NAME

       wcstombs - convert a wide-character string to a character string

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       size_t wcstombs(char *restrict s, const wchar_t *restrict pwcs,
              size_t n);

DESCRIPTION

       The wcstombs() function shall convert the sequence of wide-character codes that are in the
       array pointed to by pwcs into a sequence of characters that begins in  the  initial  shift
       state  and  store these characters into the array pointed to by s, stopping if a character
       would exceed the limit of n total bytes or if a null byte is stored.  Each  wide-character
       code  shall  be  converted  as  if  by  a call to wctomb(), except that the shift state of
       wctomb() shall not be affected.

       The behavior of this function shall be affected by the LC_CTYPE category  of  the  current
       locale.

       No  more  than  n  bytes  shall be modified in the array pointed to by s. If copying takes
       place between objects that overlap, the behavior is undefined.    If s is a null  pointer,
       wcstombs()  shall return the length required to convert the entire array regardless of the
       value of n, but no values are stored.

       The wcstombs() function need not be reentrant. A function  that  is  not  required  to  be
       reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

       If  a wide-character code is encountered that does not correspond to a valid character (of
       one or more bytes each), wcstombs() shall return (size_t)-1. Otherwise,  wcstombs()  shall
       return  the  number  of bytes stored in the character array, not including any terminating
       null byte. The array shall not be null-terminated if the value returned is n.

ERRORS

       The wcstombs() function may fail if:

       EILSEQ A wide-character code does not correspond to a valid character.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

RATIONALE

       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       mblen()  ,  mbtowc()  ,  mbstowcs()  ,  wctomb()  ,  the  Base   Definitions   volume   of
       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <stdlib.h>

COPYRIGHT

       Portions  of  this  text  are  reprinted  and  reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
       1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology  --  Portable  Operating  System
       Interface  (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by
       the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and  The  Open  Group.  In  the
       event  of  any  discrepancy  between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard  is  the  referee  document.  The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .