Re: I18N prep work - convert strings to use format()

On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 10:03 AM, Al Sweigart <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> I'd like to change the old-style string formatting from '%s %s' %
> (foo, bar) to the format() string method version. This is not just a
> cosmetic change, but would be part of the prep work for I18N support
> for IDLE.
>
> For some languages, the order that variables would need to be
> interpolated into strings would not be the same. For example, in
> English you could have:
>
> color = 'black'
> animal = 'cat'
> "The %s %s's toy." % (color, animal)
>
> While in Spanish, this would be:
>
> color = 'negro'
> animal = 'gato'
> "El juguete del %s %s." % (animal, color)
>
> However, this defeats translating the "The %s %s's toy." string for
> I18N. Using the format() string method fixes this: "The {color}
> {animal}'s toy." could be translated as "El juguete del {animal}
> {color}."
>
> I'd like to go through the strings in IDLE and convert them to use
> format(). This wouldn't be all of the strings: only those that are
> user-facing and have multiple %s (or other) conversion specifiers
> would need to be translated.
>
> This is a change that touches on a lot of files, so I wanted to see if
> anyone could foresee issues with this change before I start on it.
>
> -Al

Hi Al,

If i18n is your goal, are you sure that string.format() is the way to go?

string.format()'s syntax was not defined with this use-case in mind.
For example, it supports a lot of things which are not relevant for
translation, which would leave a lot of room for user errors of the
sort that use valid string.format() syntax but produce unwanted
results. A more significant drawback is that learning the syntax is
unnecessarily difficult for someone who'd just want to make a
translation.

If i18n is the goal, I strongly suggest using a tool that was made for
the purpose.

- Tal Einat