Parameters

CodePage
Specifies the code page to check. Each code page is identified by a unique number.

Return Values
If the code page is valid, the return value is nonzero.
If the code page is not valid, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

A code page is considered valid only if it is installed in the system.

The GetOEMCP function retrieves the current OEM code-page identifier for the system. (OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer.)

UINT GetOEMCP(VOID)

Parameters
This function has no parameters.

Locale Information
The following are locale constants.

LOCALE_FONTSIGNATURE

Windows NT 4.0 or later: A bit pattern used to determine the relationship between character coverage needed to support the locale and font contents.

LOCALE_ICALENDARTYPE

Current calendar type. This type can be one of these values:

LOCALE_ICENTURY

Specifier for full 4-digit century. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_ICOUNTRY

Country code, based on international phone codes, also referred to as IBM country codes. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_ICURRDIGITS

Number of fractional digits for the local monetary format. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is three.

LOCALE_ICURRENCY

Positive currency mode. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The mode can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IDATE

Short date format-ordering specifier. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IDAYLZERO

Specifier for leading zeros in day fields. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IDEFAULTANSICODEPAGE

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) code page associated with this locale. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTCODEPAGE

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) code page associated with the country. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTCOUNTRY

Country code for the principal country in this locale. This is provided so that partially specified locales can be completed with default values. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTEBCDICCODEPAGE

Windows NT 5.0 or later: Default EBCDIC code page associated with the locale. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTLANGUAGE

Language identifier for the principal language spoken in this locale. This is provided so partially specified locales can be completed with default values. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is five.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTMACCODEPAGE

Default Macintosh code page associated with the locale.

LOCALE_IDEFAULTOEMCODEPAGE

Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) code page associated with the locale. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is six.

LOCALE_IDIGITS

Number of fractional digits. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is three.

LOCALE_IDIGITSUBSTITUTION

Windows NT 5.0 or later: Determines the shape of the digits. The specifier can be one of these values:

LOCALE_IFIRSTDAYOFWEEK

Specifier for the first day in a week. The specifier can be one of these values:

LOCALE_IFIRSTWEEKOFYEAR

Specifier for the first week of the year. The specifier can be one of these values:

LOCALE_IINTLCURRDIGITS

Number of fractional digits for the international monetary format. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is three.

LOCALE_ILANGUAGE

Language identifier indicating the language. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is five.

LOCALE_ILDATE

Long date format-ordering specifier. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_ILZERO

Specifier for leading zeros in decimal fields. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IMEASURE

System of measurement. This value is zero if the metric system (Systéme International d'Unités, or S.I.) is used, and 1 if the U.S. system is used. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_IMONLZERO

Specifier for leading zeros in month fields. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_INEGCURR

Negative currency mode. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is three. The mode can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_INEGNUMBER

Negative number mode. The mode can be one of these values:

LOCALE_INEGSEPBYSPACE

Separation of monetary symbol in a negative monetary value. This value is 1 if the monetary symbol is separated by a space from the negative amount, zero if it is not. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_INEGSIGNPOSN

Formatting index for negative values. This index uses the same values as LOCALE_IPOSSIGNPOSN. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_INEGSYMPRECEDES

Position of monetary symbol in a negative monetary value. This value is 1 if the monetary symbol precedes the negative amount, zero if it follows it. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_IOPTIONALCALENDAR

Additional calendar types. This can be a zero-separated list of one or more of these calendars type values:

LOCALE_IPAPERSIZE

Windows NT 5.0 or later: Default paper size associated with the locale. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IPOSSEPBYSPACE

Separation of monetary symbol in a positive monetary value. This value is 1 if the monetary symbol is separated by a space from a positive amount, zero if it is not. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_IPOSSIGNPOSN

Formatting index for positive values. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The index can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_IPOSSYMPRECEDES

Position of monetary symbol in a positive monetary value this value is 1 if the monetary symbol precedes the positive amount, zero if it follows it. The maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two.

LOCALE_ITIME

Time format specifier the maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_ITIMEMARKPOSN

Specifier indicating whether the time marker string (AM or PM) preceeds or follows the time string the registry value is iTimePrefix for compatibility with previous Asian versions of Windows. The specifier can take one of the following values:

LOCALE_ITLZERO

Specifier for leading zeros in time fields the maximum number of characters allowed for this string is two. The specifier can be one of the following values:

LOCALE_NOUSEROVERRIDE

Can be combined with other LOCALE values to bypass any user override and return the system default value for the given locale information.

LOCALE_RETURN_NUMBER

Windows NT 4.0 or later: This value may be ORed with any specifier beginning with LOCALE_I to return the value as a number instead of as a string. The buffer to receive the value must be at least the length of a DWORD.

LOCALE_S1159
String for the AM designator.
LOCALE_S2359
String for the PM designator.
LOCALE_SABBREVCTRYNAME
Abbreviated name of the country from the ISO Standard 3166
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME1
Native abbreviated name for Monday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME2
Native abbreviated name for Tuesday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME3
Native abbreviated name for Wednesday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME4
Native abbreviated name for Thursday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME5
Native abbreviated name for Friday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME6
Native abbreviated name for Saturday.
LOCALE_SABBREVDAYNAME7
Native abbreviated name for Sunday.
LOCALE_SABBREVLANGNAME
Abbreviated name of the language, created by taking the two-letter language abbreviation from the ISO Standard 639 and adding a third letter, as appropriate, to indicate the sublanguage
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME1
Native abbreviated name for January.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME2
Native abbreviated name for February.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME3
Native abbreviated name for March.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME4
Native abbreviated name for April.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME5
Native abbreviated name for May.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME6
Native abbreviated name for June.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME7
Native abbreviated name for July.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME8
Native abbreviated name for August.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME9
Native abbreviated name for September.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME10
Native abbreviated name for October.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME11
Native abbreviated name for November.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME12
Native abbreviated name for December.
LOCALE_SABBREVMONTHNAME13
Native abbreviated name for 13th month, if it exists.
LOCALE_SCOUNTRY
Full localized name of the country.
LOCALE_SCURRENCY
String used as the local monetary symbol.
LOCALE_SDATE
Character(s) for the date separator
LOCALE_SDAYNAME1
Native long name for Monday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME2
Native long name for Tuesday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME3
Native long name for Wednesday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME4
Native long name for Thursday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME5
Native long name for Friday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME6
Native long name for Saturday
LOCALE_SDAYNAME7
Native long name for Sunday
LOCALE_SDECIMAL
Character(s) used as the decimal separator.
LOCALE_SENGCOUNTRY
Full English name of the country this is always restricted to characters that can be mapped into the ASCII 127-character subset.
LOCALE_SENGCURRNAME

Windows NT 5.0 or later: The full English name of the currency associated with the locale.

LOCALE_SENGLANGUAGE
Full English name of the language from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 639 this is always restricted to characters that can be mapped into the ASCII 127-character subset.

LOCALE_SGROUPING
Sizes for each group of digits to the left of the decimal An explicit size is needed for each group, and sizes are separated by semicolons. If the last value is zero, the preceding value is repeated. For example, to group thousands, specify 3;0.

LOCALE_SINTLSYMBOL
Three characters of the international monetary symbol specified in ISO 4217, "Codes for the Representation of Currencies and Funds," followed by the character separating this string from the amount.

LOCALE_SISO3166CTRYNAME

Windows NT 4.0 or later: The ISO 3166 code for the country name.

LOCALE_SISO639LANGNAME

Windows NT 4.0 or later: The abbreviated name of the language based on the ISO Standard 639 values.

LOCALE_SLANGUAGE
Full localized name of the language.
LOCALE_SLIST
Character(s) used to separate list items. For example, a comma is used in many locales.
LOCALE_SLONGDATE

Long date formatting string for this locale The string can consist of a combination of day, month, and year format pictures defined in the Day, Month, Year, and Era Format Pictures table in National Language Support Constants and any string of characters enclosed in single quotes. Characters in single quotes remain as given.

LOCALE_SMONDECIMALSEP
Character(s) used as the monetary decimal separator.
LOCALE_SMONGROUPING

Sizes for each group of monetary digits to the left of the decimal an explicit size is needed for each group, and sizes are separated by semicolons. If the last value is zero, the preceding value is repeated. For example, to group thousands, specify 3;0.

LOCALE_SMONTHNAME1
Native long name for January
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME2
Native long name for February
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME3
Native long name for March
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME4
Native long name for April
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME5
Native long name for May
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME6
Native long name for June
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME7
Native long name for July
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME8
Native long name for August
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME9
Native long name for September
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME10
Native long name for October
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME11
Native long name for November
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME12
Native long name for December
LOCALE_SMONTHNAME13
Native name for 13th month, if it exists
LOCALE_SMONTHOUSANDSEP
Character(s) used as the monetary separator between groups of digits to the left of the decimal.
LOCALE_SNATIVECTRYNAME
Native name of the country
LOCALE_SNATIVECURRNAME

Windows NT 5.0 or later: The native name of the currency associated with the locale.

LOCALE_SNATIVEDIGITS
Native equivalents to ASCII zero through 9
LOCALE_SNATIVELANGNAME
Native name of the language
LOCALE_SNEGATIVESIGN
String value for the negative sign.
LOCALE_SPOSITIVESIGN
String value for the positive sign.
LOCALE_SSHORTDATE

Short date formatting string for this locale, The string can consist of a combination of day, month, and year format pictures defined in Day, Month, Year, and Era Format Pictures table in National Language Support Constants.

LOCALE_SSORTNAME

Windows NT 5.0 or later: The full localized name of the sort for the given locale identifier

LOCALE_STHOUSAND
Character(s) used to separate groups of digits to the left of the decimal.
LOCALE_STIME
Character(s) for the time separator
LOCALE_STIMEFORMAT

Time formatting strings for this locale, The string can consist of a combination of the hour, minute, and second format pictures defined in the Hour, Minute, and Second Format Pictures table in National Language Support Constants.

LOCALE_SYEARMONTH

Windows NT 5.0 or later: The Year/Month formatting string for the locale. This string shows the proper format for a date string that contains only the year and the month.

LOCALE_USE_CP_ACP

This may be ORed with any other LCTYPE in the GetLocaleInfoA call to ensure that the code page used to do the translation of the other LCTYPE from Unicode to ANSI is based on the system ANSI code page, rather than the default ANSI code page for the LCID specified in the GetlocalInfoA call.

Many of the locale types previously listed are closely related, such that changing one affects the value of the others. The following table shows the relationships between these types:

CompareString

The CompareString function compares two character strings, using the locale specified by the given identifier as the basis for the comparison.

The CompareString function ignores Arabic Kashidas during the comparison. Thus, if two strings are identical save for the presence of Kashidas, CompareString returns a value of 2; the strings are considered "equal" in the collation sense, though they are not necessarily identical.

int CompareString(
  LCID Locale,       // locale identifier
  DWORD dwCmpFlags,  // comparison-style options
  LPCTSTR lpString1, // pointer to first string
  int cchCount1,     // size, in bytes or characters, of first string
  LPCTSTR lpString2, // pointer to second string
  int cchCount2      // size, in bytes or characters, of second string
);

Parameters

Locale

Specifies the locale used for the comparison. This parameter can be one of the following predefined locale identifiers:

This parameter can also be a locale identifier created by the MAKELCID macro.

A set of flags that indicate how the function compares the two strings. By default, these flags are not set. This parameter can specify zero to get the default behavior, or it can be any combination of the following values:

lpString1

Pointer to the first string to be compared.

cchCount1

Specifies the size, in bytes (ANSI version) or characters (Unicode version), of the string pointed to by the lpString1 parameter. If this parameter is - 1, the string is assumed to be null terminated and the length is calculated automatically.

cchCount2

Specifies the size, in bytes (ANSI version) or characters (Unicode version), of the string pointed to by the lpString2 parameter. If this parameter is - 1, the string is assumed to be null terminated and the length is calculated automatically.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is one of the following values:

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError. GetLastError may return one of the following error codes:

ERROR_INVALID_FLAGS
ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER

Remarks

Notice that if the return value is 2, the two strings are "equal" in the collation sense, though not necessarily identical.

To maintain the C run-time convention of comparing strings, the value 2 can be subtracted from a nonzero return value. The meaning of < 0, ==0 and > 0 is then consistent with the C run times.

If the two strings are of different lengths, they are compared up to the length of the shortest one. If they are equal to that point, then the return value will indicate that the longer string is greater. For more information about locale identifiers, see Locale Identifiers.

Typically, strings are compared using what is called a "word sort" technique. In a word sort, all punctuation marks and other nonalphanumeric characters, except for the hyphen and the apostrophe, come before any alphanumeric character. The hyphen and the apostrophe are treated differently than the other nonalphanumeric symbols, in order to ensure that words such as "coop" and "co-op" stay together within a sorted list.

If the SORT_STRINGSORT flag is specified, strings are compared using what is called a "string sort" technique. In a string sort, the hyphen and apostrophe are treated just like any other nonalphanumeric symbols: they come before the alphanumeric symbols.

The lstrcmp and lstrcmpi functions use a word sort. The CompareString and LCMapString functions default to using a word sort, but use a string sort if their caller sets the SORT_STRINGSORT flag.

The CompareString function is optimized to run at the highest speed when dwCmpFlags is set to 0 or NORM_IGNORECASE, and cchCount1 and cchCount2 have the value -1.

Windows CE: Windows CE does not support the ANSI version of this function.
Windows CE does not support the following values for the dwCmpFlags parameter:
NORM_IGNOREKANATYPE
NORM_IGNORENONSPACE
NORM_IGNORESYMBOLS
NORM_IGNOREWIDTH

The dwCmpflags parameter always includes the SORT_STRINGSORT value.