i18n

Description

The I18n class makes it easy to create a multilingual web application. You can add as many languages as you want.

The language packs are located in the app/resources/i18n directory and the files for each language are located in a subdirectory.

The name of a language pack should use the following convention: en_US (ISO 639-1 language code and ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code).

Language files

Mako language files are just simple arrays where the array key is the original language and the value is the translation.

<?php

return array
(
	'I have 10 apples'  => 'Jeg har 10 epler',
	'I have %d apples'  => 'Jeg har %d epler',
	'Hi! My name is %s' => 'Hei! Jeg heter %s',
);

Methods

language([string $language = null])

Setting the default language you want to use use is done by calling the language method. The method also returns the name of the default language.

I18n::language('no_NO'); // Setting the language to Norwegian

$language = I18n::language(); // The value of $language is now "no_NO"

translate(string $string [, array $vars = array() [, string $language = null]])

The translate method returns the translated string. If no translation is found then the original string is returned. You can also use the __ convenience function.

// Set default language to Norwegian

I18n::language('no_NO');

// Will print "Jeg har 10 epler"

echo I18n::translate('I have 10 apples');

// Will print "Jeg har 20 epler"

echo I18n::translate('I have %d apples', array(20));

// Will print "Hei! Jeg heter Iroquois Pliskin"

echo __('Hi! My name is %s', array('Iroquois Pliskin'));

pluralize(string $word [, int $count = null [, string $language = null]])

The pluralize method returns the plural form of the chosen noun. Unlike most other frameworks Mako will use language based inflection rules when pluralizing words.

echo I18n::pluralize('woman'); // Will print "women"

echo I18n::pluralize('woman', 1); // Will print "woman"

echo I18n::pluralize('woman', 2); // Will print "women"

You can also pluralize words in translated strings:

// In a language file
 
return array
(
	'new_messages' => 'You have %1$u new <pluralize:%1$u>message</pluralize>.',
);
 
// In a view (using the template syntax)
 
{{__('new_messages', array(1)}} // Will print "You have 1 new message."

{{__('new_messages', array(10)}} // Will print "You have 10 new messages."