---
name: "XpSetLocaleHinter"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libxp"
version: "1.0.4-3"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/XpSetLocaleHinter"
---

# XpSetLocaleHinter(3)

Sets a "locale hinter" function and description of it.

## NAME

XpSetLocaleHinter -  Sets a "locale hinter" function and description of it.

## SYNOPSIS

      cc \[ flag... \] file... -lXp \[ library... \]\
\
       \#include \<X11/extensions/Print.h\>

**void XpSetLocaleHinter** ( *hinter\_proc* *hinter\_desc* )\
\
       XPHinterProc *hinter\_proc*;\
\
       char \**hinter\_desc*;

## ARGUMENTS

- *hinter\_proc*

  A pointer to a "hinter proc".

- *hinter\_desc*

  A pointer to contextual information about the locale hinter proc.

## DESCRIPTION

Since (to date) there is no single industry standard for locale values, locale information about the current client required by XpCreateContext, XpGetPrinterList and XpGetPdmStartParams is at best considered a "hint" when transmitted to the X Print Server and PDM. In single vendor environments, the locale hint should be consistent and understood. In multi-vendor environments however, the locale hint may or may not be understood. The caller locale will be used as the fallback default.

XpSetLocaleHinter and XpGetLocaleHinter access hooks that are used to register more advanced hint generators. By default, Xp uses a hinter proc that calls setlocale on  the CTYPE category on POSIX systems, and *hinter\_desc* is NULL.

XpSetLocaleHinter sets the *hinter\_proc* and *hinter\_desc* which will be subsequently used by the Xp calls requiring a locale hint (see above). *hinter\_proc* is the function that will generate the locale hint (for example, "C"), and *hinter\_desc* is a string, with or without the embeddable keyword %locale%, that provides a higher level context for the results of *hinter\_proc.*

If *hinter\_proc* is set to NULL, then the default Xp hinter proc is installed. XpSetLocaleHinter makes its own private copy of *hinter\_desc* prior to returning.

An example set call might look as follows:

```
    XpSetLocaleHinter( my_hinter, "%locale%;CDElocale" );
```

Where my\_hinter might look as follows:

```
   char *my_hinter()
   {
       /∗
        * Use setlocale() to retrieve the current locale.
        */
       return( my_x_strdup( setlocale(LC_CTYPE, (char *) NULL) ) );
   }
```

When the client's locale is needed, if both *hinter\_desc* and the results of *hinter\_proc* are non-NULL, and the keyword %locale% is found in *hinter\_desc,* then the keyword will be replaced with the result of *hinter\_proc.* The resulting string will be used as the locale hint by the Xp calls.

If both *hinter\_desc* and the results of *hinter\_proc* are non-NULL, but the keyword %locale% is not found in *hinter\_desc,* then *hinter\_desc,* as is, becomes the string used as the locale hint by the Xp calls.

If one of *hinter\_desc* or the results of *hinter\_proc* is NULL, then the other non-NULL value becomes the string used as the locale hint by the Xp calls.

If *hinter\_desc* and the results of *hinter\_proc* are NULL, then a NULL (i.e. (char \*) NULL) locale hint is sent by the Xp calls.

The syntax for *hinter\_desc* is a variation of the unadopted X/Open standard for a "String Network Locale-Specification Syntax" (X/Open, Distributed Internationalization Services, Version 2, 1994 Snapshot). The Xp *hinter\_desc* syntax is:

```
    name_spec[;registry_spec[;ver_spec[;encoding_spec]]]
```

In Xp, the first item is the locale name, followed by progressively more detailed information about the locale name, with each piece of information separated by a \`;'.

## STRUCTURES

The signature for *hinter\_proc* is defined in \<X11/extensions/Print.h\> as follows:

```
    typedef char * (*XPHinterProc)();
```

*hinter\_proc* is expected to return a string that can be freed using XFree by the Xp calls themselves.

Some examples include ( *hinter\_desc* to left, expanded results to the right):

```
    CFRENCH                                CFRENCH
    %locale%                               C
    %locale%;CDElocale                     C;CDElocale
    %locale%;HP                            C;HP
    %locale%;IBM                           C;IBM
    %locale%;XOPEN;01_11;XFN-001001        de_DE;XOPEN;01_11;XFN-001001
```

## FILES

- \<X11/extensions/Print.h\>

  ## SEE ALSO

**XpCreateContext**(3Xp), **XpGetLocaleHinter**(3Xp), **XpGetPdmStartParams**(3Xp), **XpGetPrinterList**(3Xp), **XpSetLocaleHinter**(3Xp)