[Python-Dev] PEP 215 redux: toward a simplified consensus? (original) (raw)

Paul Prescod paul@prescod.net
Mon, 25 Feb 2002 13:46:46 -0800

Jeff Epler wrote:

On Mon, Feb 25, 2002 at 01🔞57PM -0800, Neil Schemenauer wrote: > Jeff Epler wrote: > > But how do you internationalize your program once you use $-subs? > > So don't use them. What's the problem? The problem is when I have to internationalize a program some schmuck wrote using $-subs throughout.

I think you go through and remove the "$" signs (probably at the same time you are removing "_") and use a runtime function to do the translation (probably the same function doing the interpolation). Then you take on the responsibility yourself for making sure that the original string is a constant (not a user-supplied variable) and that the replacement strings come from somewhere secure.

So:

a = "Hellothere"Hello there "Hellotherename"

becomes:

a = _("Hello there $name")

I think Barry's gettext already does that or something, doesn't it?

Paul Prescod