Issue 0024: For strtod, what does "C" locale mean?

This issue has been automatically converted from the original issue lists and some formatting may not have been preserved.

Authors: Fred Tydeman, WG14
Date: 1992-12-10
Reference document: X3J11/91-004
Submitted against: C90
Status: Closed
Converted from: dr.htm, dr_024.html

In subclause 7.10.1.4 The strtod function page 151, line 5: What does “"C" locale” mean?

a.

setlocale(LC_ALL,NULL) == "C"

b.

setlocale(LC_NUMERIC,NULL) == "C"

c. &&

d.

||

e. something else.

What does “other than the "C" locale” mean?

a.

setlocale(LC_ALL,NULL) != "C"

b.

setlocale(LC_NUMERIC,NULL) != "Ct

c.

&&

d.

||

e. something else.

Subclause 7.4.1 Locale control, page 107 may help answer the questions.

Comment from WG14 on 1997-09-23:

Response

Subclause 7.4.1.1, page 107, lines 11-17 describe what is affected by each locale portion.

Is it the LC_NUMERIC locale category which affects the implementation-defined behavior of strtod, etc.?

Answer: Yes.

How can one guarantee that strtod functions are in the "C" locale?

Answer: Execute setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, "C") or execute setlocale(LC_ALL, "C") .

What is meant by “other than the "C" locale?” That is, how can one ensure that strtod is not in the "C" locale?

Answer: Successfully execute setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, str) or setlocale(LC_ALL, str) to some implementation-defined string str which specifies a locale that is different from the "C" locale. No universally portable method can be provided, because the functionality is implementation-defined.