Developing internationalized applications

Locale callable services define environment control variables that you can set to establish language-specific information and preferences for an application. Locale callable services also provide a means for establishing global preferences, such as setlocale(), locale management services, and locale-dependent interfaces to the application.

Locale callable services allow you to develop applications that can be used in multiple countries, because they can function with specific language and cultural conventions. Such applications are referred to as internationalized applications. These applications have no built-in assumptions with respect to the language, culture, or conventions of their users or the data they process. Instead, language and cultural information is set at run time, a process called localization. Thus, the application processes data provided specifically for a certain locale. In Language Environment, localization occurs at the enclave level.