Unlike environment variables, which can be set from the command line, locales can only be modified by editing and compiling a locale definition source file.
If a desired locale is not part of the library, a binary version of the locale can be compiled by the localedef command. Locale behavior of programs is not affected by a locale definition source file unless the file is first converted by the localedef command, and the locale object is made available to the program. The localedef command converts source files containing definitions of locales into a run-time format and copies the run-time version to the file specified on the command line, which usually is a locale name. Internationalized commands and subroutines can then access the locale information. For information on preparing source files to be converted by the localedef command, see "Locale Definition Source File Format" in AIX Version 4.3 Files Reference.