[Bug] Unsupported locale settings

[felix-seifert]

I installed roadmapper via pip and used some example code from the wiki to try out this package. However, I was blocked by the locale settings. When I try to run the script which uses roadmapper, I get the following error.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/roadmap.py", line 7, in <module>
    roadmap.set_timeline(TimelineMode.MONTHLY, "2023-03-15", 8, timeline_locale="en_US")
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/roadmap.py", line 305, in set_timeline
    self.timeline.set_draw_position(self.__painter)
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timeline.py", line 143, in set_draw_position
    self.set_locale(self.locale_name)
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timeline.py", line 108, in set_locale
    self.locale_settings = TimelineLocale(locale)
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timelinelocale.py", line 84, in __init__
    locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, locale_name)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/locale.py", line 620, in setlocale
    return _setlocale(category, locale)
locale.Error: unsupported locale setting

If I print my locale settings in Python, I get the following settings: ('en_GB', 'UTF-8'). This equals to en_GB.utf8 on my system. roadmapper somehow requires en_US (without utf8). I managed to work around this issue by trying to set the locale settings in a Docker container manually to en_US (without utf8). I selected this setting from a very long list when I ran sudo dpkg-reconfigure locales.

It would be very nice to decouple roadmapper from the locale settings.

FYI: My OS is Ubuntu 22.04 and I performed the mentioned installation steps.

Edit: My Python version is 3.10.6.

[csgoh]

Hi, you do not have to enter 'en_US' as a locale. If you are using 'en_GB', you can create a json file containing custom timeline settings. See this code example here: https://github.com/csgoh/roadmapper/wiki/Traditional-Chinese-Roadmap-Code

The code sample shows how to change language, font and locale.

[csgoh]

Some additional how-to guide can be found here: https://github.com/csgoh/roadmapper/wiki/How-To#how-to-change-the-timeline-display-format

[felix-seifert]

As my local locale is set to en_GB.utf8, I have to specify this exact locale in the JSON file for changing the timeline. This, indeed, works. However, I also have to specify the settings like year and so on. Otherwise, I will get the following error.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/roadmap.py", line 11, in <module>
    roadmap.set_timeline(TimelineMode.MONTHLY, "2023-03-15", 8, timeline_locale="en_GB.json")
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/roadmap.py", line 305, in set_timeline
    self.timeline.set_draw_position(self.__painter)
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timeline.py", line 143, in set_draw_position
    self.set_locale(self.locale_name)
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timeline.py", line 112, in set_locale
    ) = self.locale_settings.get_timeline_locale_settings("year")
  File "/home/felixs/GitHub/declarative-planning/roadmapper/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/roadmapper/timelinelocale.py", line 100, in get_timeline_locale_settings
    locale_settings = value["settings"]
KeyError: 'settings'

As an easier workaround, it would be nice to specify the locale directly to avoid repeating the boilerplate settings like year, month. I.e. something like roadmap.set_timeline(TimelineMode.MONTHLY, "2023-03-15", 8, timeline_locale="en_GB"). This, however, might require a long list of many locales.

As a user, I definitely do not want to deal with these weird locale settings if I just want to create a roadmap which does not require any specific locale settings like language or special characters. Would it be possible to allow specifying locale settings without requiring them?

Think of a Danish person needing to create a roadmap for a multinational company in English...

[csgoh]

Hi, I see your point. I will de-couple the locale from the timeline formatting in the next minor release. It should not take long.

[csgoh]

This issue should be resolved in v1.1.1. I have removed the dependency of 'en_US'.

[felix-seifert]

I tested it on my simple example and it now works like a charm.