Unicode MessageFormat 2.0

[aphillips]

こんにちは TAG-さん!

I'm requesting a TAG review of Unicode's MessageFormat 2.0.

Software needs to construct messages that incorporate various pieces of information. The complexities of the world's languages make this challenging. MessageFormat 2 defines the data model, syntax, processing, and conformance requirements for the next generation of dynamic messages. It is intended for adoption by programming languages, software libraries, and software localization tooling. It enables the integration of internationalization APIs (such as date or number formats), and grammatical matching (such as plurals or genders). It is extensible, allowing software developers to create formatting or message selection logic that add on to the core capabilities. Its data model provides a means of representing existing syntaxes, thus enabling gradual adoption by users of older formatting systems. The goal is to allow developers and translators to create natural-sounding, grammatically-correct, user interfaces that can appear in any language and support the needs of diverse cultures.

• Explainer¹: https://github.com/unicode-org/message-format-wg/tree/main/spec#readme
• Specification: current version 46.1 editor's copy
• WPT Tests: N/A (there is a test suite, but it is not WPT)
• User research: In progress
• Security and Privacy self-review²:
• GitHub repo: https://github.com/unicode-org/message-format-wg
• Primary contacts:
  • Addison Phillips (@aphillips), Unicode, CLDR-TC, MFWG, Chair, Editor
  • Eemeli Aro (@eemeli), Editor
  • Mark Davis (@macchiati), Unicode CLDR-TC
• Organization/project driving the specification: Unicode CLDR
• Multi-stakeholder support³: ICU4C, ICU4J, ICU4X, TC39-TG2 has a proposal. Links to follow. There is a public review on-going in the WG repo's issues list.
• Status/issue trackers for implementations⁴:

See also blog which includes links to implementations.

Further details:

• I have reviewed the TAG's Web Platform Design Principles
• Previous early design review, if any: N/A
• Relevant time constraints or deadlines: 12 February 2025 is v47 Beta. 26 February is v47 public Beta. Before these dates would be ideal, but we recognize that this might not be possible.
• The group where the work on this specification is currently being done: Unicode MessageFormat Working Group [repo](https://github.com/unicode-org/message-format-wg)\]
• The group where standardization of this work is intended to be done (if different from the current group):
• Major unresolved issues with or opposition to this specification: None
• This work is being funded by: Unicode

You should also know that...

This specification was reviewed somewhat informally at TPAC 2023 (very many significant changes have occurred since).