These members of the struct lconv structure specify how to print
the symbol to identify a monetary value--the international analog of
`$' for US dollars.
Each country has two standard currency symbols. The local currency symbol is used commonly within the country, while the international currency symbol is used internationally to refer to that country's currency when it is necessary to indicate the country unambiguously.
For example, many countries use the dollar as their monetary unit, and when dealing with international currencies it's important to specify that one is dealing with (say) Canadian dollars instead of U.S. dollars or Australian dollars. But when the context is known to be Canada, there is no need to make this explicit--dollar amounts are implicitly assumed to be in Canadian dollars.
char *currency_symbol
""
(the empty string), meaning "unspecified". The ISO standard doesn't
say what to do when you find this value; we recommend you simply print
the empty string as you would print any other string found in the
appropriate member.
char *int_curr_symbol
int_curr_symbol should normally consist of a
three-letter abbreviation determined by the international standard
ISO 4217 Codes for the Representation of Currency and Funds,
followed by a one-character separator (often a space).
In the standard `C' locale, this member has a value of ""
(the empty string), meaning "unspecified". We recommend you simply
print the empty string as you would print any other string found in the
appropriate member.
char p_cs_precedes
char n_cs_precedes
1 if the currency_symbol string should
precede the value of a monetary amount, or 0 if the string should
follow the value. The p_cs_precedes member applies to positive
amounts (or zero), and the n_cs_precedes member applies to
negative amounts.
In the standard `C' locale, both of these members have a value of
CHAR_MAX, meaning "unspecified". The ISO standard doesn't say
what to do when you find this value, but we recommend printing the
currency symbol before the amount. That's right for most countries.
In other words, treat all nonzero values alike in these members.
The POSIX standard says that these two members apply to the
int_curr_symbol as well as the currency_symbol. The ISO
C standard seems to imply that they should apply only to the
currency_symbol---so the int_curr_symbol should always
precede the amount.
We can only guess which of these (if either) matches the usual
conventions for printing international currency symbols. Our guess is
that they should always precede the amount. If we find out a reliable
answer, we will put it here.
char p_sep_by_space
char n_sep_by_space
1 if a space should appear between the
currency_symbol string and the amount, or 0 if no space
should appear. The p_sep_by_space member applies to positive
amounts (or zero), and the n_sep_by_space member applies to
negative amounts.
In the standard `C' locale, both of these members have a value of
CHAR_MAX, meaning "unspecified". The ISO standard doesn't say
what you should do when you find this value; we suggest you treat it as
one (print a space). In other words, treat all nonzero values alike in
these members.
These members apply only to currency_symbol. When you use
int_curr_symbol, you never print an additional space, because
int_curr_symbol itself contains the appropriate separator.
The POSIX standard says that these two members apply to the
int_curr_symbol as well as the currency_symbol. But an
example in the ISO C standard clearly implies that they should apply
only to the currency_symbol---that the int_curr_symbol
contains any appropriate separator, so you should never print an
additional space.
Based on what we know now, we recommend you ignore these members when
printing international currency symbols, and print no extra space.
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