In the C Programming Language, the mbstowcs function converts a multibyte string (as pointed to by s) into a wide character string (as pointed to by pwcs) up to n codes in length.
Syntax
The syntax for the mbstowcs function in the C Language is:
size_t mbstowcs(wchar_t *pwcs, const char *s, size_t n);Parameters or Arguments
pwcs
The array where the converted wide character string will be stored.
s
The multibyte string to convert into a wide character string.
n
The maximum number of codes to store in pwcs.
Note
The mbstowcs function will end the conversion if a null character is encountered at which point it is converted into a code with a value of zero.
Returns
The mbstowcs function returns the number of elements modified (not including the terminating code if applicable). The mbstowcs function will return -1 if it encountered an invalid multibyte character.
Required Header
In the C Language, the required header for the mbstowcs function is:
#include <stdlib.h>Applies To
In the C Language, the mbstowcs function can be used in the following versions:
ANSI/ISO 9899-1990
Similar Functions
Other C functions that are similar to the mbstowcs function:
wcstombs function <stdlib.h>
See Also
Other C functions that are noteworthy when dealing with the mbstowcs function:
mblen function <stdlib.h>
mbtowc function <stdlib.h>
setlocale function <locale.h>
wctomb function <stdlib.h>