tolower, _tolower, towlower, _tolower_l, _towlower_l

Converts a character to lowercase.

Syntax

int tolower(
   int c
);
int _tolower(
   int c
);
int towlower(
   wint_t c
);
int _tolower_l(
   int c,
   _locale_t locale
);
int _towlower_l(
   wint_t c,
   _locale_t locale
);

Parameters

c
Character to convert.

locale
Locale to use for locale-specific translation.

Return value

Each of these routines converts a copy of c to lower case if the conversion is possible, and returns the result. There's no return value reserved to indicate an error.

Remarks

Each of these routines converts a given uppercase letter to a lowercase letter if it's possible and relevant. The case conversion of towlower is locale-specific. Only the characters relevant to the current locale are changed in case. The functions without the _l suffix use the currently set locale. The versions of these functions that have the _l suffix take the locale as a parameter and use that instead of the currently set locale. For more information, see Locale.

In order for _tolower to give the expected results, __isascii and isupper must both return nonzero.

By default, this function's global state is scoped to the application. To change this behavior, see Global state in the CRT.

Generic-text routine mappings

TCHAR.H routine _UNICODE and _MBCS not defined _MBCS defined _UNICODE defined
_totlower tolower _mbctolower towlower
_totlower_l _tolower_l _mbctolower_l _towlower_l

Note

_tolower_l and _towlower_l have no locale dependence and are not meant to be called directly. They are provided for internal use by _totlower_l.

Requirements

Routine Required header
tolower <ctype.h>
_tolower <ctype.h>
towlower <ctype.h> or <wchar.h>

For more compatibility information, see Compatibility.

Example

See the example in to functions.

See also

Data conversion
is, isw routines
to functions
Locale
Interpretation of multibyte-character sequences