winapiunicodeencodingutf-8ansi

Windows API ANSI functions and UTF-8

Is it possible to use Windows API ANSI functions with UTF-8 strings?

For example, say I have a path encoded in UTF-8. Can I call CreateDirectoryA or CreateFileA and use a UTF-8 path, or do I have to perform some conversion before calling the functions?

Solution

  • No. Use MultiByteToWideChar to convert UTF-8 to UTF-16 and then call the wide character APIs such as CreateDirectoryW or CreateFileW.