Encoding problem with tr() and hash keys

Ruby
1

Please help to understand solution to this problem (ruby 1.9.1):

In utf-8 environment I do:

irb(main):121:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “ā”=>2}
irb(main):122:0> h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> false <— wrong!
irb(main):123:0> h.key? “\u0101”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true

So after I change utf-8 string without extended chars in it with tr(),
where second character set is having extended chars, new string is not
found in hash.

Boths string are same in Marshal encoding:

irb(main):124:0> Marshal.dump “a”.tr("\u0101", “\u0101”)
=> “\x04\bI”\x06a\x06:\rencoding"\nUTF-8"
irb(main):126:0> Marshal.dump “a”
=> “\x04\bI”\x06a\x06:\rencoding"\nUTF-8"

Question is how I should code using tr() that new string will be found
in hash?

And I think this is bug in ruby, because it is completely not expected
behavior.

2

Do One wrote:

Please help to understand solution to this problem (ruby 1.9.1):

In utf-8 environment I do:

irb(main):121:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “ā”=>2}
irb(main):122:0> h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> false <— wrong!

h = {“a” => 1, “b” => 2}

p “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”) #“a”

puts h.key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “x”)) #true

ruby 1.8.2

3

7stud – wrote:

h = {“a” => 1, “b” => 2}

p “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”) #“a”

puts h.key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “x”)) #true

ruby 1.8.2

Whoops. Make that:

h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}

p “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”) #=>“a”

puts h.key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)) #=>true

4

Problem described is under modern ruby 1.9.1 in utf-8 environment.

7stud – wrote:

ruby 1.8.2

Whoops. Make that:

ruby 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0) [i686-linux]
irb(main):001:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “u0101”=>2}

See? It even dont understand unicode escape sequence \uXXXX.

Do One wrote:

Please help to understand solution to this problem (ruby 1.9.1):

In utf-8 environment I do:

irb(main):121:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “ā”=>2}
irb(main):122:0> h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> false <— wrong!
irb(main):123:0> h.key? “\u0101”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true

So after I change utf-8 string without extended chars in it with tr(),
where second character set is having extended chars, new string is not
found in hash.

Boths string are same in Marshal encoding:

irb(main):124:0> Marshal.dump “a”.tr("\u0101", “\u0101”)
=> “\x04\bI”\x06a\x06:\rencoding"\nUTF-8"
irb(main):126:0> Marshal.dump “a”
=> “\x04\bI”\x06a\x06:\rencoding"\nUTF-8"

Question is how I should code using tr() that new string will be found
in hash?

And I think this is bug in ruby, because it is completely not expected
behavior.

5

Just built 1.9.1p0, and there’s no difference here (all ‘true’
responses)

6

Do One wrote:

Please help to understand solution to this problem (ruby 1.9.1):

In utf-8 environment I do:

irb(main):121:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “ā”=>2}
irb(main):122:0> h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> false <— wrong!
irb(main):123:0> h.key? “\u0101”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true

Perhaps describe your environment in more detail? It works for me:

$ irb19
irb(main):001:0> h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
=> {“a”=>1, “ā”=>2}
irb(main):002:0> h.key?(“a”)
=> true
irb(main):003:0> h.key?("\u0101")
=> true
irb(main):004:0> h.key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”))
=> true
irb(main):005:0> h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true
irb(main):006:0> h.key? “z”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true
irb(main):007:0>

This is Ubuntu Hardy, ruby 1.9.1 (2008-12-01 revision 20438)
[i686-linux] compiled from source. I think this is 1.9.1-preview2 rather
than 1.9.1-p0.

To eliminate problems with encoding, maybe try writing this as a script
and running it from the command line:

p h = {“a” => 1, “\u0101” => 2}
p h.key?(“a”)
p h.key?("\u0101")
p h.key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”))
p h.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
p h.key? “z”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)

ruby19 test.rb
ruby19 -Ku test.rb
ruby19 --encoding UTF-8:UTF-8 test.rb

to see if this makes any difference. On my machine at least, the -K and
–encoding flags are not recognised by irb.

7

Yes it was fixed yesterday with two consecutive patches, first one was
not fixing it completely, but before I found how to reproduce a bug it
is got fixed second time. (ruby 1.9.2 svn trunk)

Perhaps describe your environment in more detail? It works for me:

How to reproduce a bug (to understand its traps) -

  1. utf-8 env:

$ ruby -v
ruby 1.9.1p0 (2009-01-30 revision 21907) [i686-linux]
$ export LC_CTYPE=en_US.utf-8
$ irb
irb(main):001:0> {“a” => 1}.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> false

Reproduced. Without utf-8 env you just don’t see it:

$ export LC_CTYPE=en_US
$ irb
irb(main):001:0> {“a” => 1}.key? “a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
=> true

  1. Even if your env is not utf-8 but your script have “encoding: utf-8”
    magic comment then bug will be there:

$ cat a.rb
#encoding: utf-8
p ({“a” => 1}).key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”))
$ ruby a.rb
false

  1. Or you are using -KU switch:

$ ruby -KU -e ‘p ({“a” => 1}).key?(“a”.tr(“z”, “\u0101”))’
false

I stuck on this by parsing word lists where some words having
diacritical marks, some words getting worked out differently then
others, code was correct and it was just plain crazy.

8

Just built 1.9.1p0, and there’s no difference here (all ‘true’
responses)

AFAIK it was fixed here:
http://groups.google.com/group/ruby-core-google/browse_frm/thread/504ea46905c1c6af

9

Do One wrote:

Yes it was fixed yesterday with two consecutive patches, first one was
not fixing it completely, but before I found how to reproduce a bug it
is got fixed second time. (ruby 1.9.2 svn trunk)

It looks like this craziness is core behaviour for ruby 1.9,
unfortunately.

Notice that in your script which reproduces the problem, the encodings
of the two strings match. Results shown are for ruby 1.9.1p0 (2009-01-30
revision 21907) [i686-linux]

#encoding: utf-8
a = “a”
b = a.tr(“z”, “\u0101”)
h = {a => 1}
p h.key?(a) #true
p h.key?(b) #false !!

p a #“a”
p b #“a”
p a.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8
p b.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8

p a == b #true
p a.hash #137519702
p b.hash #137519703 AHA!

So two strings, with identical byte sequences and identical encodings,
calculate different hashes. So there must be some hidden internal state
in the string which affects the calculation of the hash. I presume this
is the flag ENC_CODERANGE_7BIT.

It’s hard to test whether this flag has been set correctly, if
String#encoding doesn’t show it, so you have to use indirect methods
like String#hash.

But now I think I understand the problem, it’s easy to find more
examples of the same brokenness. Here’s one:

#encoding: utf-8
a = “a”
b = “aß”
b = b.delete(“ß”)
h = {a => 1}
p h.key?(a) #true
p h.key?(b) #false !!

p a #“a”
p b #“a”
p a.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8
p b.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8

p a == b #true
p a.hash #-590825394
p b.hash #-590825393

I wonder just how many other string methods are broken in this way? And
how many extension writers are going to set this hidden flag correctly
in their strings, if even the ruby core developers don’t always do it?

It looks like this flag is a bad optimisation.

  • It needs recalculating every time a string is modified (thus negating
    the benefits of the optimisation)

  • It introduces hidden state, which affects behaviour but cannot be
    directly tested

  • If the state is not set correctly every time a string is generated
    or modified - and this includes in all extension modules - then things
    break.

Regards,

Brian.

10

Brian C. wrote:

But now I think I understand the problem, it’s easy to find more
examples of the same brokenness. Here’s one:

#encoding: utf-8
a = “a”
b = “aß”
b = b.delete(“ß”)
h = {a => 1}
p h.key?(a) #true
p h.key?(b) #false !!

This is still false even in “fixed” 1.9.2dev. Probably you should report
it. :slight_smile:

I wonder just how many other string methods are broken in this way? And
how many extension writers are going to set this hidden flag correctly
in their strings, if even the ruby core developers don’t always do it?

Scary.

11

Brian C. wrote:

Do One wrote:

This is still false even in “fixed” 1.9.2dev. Probably you should report
it. :slight_smile:

It’s Not My Problem[TM], because I don’t use 1.9 and have no intention
of doing so for the foreseeable future. The semantics of Strings are now
so complex that they are not even documented (except as
reverse-engineered by some third parties for commercial books) - so how
can you complain when they do something you don’t expect?

Ruby <=1.8.6 is an old friend. But for me, Ruby >=1.9 is more like a
Rottweiler. I’m sure Rottweilers can make great companions to the right
sort of owners.

Ok, let’s not report it and see how long it will stay. :slight_smile:

12

Do One wrote:

Ok, let’s not report it and see how long it will stay. :slight_smile:

Go ahead, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem. Do you want to test
every method which returns a String? Do you want to do this for all
third-party C extensions?

13

Do One wrote:

Brian C. wrote:

But now I think I understand the problem, it’s easy to find more
examples of the same brokenness. Here’s one:

#encoding: utf-8
a = “a”
b = “aß”
b = b.delete(“ß”)
h = {a => 1}
p h.key?(a) #true
p h.key?(b) #false !!

This is still false even in “fixed” 1.9.2dev. Probably you should report
it. :slight_smile:

It’s Not My Problem[TM], because I don’t use 1.9 and have no intention
of doing so for the foreseeable future. The semantics of Strings are now
so complex that they are not even documented (except as
reverse-engineered by some third parties for commercial books) - so how
can you complain when they do something you don’t expect?

Ruby <=1.8.6 is an old friend. But for me, Ruby >=1.9 is more like a
Rottweiler. I’m sure Rottweilers can make great companions to the right
sort of owners.

B.

14

Florian G. wrote:

Then report the underlying problem.

IMO, the underlying problems are that ruby 1.9’s concept of Strings is
(a) not properly thought-out and (b) totally undocumented. I don’t think
a ticket on redmine would be appreciated on either count.

The idea that a string should carry along its encoding sounds great in
principle, but dozens of questions come out from that: even simple ones
like “what happens if I concatenate two strings with different
encodings?” are not answered without experimentation. And then you start
to uncover the rules about “compatible” encodings, automatic switching
between some character sets and US-ASCII, which happens some times but
not others, or is hidden away:

#encoding: UTF-8
a = “a”
p a.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8
p “#{a}”.encoding #Encoding:UTF-8
p /#{a}/.encoding #Encoding:US-ASCII

– Ruby could have decided up-front that this string was US-ASCII, but
didn’t. Except that it magically carries along some hidden knowledge
that this particular string, whilst declared to be UTF-8, is also
‘compatible’ with US-ASCII. Presumably, if you mutate it to include
special characters, this compatibility is lost, and it you mutate it
again to remove them, it is restored.

But it’s worse than that. With 1.8, someone could post a Ruby script on
this mailing list, and I’d have high confidence that it would work
exactly the same if I ran it on my machine against the same data. In
1.9, all sorts of factors inherited from your environment may make the
program either behave differently, or indeed crash, on one machine but
not the other. Plenty of examples have been posted on this list. It
makes test coverage very hard to achieve. You need to defend against it.
In other words: it bites.

15

On Feb 24, 2009, at 8:47 AM, Brian C. wrote:

IMO, the underlying problems are that ruby 1.9’s concept of Strings is
(a) not properly thought-out…

This seems pretty silly. It took years to develop. You really
believe they didn’t consider what they were doing in that time?

James Edward G. II

16

James G. wrote:

On Feb 24, 2009, at 8:47 AM, Brian C. wrote:

IMO, the underlying problems are that ruby 1.9’s concept of Strings is
(a) not properly thought-out�

This seems pretty silly. It took years to develop. You really
believe they didn’t consider what they were doing in that time?

Possibly they were so wrapped up in it that they didn’t step back and
look at the end product.

ri19 describes a String like this:

 A +String+ object holds and manipulates an arbitrary sequence of
 bytes, typically representing characters. String objects may be
 created using +String::new+ or as literals.

That makes sense, and actually this description is unchanged from 1.8.

When you manipulate them, they don’t behave at all like sequences of
bytes, and this is intentional: they are intended to behave like
sequences of characters. But in an attempt to DTRT in all situations,
they behave in strange and unpredictable ways. By that I mean: I can’t
predict how simple expressions like “#{a}” or /#{a}/ will work (in terms
of encodings) without actually trying them. And if I want to read binary
data from STDIN, I have to jump through hoops to ensure it’s not tainted
with the wrong encoding.

17

On Feb 24, 2009, at 2:36 PM, Brian C. wrote:

Do One wrote:

Ok, let’s not report it and see how long it will stay. :slight_smile:

Go ahead, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem. Do you want to
test
every method which returns a String? Do you want to do this for all
third-party C extensions?

Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/.

Then report the underlying problem.

Regards,
Florian

–
Florian G.

smtp: [email protected]
jabber: [email protected]
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