diff --git a/_posts/05-06-01-Internationalization-and-Localization.md b/_posts/05-06-01-Internationalization-and-Localization.md index cf09ca1..95b4ea2 100644 --- a/_posts/05-06-01-Internationalization-and-Localization.md +++ b/_posts/05-06-01-Internationalization-and-Localization.md @@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ root for your l10n files in your source repository. Inside it you'll have a fold ### Plural forms As we said in the introduction, different languages might sport different plural rules. However, gettext saves us from -this trouble once again. When creating a new .po file, you'll have to declare the [plural rules][plural] for that +this trouble once again. When creating a new `.po` file, you'll have to declare the [plural rules][plural] for that language, and translated pieces that are plural-sensitive will have a different form for each of those rules. When calling Gettext in code, you'll have to specify the number related to the sentence, and it will work out the correct form to use - even using string substitution if needed. @@ -121,15 +121,15 @@ given number falls (starting the count with 0). For example: - Brazilian Portuguese: `nplurals=2; plural=(n > 1);` - two rules, second if N is bigger than one, first otherwise Now that you understood the basis of how plural rules works - and if you didn't, please look at a deeper explanation -on the [LingoHub tutorial](lingohub) -, you might want to copy the ones you need from a [list][plural] instead of +on the [LingoHub tutorial](lingohub_plurals) -, you might want to copy the ones you need from a [list][plural] instead of writing them by hand. -When calling out Gettext to do the localization of sentences that include counters, you'll have to pass to it the +When calling out Gettext to do localization on sentences with counters, you'll have to give him the related number as well. Gettext will work out what rule should be in effect and use the correct localized version. -You will need to include in the .po file a different sentence for each plural rule present in the language file. +You will need to include in the `.po` file a different sentence for each plural rule defined. ### Sample implementation -After all that theory, let's get a little practical. Here's an excerpt of a .po file - don't mind with its format, +After all that theory, let's get a little practical. Here's an excerpt of a `.po` file - don't mind with its format, but instead the overall content, you'll learn how to edit it easily later: {% highlight po %} @@ -152,9 +152,11 @@ msgstr[1] "%d mensagens não lidas" {% endhighlight %} The first section works like a header, having the `msgid` and `msgstr` specially empty. It describes the file encoding, -plural forms and other things that are less relevant. The second section translates a simple string from English to +plural forms and other things that are less relevant. +The second section translates a simple string from English to Brazilian Portuguese, and the third does the same, but leveraging string replacement from [`sprintf`](sprintf) so the -translation may contain the user name and visit date. The last section is a sample of pluralization forms, displaying +translation may contain the user name and visit date. +The last section is a sample of pluralization forms, displaying the singular and plural version as `msgid` in English and their corresponding translations as `msgstr` 0 and 1 (following the number given by the plural rule). There, string replacement is used as well so the number can be seen directly in the sentence, by using `%d`. The plural forms always have two `msgid` (singular and plural), so it's @@ -167,21 +169,27 @@ translated `msgstr` lines. Talking about translation keys, there are two main "schools" here: -1. `msgid` as a real sentence. The main advantage here is that, if there's pieces of the software untranslated in any -given language, it will be displaying in a meaningful-ish way. If you happen to translate by heart from English to -Spanish but needs help to translate to French, you might publish the new page with missing French sentences, and parts -of the website would be displayed in English instead. Another point is that it's much easier for the translator to -understand what's going on and make a proper translation based on the `msgid`. It also gives you "free" l10n for a -language - the source one. However, if you need to change the actual text, you would need to replace the same `msgid` -across several language files. -2. `msgid` as a unique, structured key. It would describe the sentence role in the application in a structured way, -including the template or part where the string is located instead of its content. It's a great way to have the code -organized, but would bring problems to the translator that would miss the context. A source translation file would be -needed as a basis for other translations - so the developer would ideally have an `en.po` file, that translators would -then read to understand what to write in `fr.po` for instance. This is also both good and bad, as missing translations -would display meaningless keys on screen (`TOP_MENU_WELCOME` instead of `Hello there, User!` on the given French -untranslated page), forcing translation to be complete before publishing - while translation errors would be really -awful in the interface. +1. _`msgid` as a real sentence_. + The main advantage are: + - if there's pieces of the software untranslated in any given language, the key displayed will still maintain some + meaning. Example: if you happen to translate by heart from English to Spanish but needs help to translate to French, + you might publish the new page with missing French sentences, and parts of the website would be displayed in English + instead; + - it's much easier for the translator to understand what's going on and make a proper translation based on the + `msgid`; + - it gives you "free" l10n for one language - the source one; + - The only disadvantage: if you need to change the actual text, you would need to replace the same `msgid` + across several language files. + +2. _`msgid` as a unique, structured key_. It would describe the sentence role in the application in a structured way, +including the template or part where the string is located instead of its content. + - it's a great way to have the code organized, separating the text content from the template logic. + - however, that could bring problems to the translator that would miss the context. A source language file would be + needed as a basis for other translations. Example: the developer would ideally have an `en.po` file, that + translators would read to understand what to write in `fr.po` for instance. + - missing translations would display meaningless keys on screen (`TOP_MENU_WELCOME` instead of `Hello there, User!` + on the said untranslated French page). That's good as would force translation to be complete before publishing - + but bad as translation issues would be really awful in the interface. The [Gettext manual][manual] favors the first approach, as in general it's easier for translators and users in case of trouble. That's how we will be working here as well. @@ -276,14 +284,42 @@ textdomain('main'); {% endhighlight %} #### 3. Preparing translation for the first run -> TODO: explain how to install Poedit and how to setup it +To make matters easier - and one of the powerful advantages Gettext has over custom framework i18n packages - is it's custom file type. "Oh man, that's quite hard to understand and edit by hand, a simple array would be easier!" Make no mistake, applications like [Poedit] are here to help - _a lot_. You can get the program from [their website], it's free and available for all platforms. It's a pretty easy tool to get used to, and a very powerful one at the same time - using with responsability the powers Gettext gave it. + +In the first run, you should select "File > New Catalog" from the menu. There you'll have a small screen where we will set the terrain so everything else runs smoothly. You'll be able to find those settings later through "Catalog > Properties": + +- Project name and version, Translation Team and email address: useful information that goes in the `.po` file header; +- Language: here you should use that format we mentioned before, such as `en_US` or `pt_BR`; +- Charsets: UTF-8, preferably; +- Source charset: set here the charset used by your PHP files - probably UTF-8 AS well, right? +- plural forms: here goes those rules we mentioned before - there's a link in there with samples as well; +- Source paths: here you must include all folders from the project where `gettext()` (and siblings) will happen - this is usually your templates folder(s) +- Source keywords: this last part is filled by default, but you might need to alter it later - and is one of the powerful points of Gettext. The underlying software knows how the `gettext()` calls look like in several programming languages, but you might as well create your own translation forms. This will be discussed later in the "Tips" section. + +After setting those points you'll be prompted to save the file - using that directory structure we mentioned as well, and then it will run a scan through your source files to find the localization calls. They'll be fed empty into the translation table, and you'll start typing in the localized versions of those strings. Save it and a `.mo` file will be (re)compiled into the same folder and ta-dah: your project is internationalized. #### 4. Translating strings -> TODO: overall view on how to use Poedit for translation +As you may have noticed before, there are two main types of localized strings: simple ones and the ones with plural forms. The first ones have simply two boxes: source and localized string. The source string can't be modified as Gettext/Poedit do not include the powers to alter your source files - you should change the source itself and rescan the files. Tip: you may right-click a translation line and it will hint you with the source files and lines where that string is being. +On the other hand, plural form strings include two boxes to show the two source strings, and tabs so you can configure the different final forms. + +Whenever you change your sources and need to update the translations, just hit Refresh and Poedit will rescan the code, removing non-existent entries, merging the ones that changed and adding new ones. It may also try to guess some translations, based on other ones you did. Those guesses and the changed entries will receive a "Fuzzy" marker, indicating it needs review, being highlighted in the list. It's also useful if you have a translation team and someone tries to write something they're not sure about: just mark Fuzzy and someone else will review later. + +Finally, it's advised to leave "View > Untranslated entries first" marked, as it will help you _a lot_ to not forget any entry. From that menu you can also open parts of the UI that allow you to leave contextual information for translators, if needed. ### Tips & Tricks -> TODO: Talk about possible issue with caching. -> TODO: Suggest creation of helper functions. + +#### Possible caching issues +If you're running PHP as a module on Apache (`mod_php`), you might face issues with the `.mo` file being cached. It happens the first time it's read, and then, to update it, you might need to restart the server. On Nginx and PHP5 it usually takes only a couple of page refreshes to refresh the translation cache, and on PHP7 it is rarely needed. + +#### Additional helper functions +As preferred by many people, it's easier to use `_()` instead of `gettext()`. Many custom i18n libraries from frameworks use something similar to `t()` as well, to make translated code shorter. However, that's the only function that sports a shortcut. You might want to add in your project some others, such as `__()` or `_n()` for `ngettext()`, or maybe a fancy `_r()` that would join `gettext()` and `sprintf()` calls. + +In those cases, you'll need to instruct the Gettext utility on how to extract the strings from those new functions. Don't be afraid, it's something very easy. It's just a field in the `.po` file, or a Settings screen on Poedit - remember when we mentioned it before? In the editor that option is inside "Catalog > Properties > Source keywords". You need to include there the specifications of those new functions, following [a specific format](func_format): + +- if you create something like `t()` that simply returns the translation for a string, you can specify it as `t`. Gettext will know the only function argument is the string to be translated; +- if the function has more than one argument, you can specify in which one the first string is - and if needed, the plural form as well. For instance, if we call our function like this: `__('one user', '%d users', $number)`, the specification would be `__:1,2`, meaning the first form is the first argument, and the second form is the second argument. If your number comes as first argument instead, the spec would be `__:2,3`, indicating the first form is the second argument, and so on. + +After including those new rules in the `.po` file, a new scan will bring your new strings just as easy as before. ### References @@ -295,13 +331,15 @@ textdomain('main'); [Poedit]: https://poedit.net/ [poedit_download]: https://poedit.net/download -[lingohub]: https://lingohub.com/blog/2013/07/php-internationalization-with-gettext-tutorial/#Plurals +[lingohub]: https://lingohub.com/blog/2013/07/php-internationalization-with-gettext-tutorial/ +[lingohub_plurals]: https://lingohub.com/blog/2013/07/php-internationalization-with-gettext-tutorial/#Plurals [plural]: http://docs.translatehouse.org/projects/localization-guide/en/latest/l10n/pluralforms.html [gettext]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettext -[manual]: (http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html) +[manual]: http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html [639-1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes [3166-1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2 [rare]: http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html#Rare-Language-Codes +[func_format]: https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html#Language-specific-options [sprintf]: http://php.net/manual/en/function.sprintf.php [func]: http://php.net/manual/en/function.gettext.php