Issue with currency formatting in Danish

[benregn]

I'm encountering a strange issue. The output of MyApp.Cldr.Number.to_string 123.45, locale: "da", currency: "DKK" has changed the location of the currency symbol between 2.40.3 and 2.42. The confusing part is that the format string for :currency hasn't changed when looking at the output of Cldr.Number.Format.all_formats_for("da", MyApp.Cldr).

Version	Format (:currency)	Output
2.40.3	"#,##0.00\u00A0¤"	123,45 kr.
2.42	"#,##0.00\u00A0¤"	kr. 123,45

Here is a Gist with a LiveBook for each of the versions for demonstration: https://gist.github.com/benregn/b689478750322ad25f00f6f1a6d5c211

[kipcole9]

Thanks for the report and my apologies for the issue. It looks like the number is being formatting with the currency_alpha_next_to_number: "¤\u00A0#,##0.00" format which is definitely unexpected. I will dig into this ASAP however I'm a bit challenged for the next 15 hours or so from now.

[benregn]

@kipcole9 You are probably super busy, but have you had any time to look into this?

[kipcole9]

Working on it now and should have it resolved today (GMT+10). Sorry for the delay - was on a long planned cycle trip without much internet.Sent from my iPhoneOn 22 Apr 2025, at 16:40, Tomas Thor Jonsson ***@***.***> wrote: @kipcole9 You are probably super busy, but have you had any time to look into this?—Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***> benregn left a comment (elixir-cldr/cldr_numbers#54) @kipcole9 You are probably super busy, but have you had any time to look into this? —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[benregn]

No worries, sounds like a great time 🙂 Thank you for all your hard work!

[kipcole9]

In CLDR 47 there were some cleanups to currency formats that were updated in CLDR 42 and it appears this has affected formats in the DA locale.

The relevant paragraph is:

The alt="alphaNextToNumber" pattern, if available, should be used instead of the standard pattern when the currency symbol character closest to the numeric value has Unicode General Category L (letter). The alt="alphaNextToNumber" pattern is typically provided when the standard currency pattern does not have a space between currency symbol and numeric value; the alphaNextToNumber variant adds a non-breaking space if appropriate for the locale.

In the case of the format resolved for MyApp.Cldr.Number.to_string 123.45, locale: "da", currency: "DKK" we would normally use the format "#,##0.00\u00A0¤" as you expect. The currency symbol to be applied is kr.. By the rule above, the nearest character is k and it is indeed a letter. So the alternative pattern "¤\u00A0#,##0.00" is applied.

The question your issue raises in my mind is whether that rule is intended to apply only when the original pattern has no spacing character between the numeric value and the symbol as is that case in your example.

For reference and discussion, the implementation that determines whether to use the alphaNextToNumber format is:

  defp maybe_apply_alpha_next_to_number(%{currency_format: currency_format} = options, backend)
       when currency_format in [:currency, :accounting] do
    cond do
      String.starts_with?(options.format, @currency_placeholder) &&
          Regex.match?(~r/\p{L}$/u, options.currency_symbol) ->
        resolve_alpha_next_to_number(options, backend)

      String.ends_with?(options.format, @currency_placeholder) &&
          Regex.match?(~r/^\p{L}/u, options.currency_symbol) ->
        resolve_alpha_next_to_number(options, backend)

      true ->
        options
    end
  end

Your thoughts would be appreciated. And I will also ask the question of the CLDR team as well.

[kipcole9]

Mark Davis, who is the key driver of all things CLDR, noted in the Unicode slack:

The alternate format is used if in the regular format, the ¤ is next to a placeholder that can become an Nd (#, 0), and the side of the currency symbol facing that digit is L (or if on the trailing side, LM*). If the regular format has no number placeholders next to ¤, then the alternate format can be exactly the same as the regular format (so people can just vote for inheritance)

Which means I can now update my implementation. Which will restore the expected behaviour - at least for da. Will get that done today and hopefully be ready for your testing in your morning.

[kipcole9]

I've published ex_cldr_numbers version 2.35.1 with the following changelog entry:

Bug Fixes

• Fix formatting currency amounts when the currency format does not have a digit placeholder (0 and #) directly next to the currency placeholder (¤). Thanks to @benregn for the report. Closes Issue with currency formatting in Danish #54.

Thanks again for the report and your patience while I worked this though.

[benregn]

Thanks again!