The mailing list for users of the eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool (CAT)

[Stefan Winter <stefan.winter AT restena.lu>]

Hello,

(for context: the number "five and a half" is not always 5.5 - in some
languages, it gets printed as 5,5 and that confuses the XML device
output - Android)

Indeed, CAT UI never lets anyone actually input coordinates (i.e.
numbers); this is done via a Google Maps pointer display, resulting
deterministically in decimal *points* not commata. We internally store
the data as an array which keeps decimal points as they are (but would
also store commata as they are).

The sanity check is calling is_numeric() which would let commata pass if
they were present, given a matching locale is set.

Now if you used the admin-API to actually *send* us localised numbers
with commata instead of decimal points, these would pass sanity checks
and merrily live on.

Within PHP, this is entirely correct as the locale settings now how to
handle localised numbers. It only stops at the moment when these numbers
go into XML, which expects a decimal point.

I believe there should be a twofold immediate response to get back
timely to a working config:

* a documentation update to admin-API spelling out that we expect
decimal points, not commata
* an update to the sanity checks to refuse coordinates with a decimal
separator other than a decimal point.

This would be part of 1.1.3 (less urgency because it only affects
admin-API users with a commata-separating locale). And since the only
admin who matches this group definition is aware of the issue, damage is
narrowly contained :-)

> Users of 31 institutions are affected by this and can not use
> CAT-Android without special instructions to switch their locale to
> English; resetting the location via the admin UI might also remediate
> the problem.

Re-setting the location with the Google Maps widget in the CAT admin UI
should indeed fix the issue immediately.

We can also manually update the database to re-write commata to decimal
points, but this needs some preparation and cannot be done before
Monday. Shall we investigate this possibility, or do you think you can
pursuade your insts to do this update in admin UI themselves?

Greetings,

Stefan Winter

-- 
Stefan WINTER
Ingenieur de Recherche
Fondation RESTENA - Réseau Téléinformatique de l'Education Nationale et
de la Recherche
2, avenue de l'Université
L-4365 Esch-sur-Alzette

Tel: +352 424409 1
Fax: +352 422473

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