[Python-Dev] Formatting mini-language suggestion

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Greg Ewing writes:
 > Nick Coghlan wrote:
 > 
 > >   [[fill]align][sign][#][0][minimumwidth][,sep][.precision][type]
 > > 
 > > 'sep' is the new field that defines the thousands separator.
 > 
 > Wouldn't it be better to use a locale setting for this,
 > instead of having to specify it in every format string?

Maybe, but the POSIX locale concept is broken (because it's process-
global) in many contexts.  Viz.

 > If an app is using a particular thousands separator in
 > one place, it will probably want to use it everywhere.

Not if that app is internationalized (eg, a webapp that serves both
Americans and Chinese).