Re: [Boost-users] [boost][exception] Wide-character design considerations

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] [boost][exception] Wide-character design considerations
From: John Dlugosz (JDlugosz_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-06-25 11:28:47

> > No.  The narrow form should be encoded based on the currently
> > selected locale's settings.  That is, after all, the whole point of
> > having it.  Other functions you pass it to will be expecting that.
> 
> Which other function?  Yours?  Mine?  The standard libraries?  Third
> party libraries?

Standard library's, and third party that follows the example or calls std primitives to do the work.

> Unfortunately, wide strings are /also/ broken.  On some platforms, they
> are utf-32.  On some platforms, they are utf-16.  On some platforms
> they
> are UCS-2, and you have no way to encode characters past the BMP.  You
> also have to worry about byte-order issues.

I've never had to deal with wide strings on other platforms; only the way in which they are pervasive in Windows.  I do see that the new C++ draft standard addresses the issue by making explicit types for 16-bit and 32-bit strings encoded in UTF, as distinct from the rather vague "wide".

> 
> Utf-8 is the only sane way to deal with international text.

Too bad the early framers of the OS didn't simply add a UTF-8 code page rather than doubling the API.

I would like to point out that using GB18030 is also a useful approach, since support for that is required by law to sell in mainland China, it is really supported by commercial software.  And it is defined as a Unicode encoding format.  So, you could select that as your code page and all the narrow-string Windows functions and stdlib functions would work properly.

--John





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