GNU Info
(python2.1-lib.info)locale
Internationalization services
=============================
Internationalization services. This module was written by Martin von
L"owis <loewis@informatik.hu-berlin.de>.
This manual section was written by Martin von L"owis
<loewis@informatik.hu-berlin.de>.
The `locale' module opens access to the POSIX locale database and
functionality. The POSIX locale mechanism allows programmers to deal
with certain cultural issues in an application, without requiring the
programmer to know all the specifics of each country where the software
is executed.
The `locale' module is implemented on top of the `_locale' module,
which in turn uses an ANSI C locale implementation if available.
The `locale' module defines the following exception and functions:
`Error'
Exception raised when `setlocale()' fails.
`setlocale(category[, locale])'
If LOCALE is specified, it may be a string, a tuple of the form
`(LANGUAGE CODE, ENCODING)', or `None'. If it is a tuple, it is
converted to a string using the locale aliasing engine. If LOCALE
is given and not `None', `setlocale()' modifies the locale setting
for the CATEGORY. The available categories are listed in the data
description below. The value is the name of a locale. An empty
string specifies the user's default settings. If the modification
of the locale fails, the exception `Error' is raised. If
successful, the new locale setting is returned.
If LOCALE is omitted or `None', the current setting for CATEGORY
is returned.
`setlocale()' is not thread safe on most systems. Applications
typically start with a call of
import locale
locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, '')
This sets the locale for all categories to the user's default
setting (typically specified in the `LANG' environment variable).
If the locale is not changed thereafter, using multithreading
should not cause problems.
_Changed in Python version 2.0_
`localeconv()'
Returns the database of of the local conventions as a dictionary.
This dictionary has the following strings as keys:
Key Category Meaning
------ ----- -----
LC_NUMERIC `'decimal_point'' Decimal point
character.
`'grouping'' Sequence of numbers
specifying which
relative positions
the `'thousands_sep''
is expected. If the
sequence is
terminated with
`CHAR_MAX', no
further grouping is
performed. If the
sequence terminates
with a `0', the last
group size is
repeatedly used.
`'thousands_sep'' Character used
between groups.
LC_MONETARY `'int_curr_symbol'' International
currency symbol.
`'currency_symbol'' Local currency symbol.
`'mon_decimal_point'' Decimal point used
for monetary values.
`'mon_thousands_sep'' Group separator used
for monetary values.
`'mon_grouping'' Equivalent to
`'grouping'', used
for monetary values.
`'positive_sign'' Symbol used to
annotate a positive
monetary value.
`'negative_sign'' Symbol used to
annotate a nnegative
monetary value.
`'frac_digits'' Number of fractional
digits used in local
formatting of
monetary values.
`'int_frac_digits'' Number of fractional
digits used in
international
formatting of
monetary values.
The possible values for `'p_sign_posn'' and `'n_sign_posn'' are
given below.
Value Explanation
------ -----
0 Currency and value are surrounded
by parentheses.
1 The sign should precede the value
and currency symbol.
2 The sign should follow the value
and currency symbol.
3 The sign should immediately
precede the value.
4 The sign should immediately
follow the value.
`LC_MAX' Nothing is specified in this
locale.
`getdefaultlocale([envvars])'
Tries to determine the default locale settings and returns them as
a tuple of the form `(LANGUAGE CODE, ENCODING)'.
According to POSIX, a program which has not called
`setlocale(LC_ALL, '')' runs using the portable `'C'' locale.
Calling `setlocale(LC_ALL, '')' lets it use the default locale as
defined by the `LANG' variable. Since we do not want to interfere
with the current locale setting we thus emulate the behavior in
the way described above.
To maintain compatibility with other platforms, not only the
`LANG' variable is tested, but a list of variables given as
envvars parameter. The first found to be defined will be used.
ENVVARS defaults to the search path used in GNU gettext; it must
always contain the variable name `LANG'. The GNU gettext search
path contains `'LANGUAGE'', `'LC_ALL'', code{'LC_CTYPE'}, and
`'LANG'', in that order.
Except for the code `'C'', the language code corresponds to RFC
1766 . LANGUAGE CODE and ENCODING may be `None' if their values
cannot be determined. _Added in Python version 2.0_
`getlocale([category])'
Returns the current setting for the given locale category as tuple
(language code, encoding). CATEGORY may be one of the `LC_*'
values except `LC_ALL'. It defaults to `LC_CTYPE'.
Except for the code `'C'', the language code corresponds to RFC
1766 . LANGUAGE CODE and ENCODING may be `None' if their values
cannot be determined. _Added in Python version 2.0_
`normalize(localename)'
Returns a normalized locale code for the given locale name. The
returned locale code is formatted for use with `setlocale()'. If
normalization fails, the original name is returned unchanged.
If the given encoding is not known, the function defaults to the
default encoding for the locale code just like `setlocale()'.
_Added in Python version 2.0_
`resetlocale([category])'
Sets the locale for CATEGORY to the default setting.
The default setting is determined by calling `getdefaultlocale()'.
CATEGORY defaults to `LC_ALL'. _Added in Python version 2.0_
`strcoll(string1, string2)'
Compares two strings according to the current `LC_COLLATE'
setting. As any other compare function, returns a negative, or a
positive value, or `0', depending on whether STRING1 collates
before or after STRING2 or is equal to it.
`strxfrm(string)'
Transforms a string to one that can be used for the built-in
function `cmp()' , and still returns locale-aware results. This
function can be used when the same string is compared repeatedly,
e.g. when collating a sequence of strings.
`format(format, val[, grouping])'
Formats a number VAL according to the current `LC_NUMERIC'
setting. The format follows the conventions of the `%' operator.
For floating point values, the decimal point is modified if
appropriate. If GROUPING is true, also takes the grouping into
account.
`str(float)'
Formats a floating point number using the same format as the
built-in function `str(FLOAT)', but takes the decimal point into
account.
`atof(string)'
Converts a string to a floating point number, following the
`LC_NUMERIC' settings.
`atoi(string)'
Converts a string to an integer, following the `LC_NUMERIC'
conventions.
`LC_CTYPE'
Locale category for the character type functions. Depending on the
settings of this category, the functions of module `string'
dealing with case change their behaviour.
`LC_COLLATE'
Locale category for sorting strings. The functions `strcoll()'
and `strxfrm()' of the `locale' module are affected.
`LC_TIME'
Locale category for the formatting of time. The function
`time.strftime()' follows these conventions.
`LC_MONETARY'
Locale category for formatting of monetary values. The available
options are available from the `localeconv()' function.
`LC_MESSAGES'
Locale category for message display. Python currently does not
support application specific locale-aware messages. Messages
displayed by the operating system, like those returned by
`os.strerror()' might be affected by this category.
`LC_NUMERIC'
Locale category for formatting numbers. The functions `format()',
`atoi()', `atof()' and `str()' of the `locale' module are affected
by that category. All other numeric formatting operations are not
affected.
`LC_ALL'
Combination of all locale settings. If this flag is used when the
locale is changed, setting the locale for all categories is
attempted. If that fails for any category, no category is changed
at all. When the locale is retrieved using this flag, a string
indicating the setting for all categories is returned. This string
can be later used to restore the settings.
`CHAR_MAX'
This is a symbolic constant used for different values returned by
`localeconv()'.
Example:
>>> import locale
>>> loc = locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL) # get current locale
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'de') # use German locale
>>> locale.strcoll('f\xe4n', 'foo') # compare a string containing an umlaut
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, '') # use user's preferred locale
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'C') # use default (C) locale
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, loc) # restore saved locale
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