Microsoft Windows CE 3.0  

MultiByteToWideChar

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This 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
,
DWORD
dwFlags
,
LPCSTR
lpMultiByteStr
,
int
cbMultiByte
,
LPWSTR
lpWideCharStr
,
int
cchWideChar
);

Parameters

CodePage
[in] Specifies the code page to be used to perform the conversion. This parameter can be given the value of any code page that is installed or available in the system. You can also specify one of the following values:
Value Description
CP_ACP ANSI code page
CP_MACCP Not supported
CP_OEMCP OEM code page
CP_SYMBOL Not supported
CP_THREAD_ACP Not supported
dwFlags
[in] Specifies 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 Description
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 GetLastErrorreturns 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 eis 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
[in] Pointer to the character string to be converted.
cbMultiByte
[in] Specifies the size in bytes of the string pointed to by the lpMultiByteStrparameter. If this value is –1, the string is assumed to be null terminated and the length is calculated automatically.
lpWideCharStr
[out] Pointer to a buffer that receives the translated string.
cchWideChar
[in] Specifies the size, in wide characters, of the buffer pointed to by the lpWideCharStrparameter. If this value is zero, the function returns the required buffer size, in wide characters, and makes no use of the lpWideCharStrbuffer.

Return Values

If cchWideCharis nonzero, the number of wide characters written to the buffer pointed to by lpWideCharStrindicates success. If cchWideCharis zero, the required size, in wide characters, for a buffer that can receive the translated string indicates success. Zero indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError. Possible values for GetLastErrorinclude the following:

  • ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER
  • ERROR_INVALID_FLAGS
  • ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER
  • ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION

    Remarks

    The lpMultiByteStrand lpWideCharStrpointers must not be the same. If they are the same, the function fails, and GetLastErrorreturns 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 GetLastErrorwith the error ERROR_NO_UNICODE_TRANSLATION.

    Requirements

    Runs on Versions Defined in Include Link to
    Windows CE OS 1.01 and later Winnls.h    
    Note   This API is part of the complete Windows CE OS package as provided by Microsoft. The functionality of a particular platform is determined by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and some devices may not support this API.

    See Also

    GetLastError, WideCharToMultiByte