RE: Where to Add new Currency Sign? -- Cultural adaptability

From: Marco.Cimarosti@icl.com
Date: Mon Dec 20 1999 - 16:02:42 EST


And, tovarich, don't forget "EUR" for "EUropean Ruble".

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alain [SMTP:alb@sct.gouv.qc.ca]
> Sent: 1999 December 20, Monday 21.20
> To: Unicode List
> Cc: sc22wg20@dkuug.dk
> Subject: Re: Where to Add new Currency Sign? -- Cultural adaptability
>
> À 11:37 1999-12-20 -0800, addison@globalsight.com a écrit :
> >Also, for cross-locale (Enterprise) systems, it is becoming more common
> to
> >use the ISO three letter acronym for the currency (so that that same
> format
> >can be used in reports) like this:
> >
> >1,000.00 USD -- US dollar
> >1,000.00 FFR -- French Franc
> >1,000.00 DDM -- Deutsch Mark
> >1,000.00 EUR -- Euro
>
> [Alain] You illustrate perfectly a very well-known problem with this
> approcah. People in the streets (even sometimes bankers -- see below)
> don't
> know anything about it.
>
> It is not FFR, it is FRF (FRance - Franc)
> It is not DDM, it is DEM (DEutschland - Mark)
>
> The rule is the ISO 3066 country code (2 letters), followed by a letter
> representing the national currency unit...
>
> And no, it is not DFL for the Dutch florin... It is NLG... (NEderland -
> Gulden).
>
> Nor is it SWF for the Swiss franc... It is CHF (Confoederatio Helvetica -
> Franc).
>
> Nor is it UKP for the British pound. It is GBP (and no, the name of the
> country is not United Kingdom, but "United Kindom of Great Britain and
> Northern Ireland" [country code GB, obvious, isn't it?])
>
> I have seen but bad usages (including those examples) for this in all
> countries I have visited. Even at **most** foreign currency exchange
> places, affiliates to banks, which are said to be those who use this
> standard.
>
> That said, the approach remains the global solution in principle. But
> education is required. A lot of education. Is it the example of
> culturally-neutral identifier? I don't believe so. Addison, a coding
> specialist, just demonstrated it once more, but he is far to be alone.
>
> Alain LaBonté
> Québec



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