Here's the patch for the isxxx methods.  If it's up to 
spec, let me know and I'll add documentation and 
expand the unittests.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=6380

Thanks!

But what about adding the same methods to Unicode objects? I
think that's the point of using methods -- supporting the
same operations for both string types.

Also, Paul Prescod wanted ishexdigit instead of isxdigit.
Not sure if I agree.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=80475

Unassigning this because I'm away for five weeks.

The equivalent Unicode operations are not as clearly 
defined as they are for Ascii. Was researching what is done 
in other programming languages.

Also, there was a py-dev discussion that suggested that 
the function names be changed to something more clear 
than their names in C.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=21627

Raymond, any news on this? I like the idea.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=80475

This one is taking a while because I'm not entirely clear on 
the inclusion/exclusion criteria for classifying Unicode 
characters for the various isxxx methods.

I'm spending some time with the big Unicode 3.0 book 
and will post a patch when I know how to proceed.  If any 
one already has a clear sense of direction, I'm all ears.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=38388

I'd suggest to start with the standard ASCII characters for
the methods
you are suggesting to add and then complete the sets using the
various categories listed on

http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/UnicodeData.html

e.g. punctation (P*) is a general category in the Unicode
database,
control too (Cc). Visibility and printability depend on
available
fonts, so I'm not sure what to do about these. Hex chars are
the same as for 8-bit strings.

Logged In: YES 
user_id=21627

Patch #825313, which is identical to this one, was just
rejected, so it is probably time to reject this as well.