Re: Remaining dependency on setlocale()

On Fri, Dec 13, 2024 at 8:22 AM Jeff Davis <pgsql@j-davis.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 2024-08-14 at 12:00 -0700, Jeff Davis wrote:
> > On Wed, 2024-08-14 at 14:31 +1200, Thomas Munro wrote:
> > > 1.  The process global locale is always "C".  If you ever call
> > > uselocale(), it can only be for short stretches, and you have to
> > > restore it straight after; perhaps it is only ever used in
> > > replacement
> > > _l() functions for systems that lack them.  You need to use _l()
> > > functions for all non-"C" locales.  The current database default
> > > needs
> > > to be available as a variable (in future: thread-local variable, or
> > > reachable from one), so you can use it in _l() functions.  The "C"
> > > locale can be accessed implicitly with non-l() functions, or you
> > > could
> > > ban those to reduce confusion and use foo_l(..., LC_GLOBAL_LOCALE)
> > > for
> > > "C".  Or a name like PG_C_LOCALE, which, in backend code could be
> > > just
> > > LC_GLOBAL_LOCALE, while in frontend/library code it could be the
> > > singleton mechanism I showed in CF#5166.
> >
> > +1 to this approach. It makes things more consistent across platforms
> > and avoids surprising dependencies on the global setting.
> >
> > We'll have to be careful that each call site is either OK with C, or
> > that it gets changed to an _l() variant. We also have to be careful
> > about extensions.
>
> Did we reach a conclusion here? Any thoughts on moving in this
> direction, and whether 18 is the right time to do it?

I think this is the best way, and I haven't seen anyone supporting any
other idea.  (I'm working on those setlocale()-removal patches I
mentioned, more very soon...)