[ python-Bugs-1349732 ] urllib.urlencode provides two features in one param

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Bugs item #1349732, was opened at 2005-11-06 23:58
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Category: Python Library
Group: Python 2.4
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Ori Avtalion (salty-horse)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: urllib.urlencode provides two features in one param

Initial Comment:
Using the 2.4 distribution.

It seems that urlencode knows how to handle unicode
input with quote_plus and ascii encoding, but it only
does that when doseq is True.

1) There's no mention of that useful feature in the
documentation.
2) If I want to encode unicode data without doseq's
feature, there's no way to do so. Although it's rare to
use doseq's intended function, they shouldn't be connected.

Shouldn't values be checked with _is_unicode and
handled correctly in both modes of doseq?
One reason I see that *might* make the unicode check
cause problems is the comment says "preserve old
behavior" when doseq is False. Could such a check
affect the behaviour of old code?
If it can, the unicode handling could be another
optional parameter.

Also, the docstring is really unclear as to the purpose
of doseq.
Can an small example be added? (I saw no PEP guidelines
for how examples should be given in docstrings, or if
they're even allowed, so perhaps this fits just the
regular documentation)

With query={"key": ("val1", "val2")
doseq=1 yields: key=val1&key=val2
doseq=0 yields: key=%28%27val1%27%2C+%27val2%27%29

After the correct solution is settled, I'll gladly
submit a patch with the fixes.

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