NAME

       VistaIOEncodeAttrValue - encode an attribute value

SYNOPSIS

       VistaIOStringConst VistaIOEncodeAttrValue (dict, repn, value)
              VistaIODictEntry *dict;
              VistaIORepnKind repn;
              type value;

       where  type,  according  to repn, is VistaIOBit, VistaIOUByte, VistaIOSByte, VistaIOShort,
       VistaIOLong, VistaIOFloat, VistaIODouble, VistaIOBoolean, or VistaIOString.

ARGUMENTS

       dict      May specify a dictionary to be used in  translating  the  value  supplied  to  a
                 keyword that should be returned as the encoded value, or it may be NULL

       repn      Specifies the representation of the value to be encoded.

       value     Specifies the value to be encoded.

DESCRIPTION

       VistaIOEncodeAttrValue  takes a value and an optional dictionary, and encodes the value as
       a character string suitable for storage in an attribute list or output to a data file.

       With the dict argument you can provide a dictionary for mapping value to  a  keyword  that
       will be returned as the encoded value (see VistaIOdictionary(3)). For example, if you pass
       a value of 1 and a dictionary that associates the value 1 with the keyword ubyte  (as  the
       dictionaryVistaIORepnDict  does), then the string ubyte will be returned. Dictionaries may
       be used to map both numeric values and strings to keywords. If you supply a dictionary but
       value  is  not mentioned in that dictionary, then value itself will be encoded as a string
       and returned.

RETURN VALUES

       If successful, VistaIOEncodeAttrValue returns a  string  that  is  valid  until  the  next
       VistaIOEncodeAttrValue,  VistaIOSetAttr,  or  VistaIOSetAttrValue  call.  If, on the other
       hand, it fails because repn is not one of the representations supported, it returns NULL

SEE ALSO

       VistaIODecodeAttrValue(3), VistaIOSetAttr(3), VistaIOattribute(3),

DIAGNOSTICS

       ``Can't encode from repn.''
              The  repn  argument  is  not  one   of   VistaIOBitRepn,   VistaIOUByteRepn,   ...,
              VistaIOBooleanRepn, or VistaIOStringRepn.

AUTHOR

       Art Pope <pope@cs.ubc.ca>

       Adaption to vistaio: Gert Wollny <gw.fossdev@gmail.com>