[Python-Dev] Notice of intent: rich comparisons

[Mark Hammond]

[Guido and /F]
> > Unicode
> >
> > What is the status of /F's latest attempts?
>
> most of the code is written and tested; the API still
> needs some cleaning up. I also have a few patches
> and other contributions in my inbox that I gotta
> look into...

Im one of those contributors :-)  I have made changes to the Win32
extensions that allows it to use /F's type instead of its own built-in
Unicode type.  Further, the Windows CE port of these extensions actually
enables this - so we have some code actively using it.

However, this still doesnt give me anything more than I had before.  We
need at least _some_ level of integration of this type into Python.  The
key areas to me are:

* PyArg_ParseTuple and Py_BuildValue - Seems OK we use the "u" format
character analogous to "s".  We havent thought of a "z" equivilent.  This
is fairly easy.

* Some way for these functions to auto-convert.  Eg, when the user passes
an 8bit string object, but the C side of the world wants a Unicode string.
This is harder, as an extra memory buffer for the conversion is needed.

This second problem is, to me, the next stumbling block.  When we sort
these out, I feel we would have the start of a good platform to start
experimenting.

Mark.