Locale::Codes::Types(3User Contributed Perl DocumentaLocale::Codes::Types(3pm)
NAME
Locale::Codes::Types - types of data sets supported
DESCRIPTION
This document contains a description of different types of code sets
supported by the Locale-Codes distribution.
The following types are supported:
"country"
"language"
"currency"
"script"
"langfam"
"langvar"
"langext"
Any time you have to specify the type of data, use one of the values
from this list. When using the OO interface, you have to specify the
type of data you are working with. For example:
use Locale::Codes;
...
$obj->type('country');
$obj->type('langext');
When using the traditional interfaces, the functions all have the data
type included in the function name. For example:
use Locale::Codes::Country;
code2country(...);
use Locale::Codes::LangExt;
code2langext(...);
Each type of data may have any number of code sets. Code sets may be
specified by name. Traditionally, a perl constant was exported and
could also be used to specify the code set.
Both methods are available for both the OO and traditional interfaces,
so whenever a function or method takes an argument specifying a code
set, either the name or a constant can be used.
In the lists below, a code set is specified in the list by including
the name and the constant. So, for example, the first country code set
is named 'alpha-2' and has a perl constant "LOCALE_COUNTRY_ALPHA_2"
associated with it. When using the OO interface, the constants are
only available if you import them by loading the module with:
use Locale::Codes ':constants';
The constants are always available when using the traditional
interfaces.
Some of the older perl constants names were not consistent, and in
those cases, two constants are available (a newer consistent name and
the older inconsistent one). Either may be used.
The default code set for each type is marked with an asterisk (*).
country
Code sets for identifying countries are maintained by several different
agencies and standards.
The following code sets are maintained in the ISO 3166 standard. The
official home page for the ISO 3166 maintenance agency is:
<http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/country_codes.htm> .
Only the officially assigned codes are included.
* alpha-2, LOCALE_COUNTRY_ALPHA_2, LOCALE_CODE_ALPHA_2
This is the set of two-letter (lowercase) codes from ISO 3166-1,
such as 'tv' for Tuvalu.
alpha-3, LOCALE_COUNTRY_ALPHA_3, LOCALE_CODE_ALPHA_3
This is the set of three-letter (lowercase) codes from ISO 3166-1,
such as 'brb' for Barbados. These codes are actually defined and
maintained by the U.N. Statistics division.
numeric, LOCALE_COUNTRY_NUMERIC, LOCALE_CODE_NUMERIC
This is the set of three-digit numeric codes from ISO 3166-1, such
as 064 for Bhutan.
If a 2-digit code is entered, it is converted to 3 digits by
prepending a 0.
A list of domain names are maintained by the IANA (Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority). These are available at:
<http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/> . Only the actual country codes
are used, and the country names come from ISO 3166.
dom, LOCALE_COUNTRY_DOM, LOCALE_CODE_DOM
The country domains assigned by IANA are usually the two-letter
(lowercase) codes from ISO 3166, but there are a few other
additions.
The United Nations also maintains country lists. Their list is also
similar, but not identical, to the ISO 3166 list.
The data is available here:
<https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/>
Previously, this table was treated as a source of the ISO 3166 data,
but I found that the table was incomplete, so I stopped using it.
Later, it was added back in as it's own list of codes.
un-alpha-3, LOCALE_COUNTRY_UN_ALPHA_3, LOCALE_CODE_UN_ALPHA_3
This is similar to the 'alpha-3' set from ISO 3166, except that the
codes are uppercase.
un-numeric, LOCALE_COUNTRY_UN_NUMERIC, LOCALE_CODE_UN_NUMERIC
This is similar to the 'numeric' set from ISO 3166.
The US Government also keeps a list of codes. Originally, it
maintained the FIPS-11 code set, but this was deprecated and replaced
by the GENC code set. The FIPS-11 code sets are no longer supported by
Locale-Codes.
The GENC code sets are available here:
<https://nsgreg.nga.mil/genc/discovery> . They are also similar, but
not identical, to the ISO 3166 code sets.
genc-alpha-2, LOCALE_COUNTRY_GENC_ALPHA_2, LOCALE_CODE_GENC_ALPHA_2
Similar to the 'alpha-2' set, but uppercase.
genc-alpha-3, LOCALE_COUNTRY_GENC_ALPHA_3, LOCALE_CODE_GENC_ALPHA_3
Similar to the 'alpha-3' set, but uppercase.
genc-numeric, LOCALE_COUNTRY_GENC_NUMERIC, LOCALE_CODE_GENC_NUMERIC
Similar to the 'numeric' set.
There are other sources of codes that are not currently used in this
distribution.
ISO codes for country sub-divisions (states, counties, provinces, etc),
as defined in ISO 3166-2. This module is not part of the Locale-Codes
distribution, but is available from CPAN in
CPAN/modules/by-module/Locale/
The World Factbook maintained by the CIA is a potential source of the
data. Unfortunately, it adds/preserves non-standard codes, so it is
not used as a source of data.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-d.html>
Another unofficial source of data is the Statoids web site:
<http://www.statoids.com/wab.html> . Currently, it is not used to get
data, but the notes and explanatory material were very useful for
understanding discrepancies between the sources.
language
Code sets for identifying languages come from a couple different
locations.
The primary source is ISO 639 . The ISO 639-2 codes are available
here: <http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/> and the ISO 639-5 codes
are available here: <http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-5/> .
In addition, the IANA maintains a language registry which are added to
the ISO lists. Because it is intended to supplement the ISO standard,
the IANA list is not separate.
The IANA data is available here:
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry>
The code sets are:
* alpha-2, LOCALE_LANGUAGE_ALPHA_2, LOCALE_LANG_ALPHA_2
This is the set of two-letter (lowercase) codes from ISO 639-1,
such as 'he' for Hebrew. It also includes additions to this set
included in the IANA language registry.
alpha-3, LOCALE_LANGUAGE_ALPHA_3, LOCALE_LANG_ALPHA_3
This is the set of three-letter (lowercase) bibliographic codes
from ISO 639-2 and 639-5, such as 'heb' for Hebrew. It also
includes additions to this set included in the IANA language
registry.
term, LOCALE_LANGUAGE_TERM, LOCALE_LANG_TERM
This is the set of three-letter (lowercase) terminologic codes from
ISO 639.
currency
The source of currency codes is the ISO 4217 data available here:
<https://www.six-group.com/en/products-services/financial-information/data-standards.html>
The code sets are:
* alpha, LOCALE_CURRENCY_ALPHA, LOCALE_CURR_ALPHA
This is a set of three-letter (uppercase) codes from ISO 4217 such
as EUR for Euro.
Two of the codes specified by the standard (XTS which is reserved
for testing purposes and XXX which is for transactions where no
currency is involved) are omitted.
num, LOCALE_CURRENCY_NUMERIC, LOCALE_CURR_NUMERIC
This is the set of three-digit numeric codes from ISO 4217.
script
The source of script code sets is ISO 15924 available here:
<http://www.unicode.org/iso15924/>
Additional data comes from the IANA language subtag registry:
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry> .
Code sets are:
* alpha, LOCALE_SCRIPT_ALPHA
This is a set of four-letter (capitalized) codes from ISO 15924
such as 'Phnx' for Phoenician. It also includes additions to this
set included in the IANA language registry.
The Zxxx, Zyyy, and Zzzz codes are not used.
num, LOCALE_SCRIPT_NUMERIC
This is a set of three-digit numeric codes from ISO 15924 such as
115 for Phoenician.
langfam
Language families are specified using codes from ISO 639-5 available
here: <http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-5/id.php>
Code sets are:
* alpha, LOCALE_LANGFAM_ALPHA
This is the set of three-letter (lowercase) codes from ISO 639-5
such as 'apa' for Apache languages.
langvar
Language variations are specified using codes from he IANA language
subtag registry available here:
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry>
Code sets are:
* alpha, LOCALE_LANGVAR_ALPHA
This is the set of alphanumeric codes from the IANA language
registry, such as 'arevela' for Eastern Armenian.
langext
Language extensions are specified using codes from he IANA language
subtag registry available here:
<http://www.iana.org/assignments/language-subtag-registry>
Code sets are:
* alpha, LOCALE_LANGEXT_ALPHA
This is the set of three-letter (lowercase) codes from the IANA
language registry, such as 'acm' for Mesopotamian Arabic.
NEW CODE SETS
I'm always open to suggestions for new code sets.
In order for me to add a code set, I want the following criteria to be
met:
General-use code set
If a code set is not general use, I'm not likely to spend the time
to add and support it.
An official source of data
I require an official (or at least, a NEARLY official) source where
I can get the data on a regular basis.
Ideally, I'd only get data from an official source, but sometimes
that is not possible. For example the ISO standards are not
typically available for free, so I may have to get some of that
data from alternate sources that I'm confident are getting their
data from the official source. However, I will always be hesitant
to accept a non-official source.
As an example, I used to get some country data from the CIA World
Factbook. Given the nature of the source, I'm sure they're updating
data from the official sources and I consider it "nearly" official.
However, even in this case, I found that they were adding codes
that were not part of the standard, so I have stopped using them as
a source.
There are many 3rd party sites which maintain lists (many of which
are actually in a more convenient form than the official sites).
Unfortunately, I will reject most of them since I have no feel for
how "official" they are.
A free source of the data
Obviously, the data must be free-of-charge. I'm not interested in
paying for the data (and I'm not interested in the overhead of
having someone else pay for the data for me).
A reliable source of data
The source of data must come from a source that I can reasonably
expect to exist for the foreseeable future since I will be
extremely reluctant to drop support for a data set once it's
included.
I am also reluctant to accept data sent to me by an individual.
Although I appreciate the offer, it is simply not practical to
consider an individual contribution as a reliable source of data.
The source should be an official agency of some sort.
These requirements are open to discussion. If you have a code set you'd
like to see added, but which may not meet all of the above
requirements, feel free to email me and we'll discuss it. Depending on
circumstances, I may be willing to waive some of these criteria.
SEE ALSO
Locale::Codes
The Locale-Codes distribution.
AUTHOR
See Locale::Codes for full author history.
Currently maintained by Sullivan Beck (sbeck@cpan.org).
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1997-2001 Canon Research Centre Europe (CRE).
Copyright (c) 2001-2010 Neil Bowers
Copyright (c) 2010-2023 Sullivan Beck
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.36.0 2023-03-11 Locale::Codes::Types(3pm)
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