What is difference between TCHAR and WCHAR?

Question

I've opened winnt.h header file and found there this two lines:

typedef wchar_t WCHAR;

and

typedef WCHAR TCHAR, *PTCHAR;

but there was comment in one of my posts that there is some difference between them. Then what is the difference?

Solution 1

If you read the entire header, you will find:

#ifdef _UNICODE
typedef WCHAR TCHAR;
#else
typedef char TCHAR;
#endif

or words to that effect.

Perhaps MS has removed the narrow option of late.

Solution 2

TCHAR can be either char or WCHAR based on the platform. WCHAR is always a 16-bit Unicode character, wchar_t.

Solution 3

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa383751%28VS.85%29.aspx

TCHAR:

A WCHAR if UNICODE is defined, a CHAR otherwise.

WCHAR:

A 16-bit Unicode character. For more information, see Character Sets Used By Fonts.