PEP 538: update for PEP 540 & linux-sig feedback
- PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE=1 -> PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE=0 - reword the proposed library warning - try all of C.UTF-8, c.utf8 and en_US.UTF-8 - compare and contrast with PEP 540 - new Motivation section showing specific Docker problems - discuss implications of "strict" error handling - define configure options to turn the new behaviour off
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pep-0538.txt
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pep-0538.txt
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@ -15,27 +15,39 @@ Abstract
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An ongoing challenge with Python 3 on \*nix systems is the conflict between
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needing to use the configured locale encoding by default for consistency with
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other C/C++ components in the same process, and the fact that the standard C
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locale (as defined in POSIX:2001) specifies a default encoding of ASCII, which
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is entirely inappropriate for the development of networked services in a
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multilingual world.
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other C/C++ components in the same process and those invoked in subprocesses,
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and the fact that the standard C locale (as defined in POSIX:2001) specifies
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a default text encoding of ASCII, which is entirely inadequate for the
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development of networked services and client applications in a multilingual
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world.
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This PEP proposes that the CPython implementation be changed such that:
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This PEP proposes that the way the CPython implementation handles the default
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C locale be changed such that:
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* when used as a library, ``Py_Initialize`` will warn that use of the legacy
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``C`` locale may cause various Unicode compatibility issues
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* when used as a standalone binary, CPython will automatically coerce the
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``C`` locale to ``C.UTF-8`` unless the new ``PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE`` environment
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variable is set
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* the standalone CPython binary will automatically attempt to coerce the ``C``
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locale to ``C.UTF-8`` (preferred), ``C.utf8`` or ``en_US.UTF-8`` unless the
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new ``PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE`` environment variable is set to ``0``
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* if the subsequent runtime initialization process detects that the legacy
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``C`` locale remains active (e.g. locale coercion is disabled, or the runtime
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is embedded in an application other than the main CPython binary), it will
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emit a warning on stderr that use of the legacy ``C`` locale's default ASCII
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text encoding may cause various Unicode compatibility issues
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With this change, any \*nix platform that does *not* offer the ``C.UTF-8``
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locale as part of its standard configuration will only be considered a
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fully supported platform for CPython 3.7+ deployments when a non-ASCII locale
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is set explicitly.
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Explicitly configuring the ``C.UTF-8`` or ``en_US.UTF-8`` locales has already
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been used successfully for a number of years (including by the PEP author) to
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get Python 3 running reliably in environments where no locale is otherwise
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configured (such as Docker containers).
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With this change, any \*nix platform that does *not* offer at least one of the
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``C.UTF-8``, ``C.utf8`` or ``en_US.UTF-8`` locales as part of its standard
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configuration would only be considered a fully supported platform for CPython
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3.7+ deployments when a locale other than the default ``C`` locale is
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configured explicitly.
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Redistributors (such as Linux distributions) with a narrower target audience
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may also choose to opt in to this behaviour for earlier Python 3.x releases by
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applying the necessary changes as a downstream patch to those versions.
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that the upstream CPython development team may also choose to opt in to this
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behaviour for the Python 3.6.x series by applying the necessary changes as a
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downstream patch when first introducing Python 3.6.0.
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Background
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@ -49,20 +61,29 @@ do the conversion and then ensuring that the text encoding name reported by
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``sys.getfilesystemencoding()`` matches the encoding used during this early
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bootstrapping process.
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On Mac OS X, this is straightforward, as Apple guarantees that these operations
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will always use UTF-8 to do the conversion.
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On Apple platforms (including both Mac OS X and iOS), this is straightforward,
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as Apple guarantees that these operations will always use UTF-8 to do the
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conversion.
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On Windows, the limitations of the ``mbcs`` format used by default in these
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conversions proved sufficiently problematic that PEP 528 and PEP 529 were
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implemented to bypass the operating system supplied interfaces for binary data
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handling and force the use of UTF-8 instead.
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On non-Apple \*nix systems however, these operations are handled using the C
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locale system, which has the following characteristics [4_]:
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On Android, the locale settings are of limited relevance (due to most
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applications running in the UTF-16-LE based Dalvik environment) and there's
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limited value in preserving backwards compatibility with other locale aware
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C/C++ components in the same process (since it's a relatively new target
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platform for CPython), so CPython bypasses the operating system provided APIs
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and hardcodes the use of UTF-8 (similar to its behaviour on Apple platforms).
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On non-Apple and non-Android \*nix systems however, these operations are
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handled using the C locale system in glibc, which has the following
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characteristics [4_]:
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* by default, all processes start in the ``C`` locale, which uses ``ASCII``
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for these conversions. This is almost never what anyone doing multilingual
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text processing actually wants (including CPython)
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text processing actually wants (including CPython and C/C++ GUI frameworks).
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* calling ``setlocale(LC_ALL, "")`` reconfigures the active locale based on
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the locale categories configured in the current process environment
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* if the locale requested by the current environment is unknown, or no specific
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@ -73,69 +94,337 @@ The specific locale category that covers the APIs that CPython depends on is
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and to multibyte and wide characters" [5_]. Accordingly, CPython includes the
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following key calls to ``setlocale``:
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* in the main ``python`` binary, CPython calls ``setlocale(LC_ALL, "")`` to
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configure the entire C locale subsystem according to the process environment.
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It does this prior to making any calls into the shared CPython library
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* in ``Py_Initialize``, CPython calls ``setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "")``, such that
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the configured locale settings for that category *always* match those set in
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the environment. It does this unconditionally, and it *doesn't* revert the
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process state change in ``Py_Finalize``
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* in the main ``python`` binary, CPython calls ``setlocale(LC_ALL, "")`` to
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configure the entire C locale subsystem according to the process environment.
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It does this prior to making any calls into the shared CPython library
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(This summary of the locale handling omits several technical details related
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to exactly where and when the text encoding declared as part of the locale
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settings is used - see PEP 540 for further discussion, as these particular
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details matter more when decoupling CPython from the declared C locale than
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they do when overriding the locale with one based on UTF-8)
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These calls are usually sufficient to provide sensible behaviour, but they can
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still fail in the following cases:
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* SSH environment forwarding means that SSH clients will often forward
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client locale settings to servers that don't have that locale installed
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client locale settings to servers that don't have that locale installed. This
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leads to CPython running in the default ASCII-based C locale
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* some process environments (such as Linux containers) may not have any
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explicit locale configured at all
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explicit locale configured at all. As with unknown locales, this leads to
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CPython running in the default ASCII-based C locale
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The simplest way to deal with this problem for currently released versions of
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CPython is to explicitly set a more sensible locale when launching the
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application. For example::
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LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 LANG=C.UTF-8 python3 ...
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In the specific case of Docker containers and similar technologies, the
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appropriate locale setting can be specified directly in the container image
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definition.
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Another common failure case is developers specifying ``LANG=C`` in order to
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see otherwise translated user interface messages in English, rather than the
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more narrowly scoped ``LC_MESSAGES=C``.
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Proposal
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========
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Relationship with other PEPs
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============================
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This PEP shares a common problem statement with PEP 540 (improving Python 3's
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behaviour in the default C locale), but diverges markedly in the proposed
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solution:
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* PEP 540 proposes to entirely decouple CPython's default text encoding from
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the C locale system in that case, allowing text handling inconsistencies to
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arise between CPython and other C/C++ components running in the same process
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and in subprocesses. This approach aims to make CPython behave less like a
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locale-aware C/C++ application, and more like C/C++ independent language
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runtimes like the JVM, .NET CLR, Go, Node.js, and Rust
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* this PEP proposes to instead override the legacy C locale with a more recently
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defined locale that uses UTF-8 as its default text encoding. This means that
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the text encoding override will apply not only to CPython, but also to any
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locale aware extension modules loaded into the current process, as well as to
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locale aware C/C++ applications invoked in subprocesses that inherit their
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environment from the parent process. This approach aims to retain CPython's
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traditional strong support for integration with other components written
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in C and C++, while actively helping to push forward the adoption and
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standardisation of the C.UTF-8 locale as a Unicode-aware replacement for
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the legacy C locale
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While the two PEPs present alternate proposed behavioural improvements that
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align with the interests of different parts of the Python user community, they
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don't actually conflict at a technical level.
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That means it would be entirely possible to implement both of them, and end up
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with a situation where redistributors, application integrators, and end users
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can choose between:
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* coercing the default ASCII based C locale to a UTF-8 based locale
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* instructing CPython to ignore the C locale and use UTF-8 instead
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* doing both of the above (with this option as the default legacy C locale
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handling)
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* forcing use of the default ASCII based C locale by setting both
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PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE=0 and PYTHONUTF8=0
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If this approach was taken, then the proposed modifications to PEP 11 would
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be adjusted to indicate that the only unsupported configurations are those where
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both the legacy C locale coercion and the C locale text encoding bypass are
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disabled.
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Given such a hybrid implementation, it would also be reasonable to drop the
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``en_US.UTF-8`` legacy fallback from the list of UTF-8 locales tried as a
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coercion target and instead rely solely on the C locale text encoding bypass
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in such cases.
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Motivation
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==========
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While Linux container technologies like Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift are
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best known for their use in web service development, the related container
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formats and execution models are also being adopted for Linux command line
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application development. Technologies like Gnome Flatpak [7_] and
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Ubunty Snappy [8_] further aim to bring these same techniques to Linux GUI
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application development.
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When using Python 3 for application development in
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these contexts, it isn't uncommon to see text encoding related errors akin to
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the following::
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$ docker run --rm fedora:25 python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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Unable to decode the command from the command line:
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UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode character '\udce2' in position 7: surrogates not allowed
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$ docker run --rm ncoghlan/debian-python python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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Unable to decode the command from the command line:
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UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode character '\udce2' in position 7: surrogates not allowed
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Even though the same command is likely to work fine when run locally::
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$ python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ
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The source of the problem can be seen by instead running the ``locale`` command
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in the three environments::
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$ locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
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LC_CTYPE="en_AU.UTF-8"
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LC_ALL=
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$ docker run --rm fedora:25 locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=
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LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
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LC_ALL=
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$ docker run --rm ncoghlan/debian-python locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=
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LANGUAGE=
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LC_CTYPE="POSIX"
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LC_ALL=
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In this particular example, we can see that the host system locale is set to
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"en_AU.UTF-8", so CPython uses UTF-8 as the default text encoding. By contrast,
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the base Docker images for Fedora and Debian don't have any specific locale
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set, so they use the POSIX locale by default, which is an alias for the
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ASCII-based default C locale.
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The simplest way to get Python 3 (regardless of the exact version) to behave
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sensibly in Fedora and Debian based containers is to run it in the ``C.UTF-8``
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locale that both distros provide::
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$ docker run --rm -e LANG=C.UTF-8 fedora:25 python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ
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$ docker run --rm -e LANG=C.UTF-8 ncoghlan/debian-python python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ
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$ docker run --rm -e LANG=C.UTF-8 fedora:25 locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=C.UTF-8
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LC_CTYPE="C.UTF-8"
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LC_ALL=
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$ docker run --rm -e LANG=C.UTF-8 ncoghlan/debian-python locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=C.UTF-8
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LANGUAGE=
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LC_CTYPE="C.UTF-8"
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LC_ALL=
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The Alpine Linux based Python images provided by Docker, Inc, already use the
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C.UTF-8 locale by default::
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$ docker run --rm python:3 python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ
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$ docker run --rm python:3 locale | grep -E 'LC_ALL|LC_CTYPE|LANG'
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LANG=C.UTF-8
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LANGUAGE=
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LC_CTYPE="C.UTF-8"
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LC_ALL=
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Similarly, for custom container images (i.e. those adding additional content on
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top of a base distro image), a more suitable locale can be set in the image
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definition so everything just works by default. However, it would provide a much
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nicer and more consistent user experience if CPython were able to just deal
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with this problem automatically rather than relying on redistributors or end
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users to handle it through system configuration changes.
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While the glibc developers are working towards making the C.UTF-8 locale
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universally available for use by glibc based applications like CPython [6_],
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this unfortunately doesn't help on platforms that ship older versions of glibc
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without that feature, and also don't provide C.UTF-8 as an on-disk locale the
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way Debian and Fedora do. For these platforms, the best widely available
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fallback option is the ``en_US.UTF-8`` locale, which while still being
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unfortunately Anglo-centric, is at least significantly less Anglo-centric than
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the ASCII text encoding assumption in the default C locale.
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In the specific case of C locale coercion, the Anglo-centrism implied by the
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use of ``en_US.UTF-8`` can be mitigated by configuring only the ``LC_CTYPE``
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locale category, rather than overriding all the locale categories::
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$ docker run --rm -e LANG=C.UTF-8 centos/python-35-centos7 python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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Unable to decode the command from the command line:
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UnicodeEncodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't encode character '\udce2' in position 7: surrogates not allowed
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$ docker run --rm -e LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 centos/python-35-centos7 python3 -c 'print("ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ")'
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ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ
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Specification
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=============
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To better handle the cases where CPython would otherwise end up attempting
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to operate in the ``C`` locale, this PEP proposes changes to CPython's
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behaviour both when it is run as a standalone command line application, as well
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as when it is used as a shared library to embed a Python runtime as part of a
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larger application.
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to operate in the ``C`` locale, this PEP proposes that CPython automatically
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attempt to coerce the legacy ``C`` locale to a UTF-8 based locale when it is
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run as a standalone command line application.
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When ``Py_Initialize`` is called and CPython detects that the configured locale
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is the default ``C`` locale, the following warning will be issued::
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It further proposes to emit a warning on stderr if the legacy ``C`` locale
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is in effect at the point where the language runtime itself is initialized,
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in order to warn system and application integrators that they're running
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CPython in an unsupported configuration.
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Py_Initialize detected LC_CTYPE=C, which limits Unicode compatibility. Some
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libraries and operating system interfaces may not work correctly. Set
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`PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE=1 LC_CTYPE=C` to configure a similar environment
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when running Python directly.
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This warning informs both system and application integrators that they're
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running Python 3 in a configuration that we don't expect to work properly. For
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the benefit of folks working on maintaining such misconfigured systems, it
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also provides instructions on how to deliberately reproduce a comparable
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misconfiguration of the standalone command line application.
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Legacy C locale coercion in the standalone Python interpreter binary
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--------------------------------------------------------------------
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By contrast, when CPython *is* the main application, it will instead
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automatically coerce the legacy C locale to the multilingual C.UTF-8 locale::
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When run as a standalone application, CPython has the opportunity to
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reconfigure the C locale before any locale dependent operations are executed
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in the process.
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Python detected LC_CTYPE=C, forcing LC_ALL & LANG to C.UTF-8 (set
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PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE to disable this locale coercion behaviour).
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This means that it can change the locale settings not only for the CPython
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runtime, but also for any other C/C++ components running in the current
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process (e.g. as part of extension modules), as well as in subprocesses that
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inherit their environment from the current process.
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After calling ``setlocale(LC_ALL, "")`` to initialize the locale settings in
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the current process, the main interpreter binary will be updated to include
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the following call::
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const char *ctype_loc = setlocale(LC_CTYPE, NULL);
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This cryptic invocation is the API that C provides to query the current locale
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setting without changing it. Given that query, it is possible to check for
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exactly the ``C`` locale with ``strcmp``::
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ctype_loc != NULL && strcmp(ctype_loc, "C") == 0 # true only in the C locale
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Given this information, CPython can then attempt to coerce the locale to one
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that uses UTF-8 rather than ASCII as the default encoding.
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Three such locales will be tried:
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* ``C.UTF-8`` (available at least in Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora 25+, and
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expected to be available by default in a future version of glibc)
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* ``C.utf8`` (available at least in HP-UX)
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* ``en_US.UTF-8`` (available at least in RHEL and CentOS)
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For ``C.UTF-8`` and ``C.utf8``, the coercion will be implemented by actually
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setting the ``LANG`` and ``LC_ALL`` environment variables to the candidate
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locale name, such that future calls to ``setlocale()`` will see them, as will
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other components looking for those settings (such as GUI development
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frameworks).
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The last fallback isn't ideal as a coercion target (as it changes more than
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just the default text encoding), but has the benefit of currently being more
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widely available than the C.UTF-8 locale. To minimize the chance of side
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effects, only the ``LC_CTYPE`` environment variable would be set when using
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this legacy fallback option, with the other locale categories being left alone.
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Given time, more environments are expected to provide a ``C.UTF-8`` locale by
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default, so falling all the way back to the ``en_US.UTF-8`` option is expected
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to become less common.
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When this locale coercion is activated, the following warning will be
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printed on stderr, with the warning containing whichever locale was
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successfully configured::
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Python detected LC_CTYPE=C, LC_ALL & LANG set to C.UTF-8 (set
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PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE=0 to disable this locale coercion behaviour).
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When falling all the way back to the ``en_US.UTF-8`` locale, the message would
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be slightly different::
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Python detected LC_CTYPE=C, LC_CTYPE set to en_US.UTF-8 (set
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PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE=0 to disable this locale coercion behaviour).
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This locale coercion will mean that the standard Python binary should once
|
||||
again "just work" in the two main failure cases we're aware of (missing locale
|
||||
settings and SSH forwarding of unknown locales), as long as the target
|
||||
platform provides the ``C.UTF-8`` locale.
|
||||
platform provides at least one of the candidate UTF-8 based environments.
|
||||
|
||||
This coercion will be implemented by actually setting the ``LANG`` and
|
||||
``LC_ALL`` environment variables to ``C.UTF-8``, such that future calls to
|
||||
``setlocale()`` will see them, as will other components looking for those
|
||||
settings (such as GUI development frameworks).
|
||||
If ``PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE=0`` is set, or none of the candidate locales is
|
||||
successfully configured, then initialization will continue as usual in the C
|
||||
locale and the Unicode compatibility warning described in the next section will
|
||||
be emitted just as it would for any other application.
|
||||
|
||||
The locale coercion will be skipped if the ``PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE`` environment
|
||||
variable is set to a non-empty string. The interpreter will always check for
|
||||
the ``PYTHONALLOWCLOCALE`` environment variable (even when running under the
|
||||
``-E`` or ``-I`` switches), as the locale coercion check necessarily takes
|
||||
place before any command line argument processing.
|
||||
The interpreter will always check for the ``PYTHONCOERCECLOCALE`` environment
|
||||
variable (even when running under the ``-E`` or ``-I`` switches), as the locale
|
||||
coercion check necessarily takes place before any command line argument
|
||||
processing.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Changes to the runtime initialization process
|
||||
---------------------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
By the time that ``Py_Initialize`` is called, arbitrary locale-dependent
|
||||
operations may have taken place in the current process. This means that
|
||||
by the time it is called, it is *too late* to switch to a different locale -
|
||||
doing so would introduce inconsistencies in decoded text, even in the context
|
||||
of the standalone Python interpreter binary.
|
||||
|
||||
Accordingly, when ``Py_Initialize`` is called and CPython detects that the
|
||||
configured locale is still the default ``C`` locale, the following warning will
|
||||
be issued::
|
||||
|
||||
Python runtime initialized with LC_CTYPE=C (a locale with default ASCII
|
||||
encoding), which may cause Unicode compatibility problems. Using C.UTF-8
|
||||
(if available) as an alternative Unicode-compatible locale is recommended.
|
||||
|
||||
In this case, no actual change will be made to the locale settings.
|
||||
|
||||
Instead, the warning informs both system and application integrators that
|
||||
they're running Python 3 in a configuration that we don't expect to work
|
||||
properly.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
New build-time configuration options
|
||||
------------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
While both of the above behaviours would be enabled by default, they would
|
||||
also have new associated configuration options and preprocessor definitions
|
||||
for the benefit of redistributors that want to override those default settings.
|
||||
|
||||
The locale coercion behaviour would be controlled by the flag
|
||||
``--with[out]-c-locale-coercion``, which would set the ``PY_COERCE_C_LOCALE``
|
||||
preprocessor definition.
|
||||
|
||||
The locale warning behaviour would be controlled by the flag
|
||||
``--with[out]-c-locale-warning``, which would set the ``PY_WARN_ON_C_LOCALE``
|
||||
preprocessor definition.
|
||||
|
||||
On platforms where they would have no effect (e.g. Mac OS X, iOS, Android,
|
||||
Windows) these preprocessor variables would always be undefined.
|
||||
|
||||
Platform Support Changes
|
||||
========================
|
||||
|
||||
|
@ -145,10 +434,11 @@ A new "Legacy C Locale" section will be added to PEP 11 that states:
|
|||
and any Unicode handling issues that occur only in that locale and cannot be
|
||||
reproduced in an appropriately configured non-ASCII locale will be closed as
|
||||
"won't fix"
|
||||
* as of Python 3.7, \*nix platforms are expected to provide the ``C.UTF-8``
|
||||
locale as an alternative to the legacy ``C`` locale. On platforms which don't
|
||||
yet provide that locale, an explicit non-ASCII locale setting will be needed
|
||||
to configure a supported environment for running Python 3.7+
|
||||
* as of Python 3.7, \*nix platforms are expected to provide at least one of
|
||||
``C.UTF-8``, ``C.utf8`` or ``en_US.UTF-8`` as an alternative to the legacy
|
||||
``C`` locale. On platforms which don't yet provide any of these locales, an
|
||||
explicit non-ASCII locale setting will be needed to configure a fully
|
||||
supported environment for running Python 3.7+
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Rationale
|
||||
|
@ -177,8 +467,9 @@ C/C++ components sharing the same process, as well as with the user's desktop
|
|||
locale settings, than it is with the emergent conventions of modern network
|
||||
service development.
|
||||
|
||||
The premise of this PEP is that for *all* of these use cases, the default "C"
|
||||
locale is wrong, and furthermore that the following assumptions are valid:
|
||||
The core premise of this PEP is that for *all* of these use cases, the default
|
||||
"C" locale is the wrong choice, and furthermore that the following assumptions
|
||||
are valid:
|
||||
|
||||
* in desktop application use cases, the process locale will *already* be
|
||||
configured appropriately, and if it isn't, then that is an operating system
|
||||
|
@ -191,6 +482,32 @@ locale is wrong, and furthermore that the following assumptions are valid:
|
|||
default encoding of ASCII the way CPython currently does
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Using "strict" error handling by default
|
||||
----------------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
By coercing the locale away from the legacy C default and its assumption of
|
||||
ASCII as the preferred text encoding, this PEP also disables the implicit use
|
||||
of the "surrogateescape" error handler on the standard IO streams that was
|
||||
introduced in Python 3.5.
|
||||
|
||||
This is deliberate, as while UTF-8 as the preferred text encoding is a good
|
||||
working assumption for network service development and for more recent releases
|
||||
of client operating systems, it still isn't a universally valid assumption.
|
||||
|
||||
In particular, GB 18030 [12_] is a Chinese national text encoding standard
|
||||
that handles all Unicode code points, but is incompatible with both ASCII and
|
||||
UTF-8.
|
||||
|
||||
Similarly, Shift-JIS [13_] and ISO-2022-JP [14_] remain in widespread use in
|
||||
Japan, and are incompatible with both ASCII and UTF-8.
|
||||
|
||||
Using strict error handling on the standard streams means that attempting to
|
||||
pass information from a host system using one of these encodings into a
|
||||
container application that is assuming the use of UTF-8 or vice-versa is likely
|
||||
to cause an immediate Unicode encoding or decoding error, rather than
|
||||
potentially causing silent data corruption.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Dropping official support for Unicode handling in the legacy C locale
|
||||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
|
@ -199,8 +516,8 @@ legacy C locale for over a decade at this point. Not only haven't we been able
|
|||
to get it to work, neither has anyone else - the only viable alternatives
|
||||
identified have been to pass the bytes along verbatim without eagerly decoding
|
||||
them to text (Python 2.x, Ruby, etc), or else to ignore the nominal C/C++ locale
|
||||
encoding entirely and assume the use of either UTF-8 (Rust, Go, Node.js, etc)
|
||||
or UTF-16-LE (JVM, .NET CLR).
|
||||
encoding entirely and assume the use of either UTF-8 (PEP 540, Rust, Go,
|
||||
Node.js, etc) or UTF-16-LE (JVM, .NET CLR).
|
||||
|
||||
While this PEP ensures that developers that need to do so can still opt-in to
|
||||
running their Python code in the legacy C locale, it also makes clear that we
|
||||
|
@ -283,6 +600,11 @@ runtimes even when running a version with this change applied.
|
|||
Implementation
|
||||
==============
|
||||
|
||||
NOTE: The currently posted draft implementation is for a previous iteration
|
||||
of the PEP prior to the incorporation of the feedback noted in [11_]. It was
|
||||
broadly the same in concept (i.e. coercing the legacy C locale to one based on
|
||||
UTF-8), but differs in several details.
|
||||
|
||||
A draft implementation of the change (including test cases) has been
|
||||
posted to issue 28180 [1_], which is an end user request that
|
||||
``sys.getfilesystemencoding()`` default to ``utf-8`` rather than ``ascii``.
|
||||
|
@ -291,12 +613,27 @@ posted to issue 28180 [1_], which is an end user request that
|
|||
Backporting to earlier Python 3 releases
|
||||
========================================
|
||||
|
||||
If this PEP is accepted for Python 3.7, backporting of the change to earlier
|
||||
Python 3 releases by redistributors will be both allowed and encouraged.
|
||||
However, to serve any useful purpose, such backports should only be undertaken
|
||||
either in conjunction with the changes needed to also provide the C.UTF-8
|
||||
locale by default, or else specifically for platforms where that locale is
|
||||
already consistently available.
|
||||
Backporting to Python 3.6.0
|
||||
---------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
If this PEP is accepted for Python 3.7, redistributors backporting the change
|
||||
specifically to their initial Python 3.6.0 release will be both allowed and
|
||||
encouraged. However, such backports should only be undertaken either in
|
||||
conjunction with the changes needed to also provide the C.UTF-8 locale by
|
||||
default, or else specifically for platforms where that locale is already
|
||||
consistently available.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Backporting to other 3.x releases
|
||||
---------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
While the proposed behavioural change is seen primarily as a bug fix addressing
|
||||
Python 3's current misbehaviour in the default ASCII-based C locale, it still
|
||||
represents a reasonable significant change in the way CPython interacts with
|
||||
the C locale system. As such, while some redistributors may still choose to
|
||||
backport it to even earlier Python 3.x releases based on the needs and
|
||||
interests of their particular user base, this wouldn't be encouraged as a
|
||||
general practice.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Acknowledgements
|
||||
|
@ -325,6 +662,13 @@ The change was originally proposed as a downstream patch for Fedora's
|
|||
system Python 3.6 package [3_], and then reformulated as a PEP for Python 3.7
|
||||
with a section allowing for backports to earlier versions by redistributors.
|
||||
|
||||
The initial draft was posted to the Python Linux SIG for discussion [10_] and
|
||||
then amended based on both that discussion and Victor Stinner's work in
|
||||
PEP 540 [11_].
|
||||
|
||||
The "ℙƴ☂ℌøἤ" string used in the Unicode handling examples throughout this PEP
|
||||
is taken from Ned Batchelder's excellent "Pragmatic Unicode" presentation [9_].
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References
|
||||
==========
|
||||
|
@ -344,6 +688,32 @@ References
|
|||
.. [5] GNU C: Locale Categories
|
||||
(https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Locale-Categories.html)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [6] glibc C.UTF-8 locale proposal
|
||||
(https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Proposals/C.UTF-8)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [7] GNOME Flatpak
|
||||
(http://flatpak.org/)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [8] Ubuntu Snappy
|
||||
(https://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/snappy)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [9] Pragmatic Unicode
|
||||
(http://nedbatchelder.com/text/unipain.html)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [10] linux-sig discussion of initial PEP draft
|
||||
(https://mail.python.org/pipermail/linux-sig/2017-January/000014.html)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [11] Feedback notes from linux-sig discussion and PEP 540
|
||||
(https://github.com/python/peps/issues/171)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [12] GB 18030
|
||||
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB_18030)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [13] Shift-JIS
|
||||
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shift_JIS)
|
||||
|
||||
.. [14] ISO-2022
|
||||
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_2022)
|
||||
|
||||
Copyright
|
||||
=========
|
||||
|
|
Loading…
Reference in New Issue