iso_code in class Country definition and table schema does not match with the actual usage of iso_code property

[adeelq]

Describe the bug

Not sure how to explain that this as a bug. I'm gonna try my best to explain :) I'm working on an integration for PrestaShop, while i was digging through APIs and schemas i stumble upon something which does not add up.

Here It states that public $iso_code; class property size is 2

string 2 letters iso code

However here in class static property $definition the size is defined 3

'iso_code' => ['type' => self::TYPE_STRING, 'validate' => 'isLanguageIsoCode', 'required' => true, 'size' => 3],

And here in create syntax size is also defined 3

'iso_code' varchar(3) NOT NULL,

Expected behavior

The size should be consistent. I searched everywhere in PrestaShop for usage of class country property $iso_code and it is used as 2 for size. For Example here country data provider is using 2 letter iso code as expected.

In both of these places here and here size should be changed to 2 from 3.

Also here for validation 'validate' => 'isLanguageIsoCode' is being used. PrestaShop is using isLanguageIsoCode to validate both the ISO 2 letter country code and ISO 2 letter language code. However in actual validation class and method Validate::isLanguageIsoCode the regex pattern '/^[a-zA-Z]{2,3}$/' checks for 2 to 3 characters which is also misleading.

Additional information

• PrestaShop version: 1.7.7.3
• PHP version: 7.3

[hibatallahAouadni]

Hello @adeelq

Thanks for the details 🚀
Well, you're right! this is a kind of misleading.

Ping @PrestaShop/prestashop-core-developers could someone please explain why we declare the $iso_code sometime 2 and other times 3?

[matks]

Ping @PrestaShop/prestashop-core-developers could someone please explain why we declare the $iso_code sometime 2 and other times 3?

@eternoendless will have the answer. I think it's because at the beginning 2-letter ISO codes were used but it was later found 3 were needed so code relying on 2-letter ISO code might be obsolete

[eternoendless]

I researched a bit and it looks like this has been like this since at least 2008. IMO the initial idea must have been to support both ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and alpha-3, but I don't think anyone cares about alpha-3 really.

There's also a historical confusion between country iso codes and language iso codes (hence the isLanguageIsoCode)

In any case, I think we should pick one or the other, and since we use the alpha-2 codes already, it will probably be better to limit the field size to 2.

[eternoendless]

There's probably some research to be done before making a final decision.