Fix strings.rst style

Wrapped long lines and removed a few trailing spaces.
This commit is contained in:
Jason Rhinelander 2017-06-18 21:17:13 -04:00
parent ce7024fdf5
commit aee409dc8d

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@ -3,14 +3,23 @@ Strings, bytes and Unicode conversions
.. note:: .. note::
This section discusses string handling in terms of Python 3 strings. For Python 2.7, replace all occurrences of ``str`` with ``unicode`` and ``bytes`` with ``str``. Python 2.7 users may find it best to use ``from __future__ import unicode_literals`` to avoid unintentionally using ``str`` instead of ``unicode``. This section discusses string handling in terms of Python 3 strings. For
Python 2.7, replace all occurrences of ``str`` with ``unicode`` and
``bytes`` with ``str``. Python 2.7 users may find it best to use ``from
__future__ import unicode_literals`` to avoid unintentionally using ``str``
instead of ``unicode``.
Passing Python strings to C++ Passing Python strings to C++
============================= =============================
When a Python ``str`` is passed from Python to a C++ function that accepts ``std::string`` or ``char *`` as arguments, pybind11 will encode the Python string to UTF-8. All Python ``str`` can be encoded in UTF-8, so this operation does not fail. When a Python ``str`` is passed from Python to a C++ function that accepts
``std::string`` or ``char *`` as arguments, pybind11 will encode the Python
string to UTF-8. All Python ``str`` can be encoded in UTF-8, so this operation
does not fail.
The C++ language is encoding agnostic. It is the responsibility of the programmer to track encodings. It's often easiest to simply `use UTF-8 everywhere <http://utf8everywhere.org/>`_. The C++ language is encoding agnostic. It is the responsibility of the
programmer to track encodings. It's often easiest to simply `use UTF-8
everywhere <http://utf8everywhere.org/>`_.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -39,20 +48,27 @@ The C++ language is encoding agnostic. It is the responsibility of the programme
.. note:: .. note::
Some terminal emulators do not support UTF-8 or emoji fonts and may not display the example above correctly. Some terminal emulators do not support UTF-8 or emoji fonts and may not
display the example above correctly.
The results are the same whether the C++ function accepts arguments by value or reference, and whether or not ``const`` is used. The results are the same whether the C++ function accepts arguments by value or
reference, and whether or not ``const`` is used.
Passing bytes to C++ Passing bytes to C++
-------------------- --------------------
A Python ``bytes`` object will be passed to C++ functions that accept ``std::string`` or ``char*`` *without* conversion. A Python ``bytes`` object will be passed to C++ functions that accept
``std::string`` or ``char*`` *without* conversion.
Returning C++ strings to Python Returning C++ strings to Python
=============================== ===============================
When a C++ function returns a ``std::string`` or ``char*`` to a Python caller, **pybind11 will assume that the string is valid UTF-8** and will decode it to a native Python ``str``, using the same API as Python uses to perform ``bytes.decode('utf-8')``. If this implicit conversion fails, pybind11 will raise a ``UnicodeDecodeError``. When a C++ function returns a ``std::string`` or ``char*`` to a Python caller,
**pybind11 will assume that the string is valid UTF-8** and will decode it to a
native Python ``str``, using the same API as Python uses to perform
``bytes.decode('utf-8')``. If this implicit conversion fails, pybind11 will
raise a ``UnicodeDecodeError``.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -68,16 +84,22 @@ When a C++ function returns a ``std::string`` or ``char*`` to a Python caller, *
True True
Because UTF-8 is inclusive of pure ASCII, there is never any issue with returning a pure ASCII string to Python. If there is any possibility that the string is not pure ASCII, it is necessary to ensure the encoding is valid UTF-8. Because UTF-8 is inclusive of pure ASCII, there is never any issue with
returning a pure ASCII string to Python. If there is any possibility that the
string is not pure ASCII, it is necessary to ensure the encoding is valid
UTF-8.
.. warning:: .. warning::
Implicit conversion assumes that a returned ``char *`` is null-terminated. If there is no null terminator a buffer overrun will occur. Implicit conversion assumes that a returned ``char *`` is null-terminated.
If there is no null terminator a buffer overrun will occur.
Explicit conversions Explicit conversions
-------------------- --------------------
If some C++ code constructs a ``std::string`` that is not a UTF-8 string, one can perform a explicit conversion and return a ``py::str`` object. Explicit conversion has the same overhead as implicit conversion. If some C++ code constructs a ``std::string`` that is not a UTF-8 string, one
can perform a explicit conversion and return a ``py::str`` object. Explicit
conversion has the same overhead as implicit conversion.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -95,15 +117,20 @@ If some C++ code constructs a ``std::string`` that is not a UTF-8 string, one ca
>>> str_output() >>> str_output()
'Send your résumé to Alice in HR' 'Send your résumé to Alice in HR'
The `Python C API <https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/unicode.html#built-in-codecs>`_ provides several built-in codecs. The `Python C API
<https://docs.python.org/3/c-api/unicode.html#built-in-codecs>`_ provides
several built-in codecs.
One could also use a third party encoding library such as libiconv to transcode to UTF-8. One could also use a third party encoding library such as libiconv to transcode
to UTF-8.
Return C++ strings without conversion Return C++ strings without conversion
------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
If the data in a C++ ``std::string`` does not represent text and should be returned to Python as ``bytes``, then one can return the data as a ``py::bytes`` object. If the data in a C++ ``std::string`` does not represent text and should be
returned to Python as ``bytes``, then one can return the data as a
``py::bytes`` object.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -120,7 +147,8 @@ If the data in a C++ ``std::string`` does not represent text and should be retur
b'\xba\xd0\xba\xd0' b'\xba\xd0\xba\xd0'
Note the asymmetry: pybind11 will convert ``bytes`` to ``std::string`` without encoding, but cannot convert ``std::string`` back to ``bytes`` implicitly. Note the asymmetry: pybind11 will convert ``bytes`` to ``std::string`` without
encoding, but cannot convert ``std::string`` back to ``bytes`` implicitly.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -128,7 +156,7 @@ Note the asymmetry: pybind11 will convert ``bytes`` to ``std::string`` without e
[](std::string s) { // Accepts str or bytes from Python [](std::string s) { // Accepts str or bytes from Python
return s; // Looks harmless, but implicitly converts to str return s; // Looks harmless, but implicitly converts to str
} }
); );
.. code-block:: python .. code-block:: python
@ -142,7 +170,12 @@ Note the asymmetry: pybind11 will convert ``bytes`` to ``std::string`` without e
Wide character strings Wide character strings
====================== ======================
When a Python ``str`` is passed to a C++ function expecting ``std::wstring``, ``wchar_t*``, ``std::u16string`` or ``std::u32string``, the ``str`` will be encoded to UTF-16 or UTF-32 depending on how the C++ compiler implements each type, in the platform's endian. When strings of these types are returned, they are assumed to contain valid UTF-16 or UTF-32, and will be decoded to Python ``str``. When a Python ``str`` is passed to a C++ function expecting ``std::wstring``,
``wchar_t*``, ``std::u16string`` or ``std::u32string``, the ``str`` will be
encoded to UTF-16 or UTF-32 depending on how the C++ compiler implements each
type, in the platform's endian. When strings of these types are returned, they
are assumed to contain valid UTF-16 or UTF-32, and will be decoded to Python
``str``.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -171,17 +204,23 @@ When a Python ``str`` is passed to a C++ function expecting ``std::wstring``, ``
.. warning:: .. warning::
Wide character strings may not work as described on Python 2.7 or Python 3.3 compiled with ``--enable-unicode=ucs2``. Wide character strings may not work as described on Python 2.7 or Python
3.3 compiled with ``--enable-unicode=ucs2``.
Strings in multibyte encodings such as Shift-JIS must transcoded to a UTF-8/16/32 before being returned to Python. Strings in multibyte encodings such as Shift-JIS must transcoded to a
UTF-8/16/32 before being returned to Python.
Character literals Character literals
================== ==================
C++ functions that accept character literals as input will receive the first character of a Python ``str`` as their input. If the string is longer than one Unicode character, trailing characters will be ignored. C++ functions that accept character literals as input will receive the first
character of a Python ``str`` as their input. If the string is longer than one
Unicode character, trailing characters will be ignored.
When a character literal is returned from C++ (such as a ``char`` or a ``wchar_t``), it will be converted to a ``str`` that represents the single character. When a character literal is returned from C++ (such as a ``char`` or a
``wchar_t``), it will be converted to a ``str`` that represents the single
character.
.. code-block:: c++ .. code-block:: c++
@ -189,26 +228,34 @@ When a character literal is returned from C++ (such as a ``char`` or a ``wchar_t
m.def("pass_wchar", [](wchar_t w) { return w; }); m.def("pass_wchar", [](wchar_t w) { return w; });
.. code-block:: python .. code-block:: python
>>> example.pass_char('A') >>> example.pass_char('A')
'A' 'A'
While C++ will cast integers to character types (``char c = 0x65;``), pybind11 does not convert Python integers to characters implicitly. The Python function ``chr()`` can be used to convert integers to characters. While C++ will cast integers to character types (``char c = 0x65;``), pybind11
does not convert Python integers to characters implicitly. The Python function
``chr()`` can be used to convert integers to characters.
.. code-block:: python .. code-block:: python
>>> example.pass_char(0x65) >>> example.pass_char(0x65)
TypeError TypeError
>>> example.pass_char(chr(0x65)) >>> example.pass_char(chr(0x65))
'A' 'A'
If the desire is to work with an 8-bit integer, use ``int8_t`` or ``uint8_t`` as the argument type. If the desire is to work with an 8-bit integer, use ``int8_t`` or ``uint8_t``
as the argument type.
Grapheme clusters Grapheme clusters
----------------- -----------------
A single grapheme may be represented by two or more Unicode characters. For example 'é' is usually represented as U+00E9 but can also be expressed as the combining character sequence U+0065 U+0301 (that is, the letter 'e' followed by a combining acute accent). The combining character will be lost if the two-character sequence is passed as an argument, even though it renders as a single grapheme. A single grapheme may be represented by two or more Unicode characters. For
example 'é' is usually represented as U+00E9 but can also be expressed as the
combining character sequence U+0065 U+0301 (that is, the letter 'e' followed by
a combining acute accent). The combining character will be lost if the
two-character sequence is passed as an argument, even though it renders as a
single grapheme.
.. code-block:: python .. code-block:: python
@ -226,18 +273,22 @@ A single grapheme may be represented by two or more Unicode characters. For exam
>>> example.pass_wchar(combining_e_acute) >>> example.pass_wchar(combining_e_acute)
'e' 'e'
Normalizing combining characters before passing the character literal to C++ may resolve *some* of these issues: Normalizing combining characters before passing the character literal to C++
may resolve *some* of these issues:
.. code-block:: python .. code-block:: python
>>> example.pass_wchar(unicodedata.normalize('NFC', combining_e_acute)) >>> example.pass_wchar(unicodedata.normalize('NFC', combining_e_acute))
'é' 'é'
In some languages (Thai for example), there are `graphemes that cannot be expressed as a single Unicode code point <http://unicode.org/reports/tr29/#Grapheme_Cluster_Boundaries>`_, so there is no way to capture them in a C++ character type. In some languages (Thai for example), there are `graphemes that cannot be
expressed as a single Unicode code point
<http://unicode.org/reports/tr29/#Grapheme_Cluster_Boundaries>`_, so there is
no way to capture them in a C++ character type.
References References
========== ==========
* `The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!) <https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2003/10/08/the-absolute-minimum-every-software-developer-absolutely-positively-must-know-about-unicode-and-character-sets-no-excuses/>`_ * `The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!) <https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2003/10/08/the-absolute-minimum-every-software-developer-absolutely-positively-must-know-about-unicode-and-character-sets-no-excuses/>`
* `C++ - Using STL Strings at Win32 API Boundaries <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ca/magazine/mt238407.aspx>`_ * `C++ - Using STL Strings at Win32 API Boundaries <https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-ca/magazine/mt238407.aspx>`_