The locale module

This module provides an interface to C’s localization functions. It also provides functions to convert between numbers and strings based on the current locale (functions like int and float, as well as the numeric conversion functions in string, are not affected by the current locale).

Example: Using the locale module for data formatting

# File: locale-example-1.py

import locale

print "locale", "=>", locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, "")

# integer formatting
value = 4711
print locale.format("%d", value, 1), "==",
print locale.atoi(locale.format("%d", value, 1))

# floating point
value = 47.11
print locale.format("%f", value, 1), "==",
print locale.atof(locale.format("%f", value, 1))

info = locale.localeconv()
print info["int_curr_symbol"]

locale => Swedish_Sweden.1252
4 711 == 4711
47,110000 == 47.11
SEK

Example: Using the locale module to get the platform locale

# File: locale-example-2.py

import locale

language, encoding = locale.getdefaultlocale()

print "language", language
print "encoding", encoding

language sv_SE
encoding cp1252

[comment on/vote for this article]