At program startup, the current language and country setting is retrieved from the operating system. The user can change this setting through the Control Panel Regional Settings icon. The current codepage is also retrieved from the system.
There is a system default console codepage and a system default Windows codepage. Console programs retrieve the system console codepage, while Windows programs (including QuickWin applications) retrieve the system Windows codepage.
The NLS Library provides routines to determine the current locale (local code set), to return parameters of the current locale, to provide a list of all the system supported locales, and to set the locale to another language, country and/or codepage. These routines are summarized in the following table. Note that the locales and codepages set with these routines affect only the program or console that calls the routine. They do not change the system defaults or affect other programs or consoles.
Routines to Set and Inquire about the Locales
| Name | Procedure Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NLSSetLocale | Function | Sets the language, country and codepage |
| NLSGetLocale | Subroutine | Retrieves the current language, country and codepage |
| NLSGetLocaleInfo | Function | Retrieves requested information about the current local code set |
| NLSEnumLocales | Function | Returns all the languages and country combinations supported by the system |
| NLSEnumCodepages | Function | Returns all the supported codepages on the system |
| NLSSetEnvironmentCodepage | Function | Changes the codepage for the current console |
| NLSGetEnvironmentCodepage | Function | Returns the codepage number for the system (Window) codepage or the console codepage |
As an example:
USE DFNLS
INTEGER(4) strlen, status
CHARACTER(40) str
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME1, str)
print *, str ! prints Monday
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME2, str)
print *, str ! prints Tuesday
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME3, str)
print *, str ! prints Wednesday
! Change locale to Spanish, Mexico
status = NLSSetLocale("Spanish", "Mexico")
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME1, str)
print *, str ! prints lunes
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME2, str)
print *, str ! prints martes
strlen = NLSGetLocaleInfo(NLS$LI_SDAYNAME3, str)
print *, str ! prints miércoles
END