char-name (ANSI and GNU Common Lisp Document)

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#### 13.2.20 char-name [Function]

`char-name` character ⇒ name

#### Arguments and Values::

character—a character.

name—a string or nil.

#### Description::

Returns a string that is the name of the character, or nil if the character has no name.

All non-graphic characters are required to have names unless they have some implementation-defined attribute which is not null. Whether or not other characters have names is implementation-dependent.

The standard characters <Newline> and <Space> have the respective names `"Newline"` and `"Space"`. The semi-standard characters <Tab>, <Page>, <Rubout>, <Linefeed>, <Return>, and <Backspace> (if they are supported by the implementation) have the respective names `"Tab"`, `"Page"`, `"Rubout"`, `"Linefeed"`, `"Return"`, and `"Backspace"` (in the indicated case, even though name lookup by “`#\`” and by the function name-char is not case sensitive).

#### Examples::

     (char-name #\ ) ⇒  "Space"
     (char-name #\Space) ⇒  "Space"
     (char-name #\Page) ⇒  "Page"

     (char-name #\a)
    ⇒  NIL
    OR⇒ "LOWERCASE-a"
    OR⇒ "Small-A"
    OR⇒ "LA01"

     (char-name #\A)
    ⇒  NIL
    OR⇒ "UPPERCASE-A"
    OR⇒ "Capital-A"
    OR⇒ "LA02"

     ;; Even though its CHAR-NAME can vary, #\A prints as #\A
     (prin1-to-string (read-from-string (format nil "#\\~A" (or (char-name #\A) "A"))))
    ⇒  "#\\A"

#### Exceptional Situations::

Should signal an error of type type-error if character is not a character.

#### See Also::

name-char , Printing Characters

#### Notes::

Non-graphic characters having names are written by the Lisp printer as “`#\`” followed by the their name; see Printing Characters.