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clarify that utf-8 is just a possible encoding of strings #684

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Merged
merged 5 commits into from
Apr 16, 2021
Merged

clarify that utf-8 is just a possible encoding of strings #684

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7870341
clarify that utf-8 is just a possible encoding of strings
andimarek Feb 6, 2020
fea6940
fix Unicode spelling
andimarek Feb 6, 2020
919a9b3
Merge branch 'main' into cleanup-string-scalar
leebyron Apr 12, 2021
6b5a63f
Update Section 3 -- Type System.md
leebyron Apr 12, 2021
78ffd10
Update Section 3 -- Type System.md
leebyron Apr 12, 2021
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14 changes: 8 additions & 6 deletions spec/Section 3 -- Type System.md
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Expand Up @@ -529,14 +529,16 @@ outside the available precision), a request error must be raised.

### String

The String scalar type represents textual data, represented as UTF-8 character
sequences. The String type is most often used by GraphQL to represent free-form
human-readable text. All response formats must support string representations,
and that representation must be used here.
The String scalar type represents textual data, represented as a sequence of
Unicode code points. The String type is most often used by GraphQL to
represent free-form human-readable text. How the String is encoded internally
(for example UTF-8) is left to the service implementation. All response
serialization formats must support a string representation (for example, JSON
Unicode strings), and that representation must be used to serialize this type.

**Result Coercion**

Fields returning the type {String} expect to encounter UTF-8 string internal values.
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I think this part should continue to specify UTF-8? As I read it, it's about the serialization of strings in responses, where specifying an encoding is actually appropriate?

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This section is about result coercion not serialization. Of course String can be serialized to UTF-8 (and often they are via UTF-8 JSON) but it doesn't have to be.

Fields returning the type {String} expect to encounter Unicode string values.

GraphQL services may coerce non-string raw values to {String} when reasonable
without losing information, otherwise they must raise a field error. Examples of
Expand All @@ -545,7 +547,7 @@ string `"1"` for the integer `1`.

**Input Coercion**

When expected as an input type, only valid UTF-8 string input values are
When expected as an input type, only valid Unicode string input values are
accepted. All other input values must raise a request error indicating an
incorrect type.

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