Charset C Reference Documentation
Charset
Current Version: 9.5.0.98
A component/class for converting character data from one encoding to another. This software is unique in that the data required for converting to/from the supported charsets is entirely embedded witin the Chilkat DLL/library. It does not depend on what code pages may or may not be installed on a particular computer. This allows programs to operate correctly regardless of the locale, OS version, or other factors.
Create/Dispose
HCkCharset instance = CkCharset_Create(); // ... CkCharset_Dispose(instance);
Creates an instance of the HCkCharset object and returns a handle ("void *" pointer). The handle is passed in the 1st argument for the functions listed on this page.
Objects created by calling CkCharset_Create must be freed by calling this method. A memory leak occurs if a handle is not disposed by calling this function. Also, any handle returned by a Chilkat "C" function must also be freed by the application by calling the appropriate Dispose method, such as CkCharset_Dispose.
Properties
AltToCharset
void CkCharset_putAltToCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *newVal);
const char *CkCharset_altToCharset(HCkCharset cHandle);
If the ErrorAction property is set to 6, then this property controls how errors are handled. It specifies an alternate "To" charset. When a character in the input data cannot be converted to the target charset, an attempt is made to convert it to the AltToCharset. If that fails, the input character is dropped.
topDebugLogFilePath
void CkCharset_putDebugLogFilePath(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *newVal);
const char *CkCharset_debugLogFilePath(HCkCharset cHandle);
If set to a file path, causes each Chilkat method or property call to automatically append it's LastErrorText to the specified log file. The information is appended such that if a hang or crash occurs, it is possible to see the context in which the problem occurred, as well as a history of all Chilkat calls up to the point of the problem. The VerboseLogging property can be set to provide more detailed information.
This property is typically used for debugging the rare cases where a Chilkat method call hangs or generates an exception that halts program execution (i.e. crashes). A hang or crash should generally never happen. The typical causes of a hang are:
- a timeout related property was set to 0 to explicitly indicate that an infinite timeout is desired,
- the hang is actually a hang within an event callback (i.e. it is a hang within the application code), or
- there is an internal problem (bug) in the Chilkat code that causes the hang.
ErrorAction
void CkCharset_putErrorAction(HCkCharset cHandle, int newVal);
Controls how errors are handled. When a character in the input data cannot be converted to the target charset, the action taken is controlled by this property. The possible settings are: (0) drop the error characters, (1) substitute the data set by the SetErrorBytes or SetErrorString method, (2) convert to a hex-escaped string (&#xXXXX), (3) RESERVED, (4) RESERVED, (5) RESERVED, (6) convert the error character to the AltToCharset instead, if that fails then drop the character, (7) Pass non-convertible characters to the output unchanged.
topFromCharset
void CkCharset_putFromCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *newVal);
const char *CkCharset_fromCharset(HCkCharset cHandle);
Tells the charset converter the charset of the input data for a conversion. Possible values are:
<font size="2" face="MS Sans Serif"> us-ascii unicode (also known as UTF16LE or simply UTF16) unicodefffe (also known as UTF16BE) ebcdic iso-8859-1 iso-8859-2 iso-8859-3 iso-8859-4 iso-8859-5 iso-8859-6 iso-8859-7 iso-8859-8 iso-8859-9 iso-8859-13 iso-8859-15 windows-874 windows-1250 windows-1251 windows-1252 windows-1253 windows-1254 windows-1255 windows-1256 windows-1257 windows-1258 utf-7 utf-8 utf-32 utf-32be shift_jis gb2312 ks_c_5601-1987 big5 iso-2022-jp iso-2022-kr euc-jp euc-kr macintosh x-mac-japanese x-mac-chinesetrad x-mac-korean x-mac-arabic x-mac-hebrew x-mac-greek x-mac-cyrillic x-mac-chinesesimp x-mac-romanian x-mac-ukrainian x-mac-thai x-mac-ce x-mac-icelandic x-mac-turkish x-mac-croatian asmo-708 dos-720 dos-862 ibm01140 ibm01141 ibm01142 ibm01143 ibm01144 ibm01145 ibm01146 ibm01147 ibm01148 ibm01149 ibm037 ibm437 ibm500 ibm737 ibm775 ibm850 ibm852 ibm855 ibm857 ibm00858 ibm860 ibm861 ibm863 ibm864 ibm865 cp866 ibm869 ibm870 cp875 koi8-r koi8-u </font>top
LastErrorHtml
const char *CkCharset_lastErrorHtml(HCkCharset cHandle);
Provides information in HTML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.
topLastErrorText
const char *CkCharset_lastErrorText(HCkCharset cHandle);
Provides information in plain-text format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.
LastErrorXml
const char *CkCharset_lastErrorXml(HCkCharset cHandle);
Provides information in XML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.
topLastInputAsHex
const char *CkCharset_lastInputAsHex(HCkCharset cHandle);
If SaveLast is set to true, then the input and output of a conversion is saved to allow the exact bytes that are sent to the converter to be seen (for debugging purposes). This property shows the last input data in a hexidecimalized string.
topLastInputAsQP
const char *CkCharset_lastInputAsQP(HCkCharset cHandle);
If SaveLast is set to true, then the input and output of a conversion is saved to allow the exact bytes that are sent to the converter to be seen (for debugging purposes). This property shows the last input data in a quoted-printable string.
topLastMethodSuccess
void CkCharset_putLastMethodSuccess(HCkCharset cHandle, BOOL newVal);
Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of TRUE indicates success, a value of FALSE indicates failure. This property is automatically set for method calls. It is not modified by property accesses. The property is automatically set to indicate success for the following types of method calls:
- Any method that returns a string.
- Any method returning a Chilkat object, binary bytes, or a date/time.
- Any method returning a standard boolean status value where success = TRUE and failure = FALSE.
- Any method returning an integer where failure is defined by a return value less than zero.
Note: Methods that do not fit the above requirements will always set this property equal to TRUE. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.
topLastOutputAsHex
const char *CkCharset_lastOutputAsHex(HCkCharset cHandle);
If SaveLast is set to true, then the input and output of a conversion is saved to allow the exact bytes that are sent to the converter to be seen (for debugging purposes). This property shows the last output data in a hexidecimalized string.
topLastOutputAsQP
const char *CkCharset_lastOutputAsQP(HCkCharset cHandle);
If SaveLast is set to true, then the input and output of a conversion is saved to allow the exact bytes that are sent to the converter to be seen (for debugging purposes). This property shows the last output data in a quoted-printable string.
topSaveLast
void CkCharset_putSaveLast(HCkCharset cHandle, BOOL newVal);
Tells the component to keep the input/output byte data in memory after a conversion is complete so the data can be examined via the LastInputAsHex/QP and LastOutputAsHex/QP properties. (for debugging purposes)
topToCharset
void CkCharset_putToCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *newVal);
const char *CkCharset_toCharset(HCkCharset cHandle);
Tells the charset converter the target charset for a conversion. Possible values are:
<font size="2" face="MS Sans Serif"> us-ascii unicode (also known as UTF16LE or simply UTF16) unicodefffe (also known as UTF16BE) ebcdic iso-8859-1 iso-8859-2 iso-8859-3 iso-8859-4 iso-8859-5 iso-8859-6 iso-8859-7 iso-8859-8 iso-8859-9 iso-8859-13 iso-8859-15 windows-874 windows-1250 windows-1251 windows-1252 windows-1253 windows-1254 windows-1255 windows-1256 windows-1257 windows-1258 utf-7 utf-8 utf-32 utf-32be shift_jis gb2312 ks_c_5601-1987 big5 iso-2022-jp iso-2022-kr euc-jp euc-kr macintosh x-mac-japanese x-mac-chinesetrad x-mac-korean x-mac-arabic x-mac-hebrew x-mac-greek x-mac-cyrillic x-mac-chinesesimp x-mac-romanian x-mac-ukrainian x-mac-thai x-mac-ce x-mac-icelandic x-mac-turkish x-mac-croatian asmo-708 dos-720 dos-862 ibm01140 ibm01141 ibm01142 ibm01143 ibm01144 ibm01145 ibm01146 ibm01147 ibm01148 ibm01149 ibm037 ibm437 ibm500 ibm737 ibm775 ibm850 ibm852 ibm855 ibm857 ibm00858 ibm860 ibm861 ibm863 ibm864 ibm865 cp866 ibm869 ibm870 cp875 koi8-r koi8-u </font>top
Utf8
void CkCharset_putUtf8(HCkCharset cHandle, BOOL newVal);
When set to TRUE, all "const char *" arguments are interpreted as utf-8 strings. If set to FALSE (the default), then "const char *" arguments are interpreted as ANSI strings. Also, when set to TRUE, and Chilkat method returning a "const char *" is returning the utf-8 representation. If set to FALSE, all "const char *" return values are ANSI strings.
topVerboseLogging
void CkCharset_putVerboseLogging(HCkCharset cHandle, BOOL newVal);
If set to TRUE, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is FALSE. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
topVersion
const char *CkCharset_version(HCkCharset cHandle);
Methods
CharsetToCodePage
Converts a charset name to a code page number. For example, "iso-8859-1" converts to code page 28591.
topCodePageToCharset
const char *CkCharset_codePageToCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, int codePage);
Converts a code page number to a charset name. For example, 65001 converts to "utf-8".
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertData
Converts character data from one charset to another. Before calling ConvertData, the FromCharset and ToCharset properties must be set to the source and destination charset names, such as "iso-8859-1" or "Shift_JIS".
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertFile
Converts a file from one character encoding to another. The FromCharset and ToCharset properties specify the source and destination character encodings. If the ToCharset is utf-16 or utf-8, then the preamble (also known as BOM) is included in the output. (Call ConvertFileNoPreamble to suppress the output of the BOM.)
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
ConvertFileNoPreamble
Converts a file from one character encoding to another. The FromCharset and ToCharset properties specify the source and destination character encodings. No preamble (also known as BOM) is included in the output.
topConvertFromUnicode
Converts Unicode (utf-16) text to the charset specified by the ToCharset property.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertFromUtf16
Converts utf-16 text to the charset specified by the ToCharset property.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertHtml
Converts HTML text from one character encoding to another. The FromCharset and ToCharset properties must be set prior to calling this method. This method automatically edits the META tag within the HTML that indicates the charset.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertHtmlFile
Converts an HTML file from one character encoding to another. The ToCharset properties must be set prior to calling this method. If the FromCharset is not set, it is obtained from the HTML META tag that indicates the charset. This method automatically edits the META tag within the HTML that indicates the charset.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertToUnicode
const char *CkCharset_convertToUnicode(HCkCharset cHandle, HCkByteData inData);
Converts multibyte character data to a Unicode string. The FromCharset property should be set before calling this method.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topConvertToUtf16
EntityEncodeDec
const char *CkCharset_entityEncodeDec(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *str);
Converts non-US-ASCII characters to Unicode decimal entities (&#xxxxx;)
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topEntityEncodeHex
const char *CkCharset_entityEncodeHex(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *str);
Converts non-US-ASCII characters to Unicode hex entities (&#xXXXX;)
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topGetHtmlCharset
const char *CkCharset_getHtmlCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, HCkByteData inData);
Examines HTML text and extracts the charset name specified by the META tag, if present.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topGetHtmlFileCharset
const char *CkCharset_getHtmlFileCharset(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *htmlFilePath);
Examines an HTML file and extracts the charset name specified by the META tag, if present.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topHtmlDecodeToStr
const char *CkCharset_htmlDecodeToStr(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *inStr);
HtmlEntityDecode
Decodes HTML entities. See http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html for information on HTML entities. Examples of HTML entities are < , å , å , 水 , Í , etc.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topHtmlEntityDecodeFile
Decodes HTML entities in a file and creates a new HTML file with the entities decoded. See http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/sgml/entities.html for information on HTML entities. Examples of HTML entities are < , å , å , 水 , Í , etc.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topLowerCase
const char *CkCharset_lowerCase(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *inStr);
ReadFile
Convenience method for reading the entire contents of a file into a byte array.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topReadFileToString
const char *CkCharset_readFileToString(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *path, const char *charset);
Reads a text file and returns the text converted to a Unicode string. The filename is specified by the first method argument, and the charset of the text data is specified by the 2nd method argument.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topSetErrorBytes
If the ErrorAction property is set to 1, the bytes passed to this method are used as the result for any characters that cannot be converted during a conversion.
topSetErrorString
If the ErrorAction property is set to 1, the string passed to this method is used as the result for any characters that cannot be converted during a conversion.
topUnlockComponent
Unlocks the component. This method must be called once at the beginning of the program. Properties can be get/set without unlocking, but methods will not work unless the component has been unlocked.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
UpperCase
const char *CkCharset_upperCase(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *inStr);
UrlDecodeStr
const char *CkCharset_urlDecodeStr(HCkCharset cHandle, const char *inStr);
URL decodes a string.
This method assumes the ANSI byte representation was used for encoding. For example, the letter É, where the ANSI charset is Latin-1, would appear as "%C9" when URL encoded. (As opposed to the utf-8 encoding where É is represented by 2 bytes 0xC3, 0x89 and would appear as "%C3%89" when URl encoded. This method assumes ANSI encoding.
You can use encoding/decoding methods in Chilkat's StringBuilder class to specify the charset from which to decode or encode.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
topVerifyData
Returns true if the byte data conforms to the charset passed in the first argument.
topVerifyFile
Returns true if the file contains character data that conforms to the charset passed in the 1st argument.
topWriteFile
Convenience method for saving an entire byte array to a file.
topWriteStringToFile
Converts a Unicode string to a multibyte charset and writes the multibyte text data to a file. The destination charset is specified in the 2nd method argument.
Returns TRUE for success, FALSE for failure.
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