) file for that locale.
A character literal is the character itself, or else a decimal,
hexadecimal, or octal constant. A decimal constant is of the following
form:
\dddd or \ddd
where d is a decimal digit.
A hexadecimal constant is of the following form:
\xxx
where x is a hexadecimal digit.
An octal constant is of the following form:
\ooo or \oo
where o is an octal digit.
The explicit definition of each category in a locale definition source file
is not required. When a category is undefined in a locale definition
source file, the category value defaults to the value in the C locale
definition.
The LC_COLLATE Category
The LC_COLLATE category defines the relative order between collating
elements.
A collation element is the unit of comparison for collation. A collation
element may be a character or a sequence of characters. Every collation
element in the locale has a set of weights, which determine if the
collation element collates before, equal to, or after the other collation
elements in the locale. Each collation element is assigned collation
weights by the localedef command when the locale definition source file is
compiled. These collation weights are then used by applications programs
that compare strings.
Comparison of strings is performed by comparing the collation weights of
each character in the string until either a difference is found or the
strings are determined to be equal. This comparison may be performed
several times if the locale defines multiple collation orders. For
example, in the French locale, the strings are compared using a primary set
of collation weights. If they are equal on the basis of this comparison,
they are compared again using a secondary set of collation weights. A
collating element has a set of collation weights associated with it that is
equal to the number of collation orders defined for the locale.
Every character defined in the charmap file (or every character in the
portable character set if no charmap file is specified) is itself a
collating element. Additional collating elements can be defined using the
collating-element statement. The syntax is as follows:
collating-element <character_symbol> from <string>
The LC_COLLATE category begins with the keyword LC_COLLATE and ends with
the keyword END LC_COLLATE.
The following keywords are recognized in the LC_COLLATE category:
copy
The copy statement specifies the name of an existing locale to be used
as the definition of this category. If you specify a copy statement,
you can specify no other keywords in the category.
collating-element
The collating-element statement is used to specify multicharacter
collating elements.
The character_symbol argument defines a collating element that is a
string of one or more characters as a single collating element. The
character_symbol argument cannot duplicate any symbolic name in the
current charmap file or any other symbolic name defined in this
collation definition. The string argument specifies a string of two or
more characters that define the character_symbol argument. The
following are examples of the syntax for the collating-element
statement:
collating-element <ch> from "<c><h>"
collating-element <e-acute> from "<acute><e>"
collating-element <11> from "<1><1>"
A character_symbol argument defined by the collating-element statement
is recognized only within the LC_COLLATE category.
collating-symbol
The collating-symbol statement is used to specify collation symbols for
use in collation sequence statements.
The syntax for the collating-symbol statement is as follows:
collating-symbol <collating_symbol>
The collating_symbol argument cannot duplicate any symbolic name in the
current charmap file or any other symbolic name defined in this
collation definition. The following are examples of collating-symbol
statements:
collating-symbol <UPPER_CASE>
collating-symbol <HIGH>
A collating_symbol argument defined by the collating-symbol statement
is recognized only within the LC_COLLATE category.
order_start
The order_start statement is followed by one or more collation order
statements, assigning collation weights to collating elements. This
statement is mandatory.
The syntax for the order_start statement is as follows:
order_start <sort_rules>;<sort_rules>;\...;<sort_rules>
collation_order_statements order_end
The sort_rules have the following syntax:
keyword, keyword,...,keyword
where keyword is the keyword forward, backward, or position.
The sort_rules directives are optional. If present, they define the
rules to apply during string comparison. The number of specified
sort_rules directives defines the number of weights each collating
element is assigned; that is, the directives define the number of
collation orders in the locale. If no sort_rules directives are
present, one forward directive is assumed and comparisons are made on a
character basis rather than a string basis.
If directives are present, the first sort_rules directive applies when
comparing strings that use the primary weight, the second when
comparing strings that use the secondary weight, and so on. Each set
of sort_rules directives is separated by a ; (semicolon). A sort_rules
directive consists of one or more comma-separated keywords. The
following keywords are supported:
forward Specifies that collation weight comparisons proceed from the
beginning of a string to the end of the string.
backward
Specifies that collation weight comparisons proceed from the
end of a string to the beginning of the string.
position
Specifies that collation weight comparisons consider the
relative position of nonignored elements in the string. That
is, if strings compare as equal, the element with the shortest
distance from the starting point of the comparison collates
first.
The forward and backward keywords are mutually exclusive. The
following is an example of a sort_rules directive:
order_start forward;backward
The following syntax rules apply to collation order statements:
· Each collation order statement consists of a <character_symbol>
specification, followed by white space and a set of collation orders.
· Characters in the character set can be explicitly specified in the
collation orders or implicitly specified using the ellipsis symbol
(...).
· A collation order statement that begins with the UNDEFINED special
symbol specifies any characters that are in the character set and not
explicitly or implicitly specified by other collation order
statements.
The optional operands for each collation element are used to define the
primary, secondary, or subsequent weights for the collating element. The
special symbol IGNORE is used to indicate a collating element that is to be
ignored when strings are compared.
An ellipsis keyword appearing in place of a collating_element_list
indicates the weights are to be assigned, for the characters in the
identified range, in numerically increasing order from the weight for the
character symbol on the left-hand side of the preceding statement.
The use of the ellipsis keyword results in a locale that may collate
differently when compiled with different character set description
(charmap) source files. For this reason, the localedef command will issue
a warning when the ellipsis keyword is encountered.
The UNDEFINED special symbol includes all coded character set values not
specified explicitly or with an ellipsis symbol. These characters are
inserted in the character collation order at the point indicated by the
UNDEFINED special symbol in the order of their character code set values.
If no UNDEFINED special symbol exists and the collation order does not
specify all collation elements from the coded character set, a warning is
issued and all undefined characters are placed at the end of the character
collation order.
The following is an example of a collation order statement in the
LC_COLLATE locale definition source file category:
order_start forward;backward
UNDEFINED IGNORE;IGNORE
<LOW>
<space> <LOW>;<space>
.. <LOW>;...
<a> <a>;<a>
<a-acute> <a>;<a-acute>
<a-grave> <a>;<a-grave>
<A> <a>;<A>
<A-acute> <a>;<A-acute>
<A-grave> <a>;<A-grave>
<ch> <ch>;<ch>
<Ch> <ch>;<Ch>
<s> <s>;<s>
<ss> <s><s>;<s><s>
<eszet> <s><s>;<eszet><eszet>
... <HIGH>;...
<HIGH>
order_end
This example is interpreted as follows:
· The UNDEFINED special symbol indicates that all characters not
specified in the definition (either explicitly or by the ellipsis
symbol) are ignored for collation purposes.
· All collating elements between <space> and <a> have the same primary
equivalence class and individual secondary weights based on their
coded character set values.
· All versions of the letter a (uppercase and lowercase, and with or
without diacriticals) belong to the same primary collation class.
· The <c><h> multicharacter collating element is represented by the <ch>
collating symbol and belongs to the same primary equivalence class as
the <C><h> multicharacter collating element.
· The <eszet> character is collated as an <s><s> string. That is, one
<eszet> character is expanded to two characters before comparing.
The LC_CTYPE Category
The LC_CTYPE category of a locale definition source file defines character
classification, case conversion, and other character attributes. This
category begins with an LC_CTYPE category header and terminates with an END
LC_CTYPE category trailer.
All operands for LC_CTYPE category statements are defined as lists of
characters. Each list consists of one or more semicolon-separated
characters or symbolic character names. An ellipsis (...) can represent a
series of characters; for example, <a>;...;<z> represents the characters in
the range a through z.
There are multiple sets of property keywords that are recognized in the
LC_CTYPE category. One set contains property keywords and associated rules
defined for locales by the XSH standard. A keyword in this set can be
defined in locales based on any codeset, assuming that the associated
property applies to characters in the language supported by the locale.
Another set of property keywords is defined by the Unicode standard.
Define these keywords only in locales using one of the Unicode character
encoding formats. Some national language standards also define properties
for characters. Japanese locales define quite a few supplemental
properties to conform with national standards.
The following two subsections describe the sets of keywords as defined by
XSH and Unicode. See Japanese(5) for descriptions of properties defined in
Japanese locales.
Property Keywords Defined by the XSH Standard
The following keywords defined by XSH are recognized in the LC_CTYPE
category. In the descriptions, the term "automatically included" means that
an error does not occur if the referenced characters are included or
omitted. The characters will be provided if they are missing and will be
accepted if they are present.
copy
Specifies the name of an existing locale to be used as the definition
of this category
If you include a copy statement, no other keyword can be specified.
upper
Defines uppercase letter characters
No character defined by the cntrl, digit, punct, or space keyword can
be specified. If upper is not defined, A through Z default to upper.
lower
Defines lowercase letter characters
No character defined by the cntrl, digit, punct, or space keyword can
be specified. If lower is not defined, a through z default to lower.
alpha
Defines all letter characters
No character defined by the cntrl, digit, punct, or space keyword can
be specified. Characters defined by the upper and lower keywords are
automatically included in this character class.
digit
Defines numeric digit characters
Only the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 can be specified. If
digit is not defined, 0 through 9 default to digit.
space
Defines white-space characters
No character defined by the upper, lower, alpha, digit, graph, or
xdigit keyword can be specified. If space is not defined, the space,
formfeed, newline, carriage-return, tab, and vertical tab characters
default to space.
cntrl
Defines control characters
No character defined by the upper, lower, alpha, digit, punct, graph,
print, or xdigit keyword can be specified.
punct
Defines punctuation characters
The space character and characters defined by the upper, lower, alpha,
digit, cntrl, or xdigit keywords cannot be specified.
graph
Defines printable characters, excluding the space character
If this keyword is not specified, characters defined by the upper,
lower, alpha, digit, xdigit, and punct keywords are automatically
included in this character class. No character defined by the cntrl
keyword can be specified.
print
Defines printable characters, including the space character
If this keyword is not specified, the space character and characters
defined by the upper, lower, alpha, digit, xdigit, and punct keywords
are automatically included in this character class. No character
defined by the cntrl keyword can be specified.
xdigit
Defines hexadecimal digit characters
Only the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 can be specified. Any
character can be specified for the hexadecimal values for 10 to 15,
however. These alternate hexadecimal digits are not used by standard
conversion routines when converting digit strings from hexadecimal to
numeric quantities. If xdigit is not defined, the numbers 0 through 9
and the letters A through F and a through f default to xdigit.
blank
Defines blank characters
If this keyword is not specified, the space and horizontal tab
characters are included in this character class. Any characters
defined by this statement are automatically included in the space
class.
toupper
Defines the mapping of lowercase characters to uppercase characters
Operands for this keyword consist of comma-separated character pairs.
Each character pair is enclosed in () (parentheses) and separated from
the next pair by a ; (semicolon). The first character in each pair is
considered a lowercase character; the second character is considered an
uppercase character. Only characters defined by the lower and upper
keywords can be specified. If toupper is not defined, a through z is
mapped to A through Z by default.
tolower
Defines the mapping of uppercase characters to lowercase characters
Operands for this keyword consist of comma-separated character pairs.
Each character pair is enclosed in () (parentheses) and separated from
the next pair by a ; (semicolon). The first character in each pair is
considered an uppercase character; the second character is considered a
lowercase character. Only characters defined by the lower and upper
keywords can be specified.
The tolower keyword is optional. If this keyword is not specified, the
mapping defaults to the reverse mapping of the toupper keyword, if
specified. If the toupper and tolower keywords are both unspecified,
the mapping for each defaults to that of the C locale.
Additional keywords can be specified to define supplemental character
classifications. For example:
charclass vowel
vowel <a>;<e>;<i>;<o>;<u>;<y>
Within the context of the XSH standard, the Unicode character properties
discussed in the next subsection fall into the category of supplemental
property definitions. Note that a supplemental property definition can be
accessed in programs only by using the wctype() and iswctype() interfaces.
The LC_CTYPE category does not support multicharacter elements. For
example, the German Eszet character is traditionally classified as a
lowercase letter. There is no corresponding uppercase letter; in proper
capitalization of German text, the Eszet character is replaced by the two
characters SS. This kind of conversion is outside of the scope of the
toupper and tolower keywords.
The following is an example of a possible LC_CTYPE category listed in a
locale definition source file:
LC_CTYPE
#"alpha" is by default "upper" and "lower"
#"alnum" is by definition "alpha" and "digit"
#"print" is by default "alnum", "punct" and the space character
#"graph" is by default "alnum" and "punct"
#"tolower" is by default the reverse mapping of "toupper"
#
upper <A>;<B>;<C>;<D>;<E>;<F>;<G>;<H>;<I>;<J>;<K>;<L>;<M>;\
<N>;<O>;<P>;<Q>;<R>;<S>;<T>;<U>;<V>;<W>;<X>;<Y>;<Z>
#
lower <a>;<b>;<c>;<d>;<e>;<f>;<g>;<h>;<i>;<j>;<k>;<l>;<m>;\
<n>;<o>;<p>;<q>;<r>;<s>;<t>;<u>;<v>;<w>;<x>;<y>;<z>
#
digit <zero>;<one>;<two>;<three>;<four>;<five>;<six>;\
<seven>;<eight>;<nine>
#
space <tab>;<newline>;<vertical-tab>;<form-feed>;\
<carriage-return>;<space>
#
cntrl <alert>;<backspace>;<tab>;<newline>;<vertical-tab>;\
<form-feed>;<carriage-return>;<NUL>;<SOH>;<STX>;\
<ETX>;<EOT>;<ENQ>;<ACK>;<SO>;<SI>;<DLE>;<DC1>;<DC2>;\
<DC3>;<DC4>;<NAK>;<SYN>;<ETB>;<CAN>;<EM>;<SUB>;\
<ESC>;<IS4>;<IS3>;<IS2>;<IS1>;<DEL>
#
punct <exclamation-mark>;<quotation-mark>;<number-sign>;\
<dollar-sign>;<percent-sign>;<ampersand>;<asterisk>;\
<apostrophe>;<left-parenthesis>;<right-parenthesis>;\
<plus-sign>;<comma>;<hyphen>;<period>;<slash>;\
<colon>;<semicolon>;<less-than-sign>;<equals-sign>;\
<greater-than-sign>;<question-mark>;<commercial-at>;\
<left-square-bracket>;<backslash>;<circumflex>;\
<right-square-bracket>;<underline>;<grave-accent>;\
<left-curly-bracket>;<vertical-line>;<tilde>;\
<right-curly-bracket>
#
xdigit <zero>;<one>;<two>;<three>;<four>;<five>;<six>;\
<seven>;<eight>;<nine>;<A>;<B>;<C>;<D>;<E>;<F>;\
<a>;<b>;<c>;<d>;<e>;<f>
#
blank <space>;<tab>
#
toupper (<a>,<A>);(<b>,<B>);(<c>,<C>);(<d>,<D>);(<e>,<E>);\
(<f>,<F>);(<g>,<G>);(<h>,<H>);(<i>,<I>);(<j>,<J>);\
(<k>,<K>);(<l>,<L>);(<m>,<M>);(<n>,<N>);(<o>,<O>);\
(<p>,<P>);(<q>,<Q>);(<r>,<R>);(<s>,<S>);(<t>,<T>);\
(<u>,<U>);(<v>,<V>);(<w>,<W>);(<x>,<X>);(<y>,<Y>);\
(<z>,<Z>)
#
END LC_CTYPE
Property Keywords Defined by the Unicode Standard
Property keywords defined by the Unicode standard can be normative or
informative. For example, a normative property might tell you whether a
character is a letter, a digit, or something else while an informative
property might tell you whether a letter is uppercase or lowercase. There
is also a set of properties, all normative, that applies only to languages
whose scripts are bidirectional (like Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and
Arabic).
General Category: Normative Keywords
Mn Mark, non-spacing
Mc Mark, spacing combining
Me Mark, enclosing
Nd Number, decimal digit
Nl Number, letter
No Number, other
Zs Separator, space
Zl Separator, line
Zp Separator, paragraph
Cc Other, control
Cf Other, format
Cs Other, surrogate
Co Other, private use
Cn Other, not assigned
General Category: Informative Keywords
Lu Letter, uppercase
Ll Letter, lowercase
Lt Letter, titlecase
Lm Letter, modifier
Lo Letter, other
Pc Punctuation, connector
Pd Punctuation, dash
Pf Punctuation, final quote
Pi Punctuation, initial quote
Ps Punctuation, open
Pe Punctuation, close
Po Punctuation, other
Sm Symbol, math
Sc Symbol, currency
Sk Symbol, modifier
So Symbol, other
Bidirectional Category: Strong Types
L Left-right; for most alphabetic, syllabic, and logographic characters
(such as ideographs in Asian languages)
R Right-left; for Arabic, Hebrew, and punctuation in those languages
Bidirectional Category: Weak Types
EN European number
ES European number separator
ET European number terminator
AN Arabic number
CS Common number separator
Bidirectional Category: Separators
B Block separator
S Segment separator
Bidirectional Category: Neutrals
WS Whitespace
ON Other neutrals: all other characters like punctuation and symbols
For locales included with the Tru64 UNIX product, only the .UTF-8 locales
include Unicode property keywords in addition to those specified in the XSH
standard. Programmers who want to use specific Unicode keywords with .UTF-8
locales to determine a character's classification use the wctype() and
iswctype() functions. Other functions, such as iswdigit(), iswalpha(), and
toupper(), access only definitions of properties specified in the XSH
standard. When equivalence exists between an XSH property and one or more
Unicode properties, .UTF-8 locales support properties as defined by both
standards. XSH property keywords can be mapped to Unicode property keywords
as follows:
upper
Uppercase letter: maps to Lu
lower
Lowercase letter: maps to Ll
digit
Digit: maps to Nd, Nl, and No combined
xdigit
Hexidecimal digit: includes specific characters (0-9, a-f, and A-F)
cntrl
A control or format character: maps to Cc and Cf
alpha
Any letter: maps to Lu, Ll, Lt, Lm, and Lo combined
alnum
Any letter or number: maps to Lu, Ll, Lt, Lm, Lo, Nd, Nl, and No
combined
punct
Any punctuation character: maps to Pc, Pd, Ps, Pe, Pi, Pf, and Po
combined
graph
Any graphical character: maps to Lu, Ll, Lt, Lm, Lo, Nd, Nl, No, Pc,
Pd, Ps, Pe, Pi, Pf, Po, Sm, Sc, Sk, and So combined
print
Any printable character: maps to a combination of all Unicode
properties with the exception of Cc, Cf, Cn, Co, and Cs.
blank
A space separator: maps to Zs
space
Any separator: maps to Zl, Zp, and Zs
When operating in a *.UTF-8 locale, functions that test for a property
defined in the XSH standard implicitly test a character for any of the
Unicode properties that map to the XSH property. For example, the
iswdigit() function implicitly tests for the Nd, Nl, and No properties as
defined by the Unicode standard.
The LC_MESSAGES Category
The LC_MESSAGES category of a locale definition source file defines the
format for affirmative and negative system responses. This category begins
with an LC_MESSAGES category header and terminates with an END LC_MESSAGES
category trailer.
All operands for the LC_MESSAGES category are defined as strings or
extended regular expressions bounded by " " (double quotes). These operands
are separated from the keyword they define by one or more blank characters
(spaces or tabs). Two adjacent " " (double quotes) indicate an undefined
value.
The following keywords are recognized in the LC_MESSAGES category:
copy
Specifies the name of an existing locale to be used as the definition
of this category
If you include a copy statement, you cannot include other keywords.
yesexpr
Specifies an extended regular expression that describes the acceptable
affirmative response to a question expecting an affirmative or negative
response
noexpr
Specifies an extended regular expression that describes the acceptable
negative response to a question expecting an affirmative or negative
response
yesstr
Specifies the locale's equivalent of an acceptable affirmative response
This string is accessible to applications through the nl_langinfo
subroutine as nl_langinfo (YESSTR). Note that yesstr is likely to be
withdrawn from the XPG4 standard; yesexpr is the recommended
alternative.
nostr
Specifies the locale's equivalent of an acceptable negative response
This string is accessible to applications through the nl_langinfo
subroutine as nl_langinfo (NOSTR). Note that nostr is likely to be
withdrawn from the XPG4 standard; noexpr is the recommended
alternative.
The following is an example of a possible LC_MESSAGES category listed in a
locale definition source file:
LC_MESSAGES
#
yesexpr "<circumflex><left-square-bracket><y><Y>\
<right-square-bracket>"
noexpr "<circumflex><left-square-bracket><n><N>\
<right-square-bracket>"
yesstr "<y><e><s>"
nostr "<n><o>"
#
END LC_MESSAGES
The LC_MONETARY Category
The LC_MONETARY category of a locale definition source file defines rules
and symbols for formatting monetary numeric information. This category
begins with an LC_MONETARY category header and terminates with an END
LC_MONETARY category trailer.
All operands for the LC_MONETARY category keywords are defined as string or
integer values. String values are bounded by " " (double quotes). All
values are separated from the keyword they define by one or more blank
characters (spaces or tabs). Two adjacent " " (double quotes) indicate an
undefined string value. A -1 (negative one) indicates an undefined integer
value.
The following keywords are recognized in the LC_MONETARY category:
copy
Specifies the name of an existing locale to be used as the definition
of this category
If you include a copy statement, no other keyword will be specified.
int_curr_symbol
Specifies the string used for the international currency symbol
The operand for the int_curr_symbol keyword is a 4-character string.
The first three characters contain the alphabetic international
currency symbol. The fourth character specifies a character separator
between the international currency symbol and a monetary quantity.
currency_symbol
Specifies the string used for the local currency symbol.
mon_decimal_point
Specifies the string used for the decimal delimiter that is used to
format monetary quantities
mon_thousands_sep
Specifies the character separator used for grouping digits to the left
of the decimal delimiter in formatted monetary quantities
mon_grouping
Specifies a string that defines the size of each group of digits in
formatted monetary quantities
The operand for the mon_grouping keyword consists of a sequence of
semicolon-separated integers. Each integer specifies the number of
digits in a group. The initial integer defines the size of the group
immediately to the left of the decimal delimiter. The subsequent
integers define succeeding groups to the left of the previous group.
If the last integer is not -1, grouping for any remaining digits is
performed using that that integer. If the last integer is -1, no
further grouping is performed.
The following is an example of the interpretation of the mon_grouping
statement. Assuming the value to be formatted is 123456789 and the
operand for the mon_thousands_sep keyword is ' (single quotation mark),
the following results occur:
mon_grouping
Formatted Value
3;-1 123456'789
3 123'456'789
3;2;-1 1234'56'789
3;2 12'34'56'789
positive_sign
Specifies the string used to indicate a nonnegative-valued formatted
monetary quantity
negative_sign
Specifies the string used to indicate a negative-valued formatted
monetary quantity
int_frac_digits
Specifies an integer value representing the number of fractional digits
(those after the decimal delimiter) to be displayed in a formatted
monetary quantity using the int_curr_symbol value
frac_digits
Specifies an integer value representing the number of fractional digits
(those after the decimal delimiter) to be displayed in a formatted
monetary quantity using the currency_symbol value
p_cs_precedes
Specifies an integer value indicating whether the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string precedes or follows the value for a
nonnegative-formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that the currency symbol follows the monetary
quantity
1 Indicates that the currency symbol precedes the monetary
quantity
p_sep_by_space
Specifies an integer value indicating whether the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string is separated by a space from a nonnegative-
formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that no space separates the currency symbol from the
monetary quantity
1 Indicates that a space separates the currency symbol from the
monetary quantity
2 Indicates that a space separates the currency symbol and the
positive_sign string, if adjacent
n_cs_precedes
Specifies an integer value indicating whether the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string precedes or follows the value for a negative-
formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that the currency symbol follows the monetary quantity
1 Indicates that the currency symbol precedes the monetary quantity
n_sep_by_space
Specifies an integer value indicating whether the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string is separated by a space from a negative-
formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that no space separates the currency symbol from the
monetary quantity
1 Indicates that a space separates the currency symbol from the
monetary quantity
2 Indicates that a space separates the currency symbol and the
negative_sign string, if adjacent
p_sign_posn
Specifies an integer value indicating the positioning of the
positive_sign string for a nonnegative-formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that a left_parenthesis and right_parenthesis symbol
enclose both the monetary quantity and the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string
1 Indicates that the positive_sign string precedes the quantity and
the int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
2 Indicates that the positive_sign string follows the quantity and
the int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
3 Indicates that the positive_sign string immediately precedes the
int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
4 Indicates that the positive_sign string immediately follows the
int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
n_sign_posn
Specifies an integer value indicating the positioning of the
negative_sign string for a negative-formatted monetary quantity
The following integer values are recognized:
0 Indicates that a left_parenthesis and right_parenthesis symbol
enclose both the monetary quantity and the int_curr_symbol or
currency_symbol string
1 Indicates that the negative_sign string precedes the quantity and
the int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
2 Indicates that the negative_sign string follows the quantity and
the int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
3 Indicates that the negative_sign string immediately precedes the
int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
4 Indicates that the negative_sign string immediately follows the
int_curr_symbol or currency_symbol string
debit_sign
Specifies the string used for the debit symbol (DB) to indicate a
negative-formatted monetary quantity
The debit_sign keyword is an extension to the X/Open Portability Guide
and may not be portable to all systems that conform to that standard.
credit_sign
Specifies the string used for the credit symbol (CR) to indicate a
nonnegative-formatted monetary quantity The credit_sign keyword is an
extension to the X/Open Portability Guide and may not be portable to
all systems that conform to that standard.
left_parenthesis
Specifies the character, equivalent to a ( (left parenthesis), used by
the p_sign_posn and n_sign_posn statements to enclose a monetary
quantity and currency symbol
The left_parenthesis keyword is an extension to the X/Open Portability
Guide and may not be portable to all systems that conform to that
standard.
right_parenthesis
Specifies the character, equivalent to a ) (right parenthesis), used by
the p_sign_posn and n_sign_posn statements to enclose a monetary
quantity and currency symbol
The right_parenthesis keyword is an extension to the X/Open Portability
Guide and may not be portable to all systems that conform to that
standard.
A unique customized monetary format can be produced by changing the value
of a single statement. For example, the following table shows the results
of using all combinations of defined values for the p_cs_precedes,
p_sep_by_space, and p_sign_posn statements:
___________________________________________________________________
p_sep_by_space = 2 1 0
___________________________________________________________________
p_cs_precedes = 1 p_sign_posn = 0 ($1.25) ($ 1.25)
($1.25)
p_sign_posn = 1 + $1.25 +$ 1.25 +$1.25
p_sign_posn = 2 $1.25 + $ 1.25+ $1.25+
p_sign_posn = 3 + $1.25 +$ 1.25 +$1.25
p_sign_posn = 4 $ +1.25 $+ 1.25 $+1.25
p_cs_precedes = 0 p_sign_posn = 0 (1.25$) (1.25 $)
(1.25$)
p_sign_posn = 1 +1.25 $ +1.25 $ +1.25$
p_sign_posn = 2 1.25$ + 1.25 $+ 1.25$+
p_sign_posn = 3 1.25+ $ 1.25 +$ 1.25+$
p_sign_posn = 4 1.25$ + 1.25 $+ 1.25$+
___________________________________________________________________
The following is an example of a possible LC_MONETARY category in a locale
definition source file:
LC_MONETARY
#
int_curr_symbol "<U><S><D>"
currency_symbol "<dollar-sign>"
mon_decimal_point "<period>"
mon_thousands_sep "<comma>"
mon_grouping <3>
positive_sign "<plus-sign>"
negative_sign "<hyphen>"
int_frac_digits <2>
frac_digits <2>
p_cs_precedes <1>
p_sep_by_space <2>
n_cs_precedes <1>
n_sep_by_space <2>
p_sign_posn <3>
n_sign_posn <3>
debit_sign "<D><B>"
credit_sign "<C><R>"
left_parenthesis "<left-parenthesis>"
right_parenthesis "<right-parenthesis>"
#
END LC_MONETARY
The LC_NUMERIC Category
The LC_NUMERIC category of a locale definition source file defines rules
and symbols for formatting nonmonetary numeric information. This category
begins with an LC_NUMERIC category header and terminates with an END
LC_NUMERIC category trailer.
All operands for the LC_NUMERIC category keywords are defined as string or
integer values. String values are bounded by " " (double quotes). All
values are separated from the keyword they define by one or more blank
characters (spaces or tabs). Two adjacent double quote characters ("")
indicate an undefined string value. A -1 (negative one) indicates an
undefined integer value.
The following keywords are recognized in the LC_NUMERIC category:
copy
Specifies the name of an existing locale to be used as the definition
of this category
If you include a copy statement, no other keyword will be specified.
decimal_point
Specifies the decimal delimiter string used to format nonmonetary
numeric quantities
This keyword cannot be omitted and cannot be set to the undefined
string value.
thousands_sep
Specifies the string separator used for grouping digits to the left of
the decimal delimiter in formatted nonmonetary numeric quantities
grouping
Defines the size of each group of digits in formatted monetary
quantities
The operand for the grouping keyword consists of a sequence of
semicolon-separated integers. Each integer specifies the number of
digits in a group. The initial integer defines the size of the group
immediately to the left of the decimal delimiter. The subsequent
integers define succeeding groups to the left of the previous group.
Grouping is performed for each integer specified for the grouping
keyword. If the last integer is not -1, the size of the last integer
is repeatedly used to group any remaining digits. If the last integer
is -1, no more grouping is performed.
The following is an example of the interpretation of the grouping
statement. Assuming the value to be formatted is 123456789 and the operand
for the thousands_sep keyword is ' (single quote), the following results
occur:
grouping
Formatted Value
3;-1 123456'789
3 123'456'789
3;2;-1 1234'56'789
3;2 12'34'56'789
The following is an example of a possible LC_NUMERIC category listed in a
locale definition source file:
LC_NUMERIC
#
decimal_point "<period>"
thousands_sep "<comma>"
grouping <3>
#
END LC_NUMERIC
The LC_TIME Category
The LC_TIME category of a locale definition source file defines rules and
symbols for formatting time and date information. This category begins
with an LC_TIME category header and terminates with an END LC_TIME category
trailer.
All operands for the LC_TIME category keywords are defined as string or
integer values. String values are bounded by " " (double quotes). All
values are separated from the keyword they define by one or more blank
characters (spaces or tabs). Two adjacent double quote characters ()
indicate an undefined string value. Field descriptors are used by commands
and subroutines that query the LC_TIME category to represent elements of
time and date formats. The field descriptors used by commands and
subroutines that query the LC_TIME category for time formatting are
described in this section, immediately following the descriptions of valid
keywords.
The following keywords are recognized in the LC_TIME category:
copy
Specifies the name of an existing locale to be used as the definition
of this category
If you include a copy statement, no other keyword will be specified.
abday
Defines the abbreviated weekday names corresponding to the %a field
descriptor
Recognized values consist of 7 semicolon-separated strings. The first
string corresponds to the abbreviated name for the first day of the
week (for example, Sun), the second to the abbreviated name for the
second day of the week, and so on.
day Defines the full spelling of the weekday names corresponding to the %A
field descriptor
Recognized values consist of 7 semicolon-separated strings. The first
string corresponds to the full spelling of the name of the first day of
the week (for example, Sunday), the second to the name of the second
day of the week, and so on.
abmon
Defines the abbreviated month names corresponding to the %b field
descriptor
Recognized values consist of 12 semicolon-separated strings. The first
string corresponds to the abbreviated name for the first month of the
year (for example, Jan), the second to the abbreviated name for the
second month of the year, and so on.
mon Defines the full spelling of the month names corresponding to the %B
field descriptor
Recognized values consist of 12 semicolon-separated strings. The first
string corresponds to the full spelling of the name for the first
month of the year (for example, January), the second to the full
spelling of the name for the second month of the year, and so on.
d_t_fmt
Defines the string used for the standard date-and-time format
corresponding to the %c field descriptor
The string can contain any combination of characters and field
descriptors.
d_fmt
Defines the string used for the standard date format corresponding to
the %x field descriptor
The string can contain any combination of characters and field
descriptors.
t_fmt
Defines the string used for the standard time format corresponding to
the %X field descriptor
The string can contain any combination of characters and field
descriptors.
am_pm
Defines the strings used to represent a.m. (before noon) and p.m.
(after noon) corresponding to the %p field descriptor
Recognized values consist of two semicolon-separated strings. The
first string corresponds to the a.m. designation, the last string to
the p.m. designation.
t_fmt_ampm
Defines the string used for the standard 12-hour time format that
includes an am_pm value (%p field descriptor)
This statement corresponds to the %r field descriptor. The string can
contain any combination of characters and field descriptors. If the
string is empty, the 12-hour format is not supported by the locale.
era Defines how the years are counted and displayed for each era in a
locale, corresponding to the %E field descriptor modifier
For each era, there must be one string in the following format:
direction:offset:start_date:end_date:name:format
The variables for the era string format are defined as follows:
direction
Specifies a - (minus) or + (plus) character
The - character indicates that years count in the negative
direction when moving from the start date to the end date. The
+ character indicates that years count in the positive
direction when moving from the start date to the end date.
offset Specifies a number representing the first year of the era
start_date
Specifies the starting date of the era in yyyy/mm/dd format,
where yyyy, mm, and dd are the year, month, and day,
respectively, on the Gregorian calendar
Years prior to the year AD 1 are represented as negative
numbers. For example, an era beginning March 5th in the year
100 BC would be represented as -100/03/05.
end_date
Specifies the ending date of the era in the same form used for
the start_date variable or one of the two special values -* or
+*. A -* value indicates that the ending date of the era
extends backward to the beginning of time
A +* value indicates that the ending date of the era extends
forward to the end of time. Therefore, the ending date can be
chronologically before or after the starting date of the era.
For example, the strings for the Christian eras AD and BC would
be entered as follows:
+:0:0000/01/01:+*:AD:%o %N
+:1:-0001/12/31:-*:BC:%o %N
name Specifies a string representing the name of the era that is
substituted for the %N field descriptor
format Specifies a strftime() format string to use when formatting the
%EY field descriptor
This string can contain any strftime() format control
characters (except %EY) and locale-dependent multibyte
characters.
An era value consists of one string (enclosed in quotes) for each era.
If more than one era is specified, each era string is separated by a ;
(semicolon).
era_year
Defines the string used to represent the year in alternate-era format
corresponding to the %Ey field descriptor
The string can contain any combination of characters and field
descriptors.
era_d_fmt
Defines the string used to represent the date in alternate-era format
corresponding to the %Ex field descriptor
The string can contain any combination of characters and field
descriptors.
era_t_fmt
Defines the locale's alternative time format, as represented by the %EX
field descriptor for strftime()
era_d_t_fmt
Defines the locale's alternative date-and-time format, as represented
by the %Ec field descriptor for strftime()
alt_digits
Defines alternate strings for digits corresponding to the %O field
descriptor
Recognized values consist of a group of semicolon-separated strings.
The first string represents the alternate string for 0 (zero), the
second string represents the alternate string for 1, and so on. A
maximum of 100 alternate strings can be specified.
m_d_recent
Defines the string used to print out the month/date/time format for
some commands (ls, find, who, ar)
This format corresponds to the "%b %e %H:%M" format for the POSIX
locale. (Optional) This format is an extension to the X/Open
Portability Guide and may not be supported on all systems that conform
to that standard.
m_d_old
Defines the string used to print out the month/date/year format for
some commands (ls, find, who, ar)
This format corresponds to the "%b %e %Y" format for the POSIX locale.
(Optional) This format is an extension to the X/Open Portability Guide
and may not be supported on all systems that conform to that standard.
The LC_TIME locale definition source file uses field descriptors to
represent elements of time and date formats. Combinations of these field
descriptors create other field descriptors or create time and date format
strings. When used in format strings that contain field descriptors and
other characters, field descriptors are replaced by their current values.
All other characters are copied without change. The following field
descriptors are used by commands and subroutines that query the LC_TIME
category for time formatting:
%a Represents the abbreviated weekday name (for example, Sun) defined by
the abday statement
%A Represents the full weekday name (for example, Sunday) defined by the
day statement
%b Represents the abbreviated month name (for example, Jan) defined by the
abmon statement
%B Represents the full month name (for example, January) defined by the
month statement
%c Represents the date-and-time format defined by the d_t_fmt statement
%C Represents the century as a decimal number (00 to 99)
%d Represents the day of the month as a decimal number (01 to 31)
%D Represents the date in %m/%d/%y format (for example, 01/31/91)
%e Represents the day of the month as a decimal number (1 to 31)
The %e field descriptor uses a 2-digit field. If the day of the month
is not a 2-digit number, the leading digit is filled with a space
character.
%Ec Specifies the locale's alternate appropriate date-and-time
representation
%EC Specifies the name of the base year (period) in the locale's alternate
representation
%Ex Specifies the locale's alternate date representation
%Ey Specifies the offset from %EC (year only) in the locale's alternate
representation
%EY Specifies the full alternate year representation
%h Represents the abbreviated month name (for example, Jan) defined by the
abmon statement
This field descriptor is a synonym for the %b field descriptor
%H Represents the 24-hour clock hour as a decimal number (00 to 23)
%I Represents the 12-hour clock hour as a decimal number (01 to 12)
%j Represents the day of the year as a decimal number (001 to 366)
%m Represents the month of the year as a decimal number (01 to 12)
%M Represents the minutes of the hour as a decimal number (00 to 59)
%n Specifies a newline character
%N Represents the alternate era name
%o Represents the alternate era year
%Od Specifies the day of the month by using the locale's alternate numeric
symbols
%Oe Specifies the day of the month by using the locale's alternate numeric
symbols
%OH Specifies the hour (24-hour clock) by using the locale's alternate
numeric symbols
%OI Specifies the hour (12-hour clock) by using the locale's alternate
numeric symbols
%Om Specifies the month by using the locale's alternate numeric symbols
%OM Specifies the minutes by using the locale's alternate numeric symbols
%OS Specifies the seconds by using the locale's alternate numeric symbols
%OU Specifies the week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the
week) by using the locale's alternate numeric symbols
%Ow Specifies the weekday as a number in the locale's alternate
representation (Sunday = 0)
%OW Specifies the week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the
week) by using the locale's alternate numeric symbols
%Oy Specifies the year (offset from %C) in alternate representation
%p Represents the a.m. or p.m. string defined by the am_pm statement
%r Represents the 12-hour clock time with a.m./p.m. notation as defined by
the t_fmt_ampm statement
%S Represents the seconds of the minute as a decimal number (00 to 59)
%t Specifies a tab character
%T Represents 24-hour clock time in the format %H:%M:%S (for example,
16:55:15)
%U Represents the week of the year as a decimal number (00 to 53)
Sunday, or its equivalent as defined by the day statement, is the first
day of the week for calculating the value of this field descriptor.
%w Represents the day of the week as a decimal number (0 to 6)
Sunday, or its equivalent as defined by the day statement, is 0 (zero)
for calculating the value of this field descriptor.
%W Represents the week of the year as a decimal number (00 to 53)
Monday, or its equivalent as defined by the day statement, is the first
day of the week for calculating the value of this field descriptor.
%x Represents the date format defined by the d_fmt statement
%X Represents the time format defined by the t_fmt statement
%y Represents the year of the century (00 to 99)
%Y Represents the year as a decimal number (for example, 1989)
%Z Represents the time zone name, if one can be determined (for example,
EST)
No characters are displayed if a time zone cannot be determined.
%% Specifies a % (percent sign) character
The following is an example of a possible LC_TIME category listed in a
locale definition source file:
LC_TIME
#
#Abbreviated weekday names (%a)
abday "<S><u><n>";"<M><o><n>";"<T><u><e>";"<W><e><d>";\
"<T><h><u>";"<F><r><i>";"<S><a><t>"
#Full weekday names (%A)
day "<S><u><n><d><a><y>";"<M><o><n><d><a><y>";\
"<T><u><e><s><d><a><y>";"<W><e><d><n><e><s><d><a><y>";\
<T><h><u><r><s><d><a><y>";"<F><r><i><d><a><y>";\
<S><a><t><u><r><d><a><y>"
#Abbreviated month names (%b)
abmon "<J><a><n>";"<F><e><b>";"<M><a><r>";"<A><p><r>";\
"<M><a><y>";"<J><u><n>";"<J><u><l>";"<A><u><g>";\
<S><e><p>";"<O><c><t>";"<N><o><v>";"<D><e><c>"
#Full month names (%B)
mon "<J><a><n><u><a><r><y>";"<F><e><b><r><u><a><r><y>";\
"<M><a><r><c><h>";"<A><p><r><i><l>";"<M><a><y>";\
<J><u><n><e>";"<J><u><l><y>";"<A><u><g><u><s><t>";\
"<S><e><p><t><e><m><b><e><r>";"<O><c><t><o><b><e><r>";\
<N><o><v><e><m><b><e><r>";"<D><e><c><e><m><b><e><r>"
#Date-and-time format (%c)
#Note that for improved readability, this section uses actual
#characters, rather than symbolic names, and is inconsistent with
#the other sections in this example. This is bad form.
#In practice, symbolic names should be used.
d_t_fmt "%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Y"
#
#Date format (%x)
d_fmt "%m/%d/%y"
#
#Time format (%X)
t_fmt "%H:%M:%S"
#
#Equivalent of AM/PM (%p)
am_pm "<A><M>";"<P><M>"
#
#12-hour time format (%r)
#Note that for improved readability, this section uses actual
#characters, rather than symbolic names, and is inconsistent with
#the other sections in this example. This is bad form.
#In practice, symbolic names should be used.
t_fmt_ampm "%I:%M:%S %p"
#
era "+:0:0000/01/01:+*:AD:%o %N";\
"+:1:-0001/12/31:-*:BC:%o %N"
era_year
era_d_fmt
alt_digits "<0><t><h>";"<1><s><t>";"<2><n><d>";"<3><r><d>";\
"<4><t><h>";"<5><t><h>";"<6><t><h>";"<7><t><h>";\
"<8><t><h>";"<9><t><h>";"<1><0><t><h>"
#
END LC_TIME
FILES
/usr/lib/nls/loc/src/*
Locale definition source files for supported locales.
/usr/lib/nls/loc/charmap/*
Character set description (charmap) source files for supported locales.
/usr/lib/nls/loc/*
Locale binary files.
By default, the setlocale() routine searches for locales in the
/usr/lib/nls/loc directory. The value of the LOCPATH variable, if set,
overrides this search path. Note that the LOCPATH variable is an
extension to the XPG4 standard and may not be supported on all systems
that conform to that standard.
Two types of locales are installed on the system when you install Worldwide
Language Support; Unicode locales and dense code locales.
Unicode locales conform to Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 standards and use
UTF-32 as the wide character encoding. Under UTF-32 wide character
encoding, wchar_t values represent the same characters regardless of locale
and, because Unicode standards prevail, implementation is consistent across
platforms. See Unicode(5) for more information about encoding formats.
Dense code locales use dense code for wide character encoding to minimize
table size (that is, codepoints are assigned consecutively with no empty
positions). Under dense code locales, a wchar_t value for one locale may
not represent the same character in another locale and, thus, is locale
specific. Dense code locales are appropriate for applications that have no
dependencies on the internal process code or, because dense code locales
are slightly more efficient than Unicode locales, require better
performance.
The Unicode locales are installed in /usr/i18n/lib/nls/ucsloc/... Dense
locales are installed in /usr/i18n/lib/nls/loc/... A symbolic link,
/usr/i18n/lib/nls/dloc points to the default locales. For example, the
Japanese locale filename, /usr/lib/nls/loc/ja_JP.eucJP is a symbolic link
to /usr/i18n/lib/nls/dloc/ja_JP.eucJP, where /dloc is a symbolic link to
either /ucsloc for the Unicode version, or /loc for the dense code version,
of the Japanese locale. Keep in mind that the same locale name can refer to
a Unicode locale or a dense code locale, depending on the setting of the
symbolic link. Thus,if running a application in a locale is problematic,
check the symbolic link.
Because Unicode locales use consistent values for characters in wchar_t
form, a link to Unicode locales can increase consistency across locales and
platforms. However, some users may prefer the older, dense code locales
that use proprietary algorithms to convert characters to wchar_t form. To
switch between Unicode and dense code locales, the system administrator, as
root, uses i18nconfig to change the systemwide default or manually changes
the symbolic link (/usr/i18n/lib/nls/dloc) from ./ucsloc to ./loc.
The /usr/lib/nls/loc/src and /usr/lib/nls/loc/charmap directories do not
exist when source files are not provided for installed locales.
See l10n_intro(5) for more information about Unicode locales and dense code
locales.
SEE ALSO
Commands: locale(1), localedef(1), Unicode(5)
Files: charmap(4)
Using International Software
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