software localization with PHP

Kevin, Thanks for the reply. This will not solve my problem. The problem is, for some languages the sentence structure may be different. For example, the sentence may need to be, $greeting = "$first_name, welcome!" as opposed to, $greeting = "Welcome, $first_name!" Or, it can come in a different form, like, $greeting = "Good morning, $first_name." These specificity need to be in the language file, not the scripts. Tao Leavell Digital Design wrote: > You can use constants: > > in your language file > define("HELLO", OLA); > > in your script which includes the language file you can write > $greeting = HELLO . " $first_name"; > > print $greeting; > > Kevin Leavell > kevin@ldigitaldesign.com > P 406.829.8989 > C 406.240.4595 > > ---> -----Original Message----- > ---> From: Tao [mailto:taoliang@cdr.stanford.edu] > ---> Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 9:50 PM > ---> To: php-general@lists.php.net > ---> Subject: [PHP] software localization with PHP > ---> > ---> > ---> Hi all, > ---> > ---> I have a question about localizing PHP scripts. I understand > ---> that for basic > ---> localization one can have a "strings" file for each language, > ---> which contains > ---> string variables and values such as: > ---> <?php > ---> $title = "Welcome!"; > ---> $error = "An error occurred."; > ---> ?> > ---> > ---> Then, in the scripts just "include" the language file at the > ---> beginning and > ---> simply call the strings by their variable names. The issue I > ---> have is when > ---> embedding variables within these strings. Suppose I need to > ---> call the user > ---> by his/her first name, in the strings file I would have a variable like > ---> this: > ---> $greeting = "Welcome! $first_name"; > ---> > ---> The problem is, the strings file is loaded at the beginning of > ---> the script > ---> before $first_name was set, so the $greeting string will come out as > ---> "Welcome! ", with $first_name being an empty string. Even if > ---> I loaded the > ---> strings file after the $first_name variable is set, the problem still > ---> remains - when $first_name variable is changed, the strings > ---> file has to be > ---> reloaded. > ---> > ---> What is the best way of dealing with this problem? Is there a > ---> place to find > ---> "best practices" on localizing PHP software? > ---> > ---> Tao > ---> > ---> > ---> > ---> -- > ---> PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > ---> To unsubscribe, e-mail: php-general-unsubscribe@lists.php.net > ---> For additional commands, e-mail: php-general-help@lists.php.net > ---> To contact the list administrators, e-mail: > ---> php-list-admin@lists.php.net > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, e-mail: php-general-unsubscribe@lists.php.net > For additional commands, e-mail: php-general-help@lists.php.net > To contact the list administrators, e-mail: php-list-admin@lists.php.net