2 :mod:`stringprep` --- Internet String Preparation
3 =================================================
6 :synopsis: String preparation, as per RFC 3453
8 .. moduleauthor:: Martin v. Löwis <martin@v.loewis.de>
9 .. sectionauthor:: Martin v. Löwis <martin@v.loewis.de>
14 When identifying things (such as host names) in the internet, it is often
15 necessary to compare such identifications for "equality". Exactly how this
16 comparison is executed may depend on the application domain, e.g. whether it
17 should be case-insensitive or not. It may be also necessary to restrict the
18 possible identifications, to allow only identifications consisting of
19 "printable" characters.
21 :rfc:`3454` defines a procedure for "preparing" Unicode strings in internet
22 protocols. Before passing strings onto the wire, they are processed with the
23 preparation procedure, after which they have a certain normalized form. The RFC
24 defines a set of tables, which can be combined into profiles. Each profile must
25 define which tables it uses, and what other optional parts of the ``stringprep``
26 procedure are part of the profile. One example of a ``stringprep`` profile is
27 ``nameprep``, which is used for internationalized domain names.
29 The module :mod:`stringprep` only exposes the tables from RFC 3454. As these
30 tables would be very large to represent them as dictionaries or lists, the
31 module uses the Unicode character database internally. The module source code
32 itself was generated using the ``mkstringprep.py`` utility.
34 As a result, these tables are exposed as functions, not as data structures.
35 There are two kinds of tables in the RFC: sets and mappings. For a set,
36 :mod:`stringprep` provides the "characteristic function", i.e. a function that
37 returns true if the parameter is part of the set. For mappings, it provides the
38 mapping function: given the key, it returns the associated value. Below is a
39 list of all functions available in the module.
42 .. function:: in_table_a1(code)
44 Determine whether *code* is in tableA.1 (Unassigned code points in Unicode 3.2).
47 .. function:: in_table_b1(code)
49 Determine whether *code* is in tableB.1 (Commonly mapped to nothing).
52 .. function:: map_table_b2(code)
54 Return the mapped value for *code* according to tableB.2 (Mapping for
55 case-folding used with NFKC).
58 .. function:: map_table_b3(code)
60 Return the mapped value for *code* according to tableB.3 (Mapping for
61 case-folding used with no normalization).
64 .. function:: in_table_c11(code)
66 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.1.1 (ASCII space characters).
69 .. function:: in_table_c12(code)
71 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.1.2 (Non-ASCII space characters).
74 .. function:: in_table_c11_c12(code)
76 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.1 (Space characters, union of C.1.1 and
80 .. function:: in_table_c21(code)
82 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.2.1 (ASCII control characters).
85 .. function:: in_table_c22(code)
87 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.2.2 (Non-ASCII control characters).
90 .. function:: in_table_c21_c22(code)
92 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.2 (Control characters, union of C.2.1 and
96 .. function:: in_table_c3(code)
98 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.3 (Private use).
101 .. function:: in_table_c4(code)
103 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.4 (Non-character code points).
106 .. function:: in_table_c5(code)
108 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.5 (Surrogate codes).
111 .. function:: in_table_c6(code)
113 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.6 (Inappropriate for plain text).
116 .. function:: in_table_c7(code)
118 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.7 (Inappropriate for canonical
122 .. function:: in_table_c8(code)
124 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.8 (Change display properties or are
128 .. function:: in_table_c9(code)
130 Determine whether *code* is in tableC.9 (Tagging characters).
133 .. function:: in_table_d1(code)
135 Determine whether *code* is in tableD.1 (Characters with bidirectional property
139 .. function:: in_table_d2(code)
141 Determine whether *code* is in tableD.2 (Characters with bidirectional property