WCTYPE(3) Linux Programmer's Manual WCTYPE(3)

wctype - wide-character classification

#include <wctype.h>
wctype_t wctype(const char *name);

The wctype_t type represents a property which a wide character may or may not have. In other words, it represents a class of wide characters. This type's nature is implementation-dependent, but the special value (wctype_t) 0 denotes an invalid property. Nonzero wctype_t values can be passed to the iswctype(3) function to actually test whether a given wide character has the property.
The wctype() function returns a property, given by its name. The set of valid names depends on the LC_CTYPE category of the current locale, but the following names are valid in all locales.
    "alnum" - realizes the  isalnum(3) classification function
    "alpha" - realizes the  isalpha(3) classification function
    "blank" - realizes the  isblank(3) classification function
    "cntrl" - realizes the  iscntrl(3) classification function
    "digit" - realizes the  isdigit(3) classification function
    "graph" - realizes the  isgraph(3) classification function
    "lower" - realizes the  islower(3) classification function
    "print" - realizes the  isprint(3) classification function
    "punct" - realizes the  ispunct(3) classification function
    "space" - realizes the  isspace(3) classification function
    "upper" - realizes the  isupper(3) classification function
    "xdigit" - realizes the  isxdigit(3) classification function

The wctype() function returns a property descriptor if the name is valid. Otherwise, it returns (wctype_t) 0.

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
Interface Attribute Value
wctype () Thread safety MT-Safe locale

POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, C99.

The behavior of wctype() depends on the LC_CTYPE category of the current locale.

iswctype(3)
2015-08-08 GNU