[Python-Dev] __str__ vs. __unicode__

[Nick Coghlan]

M.-A. Lemburg wrote:
> Those APIs were all written long before there were sub-classes
> of types.

Understood. PyObject_Unicode certainly looked like an 'evolved' piece of code :)

> But before we start hacking the function, we need a general
> picture of what we think is right.

Aye.

> Note, BTW, that there is also a tp_str slot that serves
> as hook. The overall solution to this apparent mess should
> be consistent for all hooks (__str__, tp_str, __unicode__
> and a future tp_unicode).

I imagine many people are like me, with __str__ being the only one of these 
hooks they use frequently (Helping out with the Decimal implementation is the 
only time I can recall using the slots for the numeric types, and I rarely need 
to deal with Unicode).

Anyway, they're heavy use suggests to me that __str__ and str() are likely to 
provide a good model for the desired behaviour - they're the ones that are 
likely to have been nudged in the most useful direction by bug reports and the like.

Regards,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at email.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
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