[Python-Dev] Need a way to test for 8-bit-or-unicode-string

[Greg Ward]

On 05 October 2001, Guido van Rossum said:
> - Create a new service function, IsString(x) or isString(x) or
>   isstring(x), that's a shortcut for "isinstance(x, str) or
>   isinstance(x, unicode)".  The question them becomes where to put
>   this: as a builtin, in types.py, or somewhere else...

I've thought Python should have this for a long time.  But Marc-Andre's
point pretty much shoots it down, unless you make isstring(x) sugar for
  isinstance(x, (str, unicode))

Hmmm.  It's a very small dose of sugar, but I like it all the same.

> [...] (BTW this shows to me again that the method
> signature is right and the function signature is wrong.  But even my
> time machine isn't powerful enough to fix this.)  (Hm, it could be
> saved by making string.join() accept the arguments in either order.
> Gross. :-)

Note that a certain infamous April Fool's post from a few years back
said that that was what Python 1.6 would do.  I wasn't serious,
either.  ;-)

        Greg
-- 
Greg Ward - just another /P(erl|ython)/ hacker          gward@python.net
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