Convert a locale-specific string

The HCL Informix® GLS conversion functions scan the incoming locale-specific string to create a corresponding internal representation, as shown in the following table.

Table 1. Conversion functions for locale-specific strings
Conversion function	Unconverted form	Converted form: ESQL/C data type	Converted form: DataBlade API data type
ifx_gl_convert_number()	Number string	decimal (dec_t)	mi_decimal
ifx_gl_convert_money()	Money string	decimal (dec_t)	mi_decimal
ifx_gl_convert_date()	Date string	date (long int)	mi_date
ifx_gl_convert_datetime()	Date/time string	datetime (dtime_t)	mi_datetime

The formatting directives in the format string tell the conversion functions what conversions to perform on the locale-specific string. To process a formatting directive, a conversion function consults the appropriate category in the current locale to obtain any locale-specific formats and then converts the resulting value to an internal representation that can be stored in a database.

For example, if the current locale is the default locale, the following DataBlade API call to the ifx_gl_convert_number() function converts the number string "1,450" to its hexadecimal equivalent in an mi_decimal value:

mi_decimal num_val;
...
if ( ifx_gl_convert_number(&num_val, "1,450","%0x") != 0 )
    /* handle error */

In the current locale, the thousands separator is defined as the comma (,) symbol. Therefore, the ifx_gl_convert_number() function must correctly interpret the comma in the number string so that it can convert this string to the hexadecimal equivalent of the value 1450 and store the result in the mi_decimal value, num_val.

If the current locale is French (fr_fr), the thousands separator is a space. Therefore, the following call to ifx_gl_convert_number() must interpret a space as the thousands separator to convert the French number string ("1 450") successfully to its mi_decimal equivalent:

mi_decimal *num_val;
...
if ( ifx_gl_convert_number(num_val, "1 450","%0x") != 0 )
    /* handle error */