[Python-Dev] utf8 issue

[Michael Hudson]

Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> writes:

> This might beling on SF, except it's already been solved in Python
> 2.3, and I need guidance about what to do for Python 2.2.2.
> 
> In 2.2.1, a lone surrogate encoded into utf8 gives an utf8 string that
> cannot be decode back.  In 2.3, this is fixed.  Should this be fixed
> in 2.2.2 as well?

I think this was discussed really quite a long time ago, like six
months or so.

> I'm asking because it caused problems with reading .pyc files: if
> there's a Unicode literal containing a lone surrogate, reading the
> .pyc file causes an exception:
> 
> UnicodeError: UTF-8 decoding error: unexpected code byte
> 
> It looks like revision 2.128 fixed this for 2.3, but that patch
> doesn't cleanly apply to the 2.2 maintenance branch.  Can someone
> help?

I think the reason this didn't get fixed in 2.2.1 is that it
necessitates bumping MAGIC.

I can probably dig up more references if you want.

Cheers,
M.

-- 
34. The string is a stark data structure and everywhere it is
    passed there is much duplication of process.  It is a perfect
    vehicle for hiding information.
  -- Alan Perlis, http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/perlis-alan/quotes.html