--- usr/lib/python3.2/string.py	2011-09-06 03:00:39.000000000 +0530
+++ home/ram/fixedstring.py	2011-12-14 10:44:53.812870791 +0530
@@ -190,0 +191,3 @@
+        auto_field_count = -1
+        # manual numbering
+        manual = None
@@ -203 +206,15 @@
-
+                
+                # automatic numbering
+                if field_name == "":
+                    if manual == True:
+                        raise ValueError("cannot switch from manual field specification to automatic field numbering")
+                    manual = False
+                    auto_field_count += 1
+                    field_name = str(auto_field_count)
+                    
+                # manual numbering
+                else:
+                    if manual == False:
+                        raise ValueError("cannot switch from automatic field numbering to manual field specification")
+                    manual = True
+