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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)


NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     perllocale	- Perl locale handling (internationalization and localization)

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     Perl supports language-specific notions of	data such as "is this a
     letter", "what is the uppercase equivalent	of this	letter", and "which of
     these letters comes first".  These	are important issues, especially for
     languages other than English - but	also for English: it would be very
     naieve to think that A-Za-z defines all the "letters". Perl is also aware
     that some character other than '.'	may be preferred as a decimal point,
     and that output date representations may be language-specific.  The
     process of	making an application take account of its users' preferences
     in	such matters is	called internationalization (often abbreviated as
     i18n); telling such an application	about a	particular set of preferences
     is	known as localization (l10n).

     Perl can understand language-specific data	via the	standardized (ISO C,
     XPG4, POSIX 1.c) method called "the locale	system". The locale system is
     controlled	per application	using one pragma, one function call, and
     several environment variables.

     NOTE: This	feature	is new in Perl 5.004, and does not apply unless	an
     application specifically requests it - see	the section on Backward
     compatibility.  The one exception is that write() now always uses the
     current locale - see the section on NOTES.

PREPARING TO USE LOCALES    [Toc]    [Back]

     If	Perl applications are to be able to understand and present your	data
     correctly according a locale of your choice, all of the following must be
     true:

     o	 Your operating	system must support the	locale system.	If it does,
	 you should find that the setlocale() function is a documented part of
	 its C library.

     o	 Definitions for the locales which you use must	be installed.  You, or
	 your system administrator, must make sure that	this is	the case. The
	 available locales, the	location in which they are kept, and the
	 manner	in which they are installed, vary from system to system.  Some
	 systems provide only a	few, hard-wired, locales, and do not allow
	 more to be added; others allow	you to add "canned" locales provided
	 by the	system supplier; still others allow you	or the system
	 administrator to define and add arbitrary locales.  (You may have to
	 ask your supplier to provide canned locales which are not delivered
	 with your operating system.)  Read your system	documentation for
	 further illumination.

     o	 Perl must believe that	the locale system is supported.	 If it does,
	 perl -V:d_setlocale will say that the value for d_setlocale is
	 define.





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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     If	you want a Perl	application to process and present your	data according
     to	a particular locale, the application code should include the use
     locale pragma (see	the section on The use locale pragma) where
     appropriate, and at least one of the following must be true:

     o	 The locale-determining	environment variables (see the section on
	 ENVIRONMENT) must be correctly	set up,	either by yourself, or by the
	 person	who set	up your	system account,	at the time the	application is
	 started.

     o	 The application must set its own locale using the method described in
	 the section on	The setlocale function.

USING LOCALES    [Toc]    [Back]

     The use locale pragma

     By	default, Perl ignores the current locale.  The use locale pragma tells
     Perl to use the current locale for	some operations:

     o	 The comparison	operators (lt, le, cmp,	ge, and	gt) and	the POSIX
	 string	collation functions strcoll() and strxfrm() use	LC_COLLATE.
	 sort()	is also	affected if it is used without an explicit comparison
	 function because it uses cmp by default.

	 Note: eq and ne are unaffected	by the locale: they always perform a
	 byte-by-byte comparison of their scalar operands.  What's more, if
	 cmp finds that	its operands are equal according to the	collation
	 sequence specified by the current locale, it goes on to perform a
	 byte-by-byte comparison, and only returns 0 (equal) if	the operands
	 are bit-for-bit identical.  If	you really want	to know	whether	two
	 strings - which eq and	cmp may	consider different - are equal as far
	 as collation in the locale is concerned, see the discussion in	the
	 section on Category LC_COLLATE: Collation.

     o	 Regular expressions and case-modification functions (uc(), lc(),
	 ucfirst(), and	lcfirst()) use LC_CTYPE

     o	 The formatting	functions (printf(), sprintf() and write()) use
	 LC_NUMERIC

     o	 The POSIX date	formatting function (strftime()) uses LC_TIME.

     LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, and so on, are discussed further in the section on
     LOCALE CATEGORIES.

     The default behavior returns with no locale or on reaching	the end	of the
     enclosing block.

     Note that the string result of any	operation that uses locale information
     is	tainted, as it is possible for a locale	to be untrustworthy.  See the
     section on	SECURITY.




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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     The setlocale function    [Toc]    [Back]

     You can switch locales as often as	you wish at run	time with the
     POSIX::setlocale()	function:

	     # This functionality not usable prior to Perl 5.004
	     require 5.004;

	     # Import locale-handling tool set from POSIX module.
	     # This example uses: setlocale -- the function call
	     #			  LC_CTYPE -- explained	below
	     use POSIX qw(locale_h);

	     # query and save the old locale
	     $old_locale = setlocale(LC_CTYPE);

	     setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "fr_CA.ISO8859-1");
	     # LC_CTYPE	now in locale "French, Canada, codeset ISO 8859-1"

	     setlocale(LC_CTYPE, "");
	     # LC_CTYPE	now reset to default defined by	LC_ALL/LC_CTYPE/LANG
	     # environment variables.  See below for documentation.

	     # restore the old locale
	     setlocale(LC_CTYPE, $old_locale);

     The first argument	of setlocale() gives the category, the second the
     locale.  The category tells in what aspect	of data	processing you want to
     apply locale-specific rules.  Category names are discussed	in the section
     on	LOCALE CATEGORIES and the section on ENVIRONMENT.  The locale is the
     name of a collection of customization information corresponding to	a
     particular	combination of language, country or territory, and codeset.
     Read on for hints on the naming of	locales: not all systems name locales
     as	in the example.

     If	no second argument is provided,	the function returns a string naming
     the current locale	for the	category.  You can use this value as the
     second argument in	a subsequent call to setlocale().  If a	second
     argument is given and it corresponds to a valid locale, the locale	for
     the category is set to that value,	and the	function returns the nowcurrent
 locale value.  You	can use	this in	a subsequent call to
     setlocale().  (In some implementations, the return	value may sometimes
     differ from the value you gave as the second argument - think of it as an
     alias for the value that you gave.)

     As	the example shows, if the second argument is an	empty string, the
     category's	locale is returned to the default specified by the
     corresponding environment variables.  Generally, this results in a	return
     to	the default which was in force when Perl started up: changes to	the
     environment made by the application after startup may or may not be
     noticed, depending	on the implementation of your system's C library.




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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     If	the second argument does not correspond	to a valid locale, the locale
     for the category is not changed, and the function returns undef.

     For further information about the categories, consult the setlocale(3)
     manpage.  For the locales available in your system, also consult the
     setlocale(3) manpage and see whether it leads you to the list of the
     available locales (search for the SEE ALSO	section).  If that fails, try
     the following command lines:

	     locale -a

	     nlsinfo

	     ls	/usr/lib/nls/loc

	     ls	/usr/lib/locale

	     ls	/usr/lib/nls

     and see whether they list something resembling these

	     en_US.ISO8859-1	 de_DE.ISO8859-1     ru_RU.ISO8859-5
	     en_US		 de_DE		     ru_RU
	     en			 de		     ru
	     english		 german		     russian
	     english.iso88591	 german.iso88591     russian.iso88595

     Sadly, even though	the calling interface for setlocale() has been
     standardized, the names of	the locales and	the directories	where the
     configuration is, have not.  The basic form of the	name is
     language_country/territory.codeset, but the latter	parts are not always
     present.

     Two special locales are worth particular mention: "C" and "POSIX".
     Currently these are effectively the same locale: the difference is	mainly
     that the first one	is defined by the C standard and the second by the
     POSIX standard.  What they	define is the default locale in	which every
     program starts in the absence of locale information in its	environment.
     (The default default locale, if you will.)	 Its language is (American)
     English and its character codeset ASCII.

     NOTE: Not all systems have	the "POSIX" locale (not	all systems are
     POSIX-conformant),	so use "C" when	you need explicitly to specify this
     default locale.

     The localeconv function    [Toc]    [Back]

     The POSIX::localeconv() function allows you to get	particulars of the
     locale-dependent numeric formatting information specified by the current
     LC_NUMERIC	and LC_MONETARY	locales.  (If you just want the	name of	the
     current locale for	a particular category, use POSIX::setlocale() with a
     single parameter -	see the	section	on The setlocale function.)



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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



	     use POSIX qw(locale_h);

	     # Get a reference to a hash of locale-dependent info
	     $locale_values = localeconv();

	     # Output sorted list of the values
	     for (sort keys %$locale_values) {
		 printf	"%-20s = %s\n",	$_, $locale_values->{$_}
	     }

     localeconv() takes	no arguments, and returns a reference to a hash.  The
     keys of this hash are formatting variable names such as decimal_point and
     thousands_sep; the	values are the corresponding values.  See the
     localeconv	entry in the POSIX (3) manpage for a longer example, which
     lists all the categories an implementation	might be expected to provide;
     some provide more and others fewer, however.  Note	that you don't need
     use locale: as a function with the	job of querying	the locale,
     localeconv() always observes the current locale.

     Here's a simple-minded example program which rewrites its command line
     parameters	as integers formatted correctly	in the current locale:

	     # See comments in previous	example
	     require 5.004;
	     use POSIX qw(locale_h);

	     # Get some	of locale's numeric formatting parameters
	     my	($thousands_sep, $grouping) =
		  @{localeconv()}{'thousands_sep', 'grouping'};

	     # Apply defaults if values	are missing
	     $thousands_sep = ',' unless $thousands_sep;
	     $grouping = 3 unless $grouping;

	     # Format command line params for current locale
	     for (@ARGV) {
		 $_ = int;    #	Chop non-integer part
		 1 while
		 s/(\d)(\d{$grouping}($|$thousands_sep))/$1$thousands_sep$2/;
		 print "$_";
	     }
	     print "\n";

LOCALE CATEGORIES    [Toc]    [Back]

     The subsections which follow describe basic locale	categories.  As	well
     as	these, there are some combination categories which allow the
     manipulation of more than one basic category at a time.  See the section
     on	ENVIRONMENT for	a discussion of	these.






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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     Category LC_COLLATE: Collation

     When in the scope of use locale, Perl looks to the	LC_COLLATE environment
     variable to determine the application's notions on	the collation
     (ordering)	of characters.	('b' follows 'a' in Latin alphabets, but where
     do	'a' and	'aa' belong?)

     Here is a code snippet that will tell you what are	the alphanumeric
     characters	in the current locale, in the locale order:

	     use locale;
	     print +(sort grep /\w/, map { chr() } 0..255), "\n";

     Compare this with the characters that you see and their order if you
     state explicitly that the locale should be	ignored:

	     no	locale;
	     print +(sort grep /\w/, map { chr() } 0..255), "\n";

     This machine-native collation (which is what you get unless use locale
     has appeared earlier in the same block) must be used for sorting raw
     binary data, whereas the locale-dependent collation of the	first example
     is	useful for natural text.

     As	noted in the section on	USING LOCALES, cmp compares according to the
     current collation locale when use locale is in effect, but	falls back to
     a byte-by-byte comparison for strings which the locale says are equal.
     You can use POSIX::strcoll() if you don't want this fall-back:

	     use POSIX qw(strcoll);
	     $equal_in_locale =
		 !strcoll("space and case ignored", "SpaceAndCaseIgnored");

     $equal_in_locale will be true if the collation locale specifies a
     dictionary-like ordering which ignores space characters completely, and
     which folds case.

     If	you have a single string which you want	to check for "equality in
     locale" against several others, you might think you could gain a little
     efficiency	by using POSIX::strxfrm() in conjunction with eq:

	     use POSIX qw(strxfrm);
	     $xfrm_string = strxfrm("Mixed-case	string");
	     print "locale collation ignores spaces\n"
		 if $xfrm_string eq strxfrm("Mixed-casestring");
	     print "locale collation ignores hyphens\n"
		 if $xfrm_string eq strxfrm("Mixedcase string");
	     print "locale collation ignores case\n"
		 if $xfrm_string eq strxfrm("mixed-case	string");

     strxfrm() takes a string and maps it into a transformed string for	use in
     byte-by-byte comparisons against other transformed	strings	during



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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     collation.	 "Under	the hood", locale-affected Perl	comparison operators
     call strxfrm() for	both their operands, then do a byte-by-byte comparison
     of	the transformed	strings.  By calling strxfrm() explicitly, and using a
     non locale-affected comparison, the example attempts to save a couple of
     transformations.  In fact,	it doesn't save	anything: Perl magic (see the
     section on	Magic Variables	in the perlguts	manpage) creates the
     transformed version of a string the first time it's needed	in a
     comparison, then keeps it around in case it's needed again.  An example
     rewritten the easy	way with cmp runs just about as	fast.  It also copes
     with null characters embedded in strings; if you call strxfrm() directly,
     it	treats the first null it finds as a terminator.	 And don't expect the
     transformed strings it produces to	be portable across systems - or	even
     from one revision of your operating system	to the next.  In short,	don't
     call strxfrm() directly: let Perl do it for you.

     Note: use locale isn't shown in some of these examples, as	it isn't
     needed: strcoll() and strxfrm() exist only	to generate locale-dependent
     results, and so always obey the current LC_COLLATE	locale.

     Category LC_CTYPE:	Character Types

     When in the scope of use locale, Perl obeys the LC_CTYPE locale setting.
     This controls the application's notion of which characters	are
     alphabetic.  This affects Perl's \w regular expression metanotation,
     which stands for alphanumeric characters -	that is, alphabetic and
     numeric characters.  (Consult the perlre manpage for more information
     about regular expressions.)  Thanks to LC_CTYPE, depending	on your	locale
     setting, characters like 'ae', '`', 'ss', and 'o' may be understood as \w
     characters.

     The LC_CTYPE locale also provides the map used in translating characters
     between lower and uppercase.  This	affects	the case-mapping functions -
     lc(), lcfirst, uc() and ucfirst();	case-mapping interpolation with	\l,
     \L, \u or <\U> in double-quoted strings and in s/// substitutions;	and
     case-independent regular expression pattern matching using	the i
     modifier.

     Finally, LC_CTYPE affects the POSIX character-class test functions	-
     isalpha(),	islower() and so on.  For example, if you move from the	"C"
     locale to a 7-bit Scandinavian one, you may find -	possibly to your
     surprise -	that "|" moves from the	ispunct() class	to isalpha().

     Note: A broken or malicious LC_CTYPE locale definition may	result in
     clearly ineligible	characters being considered to be alphanumeric by your
     application.  For strict matching of (unaccented) letters and digits -
     for example, in command strings - locale-aware applications should	use \w
     inside a no locale	block.	See the	section	on SECURITY.

     Category LC_NUMERIC: Numeric Formatting






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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     When in the scope of use locale, Perl obeys the LC_NUMERIC	locale
     information, which	controls application's idea of how numbers should be
     formatted for human readability by	the printf(), sprintf(), and write()
     functions.	 String	to numeric conversion by the POSIX::strtod() function
     is	also affected.	In most	implementations	the only effect	is to change
     the character used	for the	decimal	point -	perhaps	from '.'  to ',':
     these functions aren't aware of such niceties as thousands	separation and
     so	on.  (See the section on The localeconv	function if you	care about
     these things.)

     Note that output produced by print() is never affected by the current
     locale: it	is independent of whether use locale or	no locale is in
     effect, and corresponds to	what you'd get from printf() in	the "C"
     locale.  The same is true for Perl's internal conversions between numeric
     and string	formats:

	     use POSIX qw(strtod);
	     use locale;

	     $n	= 5/2;	 # Assign numeric 2.5 to $n

	     $a	= " $n"; # Locale-independent conversion to string

	     print "half five is $n\n";	      #	Locale-independent output

	     printf "half five is %g\n", $n;  #	Locale-dependent output

	     print "DECIMAL POINT IS COMMA\n"
		 if $n == (strtod("2,5"))[0]; #	Locale-dependent conversion


     Category LC_MONETARY: Formatting of monetary amounts

     The C standard defines the	LC_MONETARY category, but no function that is
     affected by its contents.	(Those with experience of standards committees
     will recognize that the working group decided to punt on the issue.)
     Consequently, Perl	takes no notice	of it.	If you really want to use
     LC_MONETARY, you can query	its contents - see the section on The
     localeconv	function - and use the information that	it returns in your
     application's own formatting of currency amounts.	However, you may well
     find that the information,	though voluminous and complex, does not	quite
     meet your requirements: currency formatting is a hard nut to crack.

     LC_TIME    [Toc]    [Back]

     The output	produced by POSIX::strftime(), which builds a formatted
     human-readable date/time string, is affected by the current LC_TIME
     locale.  Thus, in a French	locale,	the output produced by the %B format
     element (full month name) for the first month of the year would be
     "janvier".	 Here's	how to get a list of the long month names in the
     current locale:




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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



	     use POSIX qw(strftime);
	     for (0..11) {
		 $long_month_name[$_] =
		     strftime("%B", 0, 0, 0, 1,	$_, 96);
	     }

     Note: use locale isn't needed in this example: as a function which	exists
     only to generate locale-dependent results,	strftime() always obeys	the
     current LC_TIME locale.

     Other categories    [Toc]    [Back]

     The remaining locale category, LC_MESSAGES	(possibly supplemented by
     others in particular implementations) is not currently used by Perl -
     except possibly to	affect the behavior of library functions called	by
     extensions	which are not part of the standard Perl	distribution.

SECURITY    [Toc]    [Back]

     While the main discussion of Perl security	issues can be found in the
     perlsec manpage, a	discussion of Perl's locale handling would be
     incomplete	if it did not draw your	attention to locale-dependent security
     issues.  Locales -	particularly on	systems	which allow unprivileged users
     to	build their own	locales	- are untrustworthy.  A	malicious (or just
     plain broken) locale can make a locale-aware application give unexpected
     results.  Here are	a few possibilities:

     o	 Regular expression checks for safe file names or mail addresses using
	 \w may	be spoofed by an LC_CTYPE locale which claims that characters
	 such as ">" and "|" are alphanumeric.

     o	 String	interpolation with case-mapping, as in,	say, $dest =
	 "C:\U$name.$ext", may produce dangerous results if a bogus LC_CTYPE
	 case-mapping table is in effect.

     o	 If the	decimal	point character	in the LC_NUMERIC locale is
	 surreptitiously changed from a	dot to a comma,	sprintf("%g",
	 0.123456e3) produces a	string result of "123,456". Many people	would
	 interpret this	as one hundred and twenty-three	thousand, four hundred
	 and fifty-six.

     o	 A sneaky LC_COLLATE locale could result in the	names of students with
	 "D" grades appearing ahead of those with "A"s.

     o	 An application	which takes the	trouble	to use the information in
	 LC_MONETARY may format	debits as if they were credits and vice	versa
	 if that locale	has been subverted.  Or	it make	may make payments in
	 US dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars.

     o	 The date and day names	in dates formatted by strftime() could be
	 manipulated to	advantage by a malicious user able to subvert the
	 LC_DATE locale.  ("Look - it says I wasn't in the building on
	 Sunday.")



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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     Such dangers are not peculiar to the locale system: any aspect of an
     application's environment which may maliciously be	modified presents
     similar challenges.  Similarly, they are not specific to Perl: any
     programming language which	allows you to write programs which take
     account of	their environment exposes you to these issues.

     Perl cannot protect you from all of the possibilities shown in the
     examples -	there is no substitute for your	own vigilance -	but, when use
     locale is in effect, Perl uses the	tainting mechanism (see	the perlsec
     manpage) to mark string results which become locale-dependent, and	which
     may be untrustworthy in consequence.  Here	is a summary of	the tainting
     behavior of operators and functions which may be affected by the locale:

     Comparison	operators (lt, le, ge, gt and cmp):
	 Scalar	true/false (or less/equal/greater) result is never tainted.

     Case-mapping interpolation	(with \l, \L, \u or <\U>)
	 Result	string containing interpolated material	is tainted if use
	 locale	is in effect.

     Matching operator (m//):
	 Scalar	true/false result never	tainted.

	 Subpatterns, either delivered as an array-context result, or as $1
	 etc.  are tainted if use locale is in effect, and the subpattern
	 regular expression contains \w	(to match an alphanumeric character),
	 \W (non-alphanumeric character), \s (white-space character), or \S
	 (non white-space character).  The matched pattern variable, $&, $`
	 (pre-match), $' (post-match), and $+ (last match) are also tainted if
	 use locale is in effect and the regular expression contains \w, \W,
	 \s, or	\S.

     Substitution operator (s///):
	 Has the same behavior as the match operator.  Also, the left operand
	 of =~ becomes tainted when use	locale in effect, if it	is modified as
	 a result of a substitution based on a regular expression match
	 involving \w, \W, \s, or \S; or of case-mapping with \l, \L,\u	or
	 <\U>.

     In-memory formatting function (sprintf()):
	 Result	is tainted if "use locale" is in effect.

     Output formatting functions (printf() and write()):
	 Success/failure result	is never tainted.

     Case-mapping functions (lc(), lcfirst(), uc(), ucfirst()):
	 Results are tainted if	use locale is in effect.

strxfrm()):
     POSIX locale-dependent functions (localeconv(), strcoll(),	strftime(),
	 Results are never tainted.




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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



islower(), isprint(), ispunct(), isspace(), isupper(), isxdigit()):
     POSIX character class tests (isalnum(), isalpha(),	isdigit(), isgraph(),
	 True/false results are	never tainted.

     Three examples illustrate locale-dependent	tainting.  The first program,
     which ignores its locale, won't run: a value taken	directly from the
     command line may not be used to name an output file when taint checks are
     enabled.

	     #/usr/local/bin/perl -T
	     # Run with	taint checking

	     # Command line sanity check omitted...
	     $tainted_output_file = shift;

	     open(F, ">$tainted_output_file")
		 or warn "Open of $untainted_output_file failed: $!\n";

     The program can be	made to	run by "laundering" the	tainted	value through
     a regular expression: the second example -	which still ignores locale
     information - runs, creating the file named on its	command	line if	it
     can.

	     #/usr/local/bin/perl -T

	     $tainted_output_file = shift;
	     $tainted_output_file =~ m%[\w/]+%;
	     $untainted_output_file = $&;

	     open(F, ">$untainted_output_file")
		 or warn "Open of $untainted_output_file failed: $!\n";

     Compare this with a very similar program which is locale-aware:

	     #/usr/local/bin/perl -T

	     $tainted_output_file = shift;
	     use locale;
	     $tainted_output_file =~ m%[\w/]+%;
	     $localized_output_file = $&;

	     open(F, ">$localized_output_file")
		 or warn "Open of $localized_output_file failed: $!\n";

     This third	program	fails to run because $&	is tainted: it is the result
     of	a match	involving \w when use locale is	in effect.

ENVIRONMENT    [Toc]    [Back]

     PERL_BADLANG
		 A string that can suppress Perl's warning about failed	locale
		 settings at startup.  Failure can occur if the	locale support
		 in the	operating system is lacking (broken) is	some way - or



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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



		 if you	mistyped the name of a locale when you set up your
		 environment.  If this environment variable is absent, or has
		 a value which does not	evaluate to integer zero - that	is "0"
		 or "" - Perl will complain about locale setting failures.

		 NOTE: PERL_BADLANG only gives you a way to hide the warning
		 message.  The message tells about some	problem	in your
		 system's locale support, and you should investigate what the
		 problem is.

     The following environment variables are not specific to Perl: They	are
     part of the standardized (ISO C, XPG4, POSIX 1.c) setlocale() method for
     controlling an application's opinion on data.

     LC_ALL	 LC_ALL	is the "override-all" locale environment variable. If
		 it is set, it overrides all the rest of the locale
		 environment variables.

     LC_CTYPE	 In the	absence	of LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE chooses the	character type
		 locale.  In the absence of both LC_ALL	and LC_CTYPE, LANG
		 chooses the character type locale.

     LC_COLLATE	 In the	absence	of LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE chooses the collation
		 (sorting) locale.  In the absence of both LC_ALL and
		 LC_COLLATE, LANG chooses the collation	locale.

     LC_MONETARY In the	absence	of LC_ALL, LC_MONETARY chooses the monetary
		 formatting locale.  In	the absence of both LC_ALL and
		 LC_MONETARY, LANG chooses the monetary	formatting locale.

     LC_NUMERIC	 In the	absence	of LC_ALL, LC_NUMERIC chooses the numeric
		 format	locale.	 In the	absence	of both	LC_ALL and LC_NUMERIC,
		 LANG chooses the numeric format.

     LC_TIME	 In the	absence	of LC_ALL, LC_TIME chooses the date and	time
		 formatting locale.  In	the absence of both LC_ALL and
		 LC_TIME, LANG chooses the date	and time formatting locale.

     LANG	 LANG is the "catch-all" locale	environment variable. If it is
		 set, it is used as the	last resort after the overall LC_ALL
		 and the category-specific LC_....

NOTES    [Toc]    [Back]

     Backward compatibility

     Versions of Perl prior to 5.004 mostly ignored locale information,
     generally behaving	as if something	similar	to the "C" locale (see the
     section on	The setlocale function)	was always in force, even if the
     program environment suggested otherwise.  By default, Perl	still behaves
     this way so as to maintain	backward compatibility.	 If you	want a Perl
     application to pay	attention to locale information, you must use the use
     locale pragma (see	the section on The use locale Pragma) to instruct it



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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     to	do so.

     Versions of Perl from 5.002 to 5.003 did use the LC_CTYPE information if
     that was available, that is, \w did understand what are the letters
     according to the locale environment variables.  The problem was that the
     user had no control over the feature:  if the C library supported
     locales, Perl used	them.

     I18N:Collate obsolete

     In	versions of Perl prior to 5.004	per-locale collation was possible
     using the I18N::Collate library module.  This module is now mildly
     obsolete and should be avoided in new applications.  The LC_COLLATE
     functionality is now integrated into the Perl core	language: One can use
     locale-specific scalar data completely normally with use locale, so there
     is	no longer any need to juggle with the scalar references	of
     I18N::Collate.

     Sort speed	and memory use impacts

     Comparing and sorting by locale is	usually	slower than the	default
     sorting; slow-downs of two	to four	times have been	observed.  It will
     also consume more memory: once a Perl scalar variable has participated in
     any string	comparison or sorting operation	obeying	the locale collation
     rules, it will take 3-15 times more memory	than before.  (The exact
     multiplier	depends	on the string's	contents, the operating	system and the
     locale.) These downsides are dictated more	by the operating system's
     implementation of the locale system than by Perl.

     write() and LC_NUMERIC

     Formats are the only part of Perl which unconditionally use information
     from a program's locale; if a program's environment specifies an
     LC_NUMERIC	locale,	it is always used to specify the decimal point
     character in formatted output.  Formatted output cannot be	controlled by
     use locale	because	the pragma is tied to the block	structure of the
     program, and, for historical reasons, formats exist outside that block
     structure.

     Freely available locale definitions    [Toc]    [Back]

     There is a	large collection of locale definitions at
     ftp://dkuug.dk/i18n/WG15-collection.  You should be aware that it is
     unsupported, and is not claimed to	be fit for any purpose.	 If your
     system allows the installation of arbitrary locales, you may find the
     definitions useful	as they	are, or	as a basis for the development of your
     own locales.

     I18n and l10n    [Toc]    [Back]






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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)



     "Internationalization" is often abbreviated as i18n because its first and
     last letters are separated	by eighteen others.  (You may guess why	the
     internalin	... internaliti	... i18n tends to get abbreviated.)  In	the
     same way, "localization" is often abbreviated to l10n.

     An	imperfect standard

     Internationalization, as defined in the C and POSIX standards, can	be
     criticized	as incomplete, ungainly, and having too	large a	granularity.
     (Locales apply to a whole process,	when it	would arguably be more useful
     to	have them apply	to a single thread, window group, or whatever.)	 They
     also have a tendency, like	standards groups, to divide the	world into
     nations, when we all know that the	world can equally well be divided into
     bankers, bikers, gamers, and so on.  But, for now,	it's the only standard
     we've got.	 This may be construed as a bug.

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Broken systems

     In	certain	system environments the	operating system's locale support is
     broken and	cannot be fixed	or used	by Perl.  Such deficiencies can	and
     will result in mysterious hangs and/or Perl core dumps when the use
     locale is in effect.  When	confronted with	such a system, please report
     in	excruciating detail to <perlbug@perl.com>, and complain	to your
     vendor: maybe some	bug fixes exist	for these problems in your operating
     system.  Sometimes	such bug fixes are called an operating system upgrade.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

      
      
     the isalnum entry in the POSIX (3)	manpage, the isalpha entry in the
     POSIX (3) manpage,	the isdigit entry in the POSIX (3) manpage, the
     isgraph entry in the POSIX	(3) manpage, the islower entry in the POSIX
     (3) manpage, the isprint entry in the POSIX (3) manpage, the ispunct
     entry in the POSIX	(3) manpage, the isspace entry in the POSIX (3)
     manpage, the isupper entry	in the POSIX (3) manpage, the isxdigit entry
     in	the POSIX (3) manpage, the localeconv entry in the POSIX (3) manpage,
     the setlocale entry in the	POSIX (3) manpage, the strcoll entry in	the
     POSIX (3) manpage,	the strftime entry in the POSIX	(3) manpage, the
     strtod entry in the POSIX (3) manpage, the	strxfrm	entry in the POSIX (3)
     manpage

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     Jarkko Hietaniemi's original perli18n.pod heavily hacked by Dominic
     Dunlop, assisted by the perl5-porters.

     Last update: Wed Jan 22 11:04:58 EST 1997










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PERLLOCALE(1)							 PERLLOCALE(1)


								       PPPPaaaaggggeeee 11115555
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