MultiByteToWideChar
The MultiByteToWideChar
function maps a character string to a wide-character (Unicode) string. The
character string mapped by this function is not necessarily from a multibyte
character set.
int MultiByteToWideChar(
UINT CodePage, |
// code page |
DWORD dwFlags, |
// character-type
options |
LPCSTR lpMultiByteStr, |
// address of
string to map |
int cchMultiByte, |
// number of
characters in string |
LPWSTR lpWideCharStr, |
// address of
wide-character buffer |
int cchWideChar |
// size of buffer |
); |
|
Parameters
CodePage
Specifies the
code page to be used to perform the conversion. This parameter can be given the
value of any codepage that is installed or available in the system. The
following values may be used to specify one of the system default code pages:
Value |
Meaning |
CP_ACP |
ANSI code
page |
CP_MACCP |
Macintosh
code page |
CP_OEMCP |
OEM code
page |
dwFlags
A set of bit
flags that indicate whether to translate to precomposed or composite wide
characters (if a composite form exists), whether to use glyph characters in
place of control characters, and how to deal with invalid characters. You can
specify a combination of the following flag constants:
Value |
Meaning |
MB_PRECOMPOSED |
Always use
precomposed characters that is,
characters in which a base character and a nonspacing character have a single
character value. This is the default translation option. Cannot be used with
MB_COMPOSITE. |
MB_COMPOSITE |
Always use
composite characters that is,
characters in which a base character and a nonspacing character have
different character values. Cannot be used with MB_PRECOMPOSED. |
MB_ERR_INVALID_CHARS |
If the
function encounters an invalid input character, it fails and GetLastError
returns ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION. |
MB_USEGLYPHCHARS |
Use glyph
characters instead of control characters. |
A composite
character consists of a base character and a nonspacing character, each having
different character values. A precomposed character has a single character
value for a base/non-spacing character combination. In the character ,
the e is the base character and the accent grave mark is the nonspacing
character.
The
function s default behavior is to translate to the precomposed form. If a
precomposed form does not exist, the function attempts to translate to a
composite form.
The flags
MB_PRECOMPOSED and MB_COMPOSITE are mutually exclusive. The MB_USEGLYPHCHARS
flag and the MB_ERR_INVALID_CHARS can be set regardless of the state of the
other flags.
lpMultiByteStr
Points to the
character string to be converted.
cchMultiByte
Specifies the
size in bytes of the string pointed to by the lpMultiByteStr parameter.
If this value is -1, the
string is assumed to be null terminated and the length is calculated
automatically.
lpWideCharStr
Points to a
buffer that receives the translated string.
cchWideChar
Specifies the
size, in wide characters, of the buffer pointed to by the lpWideCharStr
parameter. If this value is zero, the function returns the required buffer
size, in wide characters, and makes no use of the lpWideCharStr buffer.
Return Values
If the function
succeeds, and cchWideChar is nonzero, the return value is the number of
wide characters written to the buffer pointed to by lpWideCharStr.
If the
function succeeds, and cchWideChar is zero, the return value is the
required size, in wide characters, for a buffer that can receive the translated
string.
If the
function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information,
call GetLastError
ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER |
ERROR_INVALID_FLAGS |
ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER |
ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION |
Remarks
The lpMultiByteStr
and lpWideCharStr pointers must not be the same. If they are the same,
the function fails, and GetLastError returns the value
ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER.
The function
fails if MB_ERR_INVALID_CHARS is set and it encounters an invalid character in
the source string. An invalid character
is one that would translate to the default character if MB_ERR_INVALID_CHARS
was not set, but is not the default character in the source string, or when a
lead byte is found in a string and there is no valid trail byte for DBCS
strings. When an invalid character is found, and MB_ERR_INVALID_CHARS is set,
the function returns 0 and sets GetLastError with the error
ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION.
See Also