---
name: "bson_iter_utf8"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libbson-doc"
version: "1.30.4-1+deb13u3"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/bson_iter_utf8"
---

# bson\_iter\_utf8(3)

## SYNOPSIS

```
#define BSON_ITER_HOLDS_UTF8(iter) (bson_iter_type ((iter)) == BSON_TYPE_UTF8)
const char *
bson_iter_utf8 (const bson_iter_t *iter, uint32_t *length);
```

## PARAMETERS

- •

  **iter**: A *bson\_iter\_t*.

- •

  **length**: An optional location for the length of the resulting UTF-8 encoded string.

## DESCRIPTION

The *bson\_iter\_utf8()* function shall retrieve the contents of a BSON\_TYPE\_UTF8 element currently observed by **iter**.

It is invalid to call this function while observing an element other than BSON\_TYPE\_UTF8.

## RETURNS

A UTF-8 encoded string that has not been modified or freed.

It is suggested that the caller validate the content is valid UTF-8 before using this in other places. That can be done by calling *bson\_utf8\_validate()* or validating the underlying *bson\_t* before iterating it.

Note that not all drivers use multi-byte representation for **\\0** in UTF-8 encodings (commonly referred to as modified-UTF8). You probably want to take a look at the length field when marshaling to other runtimes.

## AUTHOR

MongoDB, Inc

## COPYRIGHT

2009-present, MongoDB, Inc.