RE: [PEAR-DEV] New class in PEAR: Translation

> From: Björn Schotte [mailto:bjoern@baer.main.de] > Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 1:57 PM > > > When I need to output strings in a script, I make an instance of a > > translation class... > > $t = new Translation("DE"); // For translating into german > > We've (to be honest, Johann-Peter Hartmann had the idea) made a > similar approach: > > print "<p>".__("Please fix that")."</p>"; > > is only a function that looks up if this string is the key > in an associative array (i.e. $__lang). If not, it will simply > return "Please fix that". > > $__lang is defined by a language specific include file that contains sth > like > > /* de-language file */ > $__lang = array( > 'Please fix that' => 'Bitte beheben Sie das', > . > . > . > ); > > A little helper script looks up (via preg_match) all source > code files recursively for the __() function calls, puts the > strings in the Database and it will display a HTML form where > you can make the translations for each language you want to > have. The helper script also generates the language files > (lang_ISOCODE.php) > on demand. > > Advantage: > > - you easily see where no translation has been made > - you don't need to look up the DB every time you need > the translated string > - easy translation via normal HTML Form (i.e. give your > translators a login to the application and let them enter > i18n_admin.php to translate) > actually what we use today is just associative arrays that are stored in a file. so we are doing pretty much that today as well (and it works nicely and performant too). We don’t have such a helper script however (eventhough I have been meaning to write one). The nice thing about having it in the db is that you can modify it easier and/or distribute it across a cluster ... Anyways when I have some spare brain cycles I will think about this. Regards, Lukas