How to compare localized strings in Smalltalk?

user_4120271 0
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Is it possible to compare localized strings in some Smalltalk implementation? The only one I have met so far is Pharo and GNU ST, which seem to lack this ability. It seems the only possibility would be to write an ICU wrapper from scratch. (That's far beyond my experiences.)

I know this is a complicated functionality. Unfortunately, it is needed very often everywhere, e.g., sorting menus in web apps.

I mean:

'á' > 'a' => true

And the possibility to use the comparison for sorting arrays of strings:

#('č' 'ř' 'a' 'r' 'á') asSortedCollection => #('a' 'á' 'č' 'r' 'ř')
pharo smalltalk string-comparison
3 Answers

I can't speak for other dialects, but GemStone does have this capability:

topaz 1> run
'á' > 'a'
%
true
topaz 1> run
#('č' 'ř' 'a' 'r' 'á') asSortedCollection printString
%
aSortedCollection( 'a', 'á', '\u010d', 'r', '\u0159')
topaz 1>

For details see the Programmer's Guide.

user_2029690

Should be straightforward to translate from the NativeBoost (old FFI style used in Pharo 4) to UFFI. The code is on the gemstone repo. Easiest way is to first make sure you can run an old Pharo 4 using deprecated releases in the Launcher and verify that works for you. You might need to install 32-bit libraries for that to work (or use something like a 32-bit virtual box image). The packages independent from NativeBoost load in Pharo 8. There is a booklet about UFFI

Stephan_Eggermont_353060

I can speak for Smalltalk/X-jv branch dialect. If I remember correctly Smalltalk/X is natively Unicode.

Your examples will naturally give your results. This is direct paste from Workspace (adding a space between printed value for better readability):

'á' > 'a' true.

#('č' 'ř' 'a' 'r' 'á') asSortedCollection SortedCollection('a' 'r' 'á' 'č' 'ř')
user_60598960
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