PHP Luminova: Multi-Language Support and Translation Integration

Translation is a crucial aspect of web development, especially for applications that target diverse audiences speaking different languages. By providing translations for various languages, developers can ensure that their applications are accessible and user-friendly for people around the world.

In web development, translation involves converting text content, such as labels, messages, and notifications, from one language to another. This process typically relies on language files that contain key-value pairs, where the keys represent the original text in the default language, and the values represent the corresponding translations in other languages.

One common approach to implementing translation in web applications is through the use of language files organized by locale. Each language file contains translations for a specific locale, allowing the application to dynamically switch between languages based on user preferences or predefined settings.

In this guide, we'll explore how to set up and manage translation locals, integrate translation functionalities in your Luminova web applications, and provide users with the ability to switch between languages. Additionally, we'll discuss best practices for structuring language files, handling placeholders and dynamic content in translations.

Optionally, you can also use a third-party Google Translator Class written in PHP to translate entire webpages.

Here are a couple of steps to follow to create a translation:

lang

The global helper function lang allows you to translate between different languages anywhere in your application where translation may be needed.

lang(
    string $lookup,
    ?string $default = null,
    ?string $locale = null,
    array $placeholders = []
): string { }

Parameters:

Note:The first part of the lookup key must match the language file name before Foo.php.

Example:if you have a file named Blog.fr.php, then the lookup key must start with Blog, followed by the translation array key, using dot annotation for nested lookup.

Example:

echo lang('Users.notify', 'Default message', 'fr', ['name' => 'Peter', '20']);

This will output the translated string for the key Users.notify in French (fr).If the translation is not found, it will output the default message Default message.The placeholders {name} and {0} in the translated string will be replaced with Peter and 20 respectively.

Locals

To begin with, you'll need to create translation locals in /app/Languages/ directory.

The locale file will serve as translations based on your application's language locale or other languages you may want to add.

An example of a local file name should look like Context.Locale.php, where Context represents the application context for the translations, and Locale is the language locale code (e.g., Users.en.php, Users.fr.php).

The Users.en.php will contains an array of your application English translations as you may require while the Users.fr.php, will contain array of French translation.

The array keys will serve as a lookup identifier to locate each translation in different locals.

Users.en.php Example

// /app/Languages/Users.en.php

return [
    'invalid_username' => 'Invalid username',
    'notify' => 'Hello, {name}! You have {0} new messages.',
    'password' => [
        'reset' => 'Enter your email address to reset password'
    ]
];

Users.fr.php Example

// /app/Languages/Users.fr.php

return [
    'invalid_username' => 'Nom d\'utilisateur invalide',
    'notify' => 'Bonjour, {name}! Vous avez {0} nouveaux messages.',
    'password' => [
        'reset' => 'Entrez votre adresse e-mail pour réinitialiser votre mot de passe'
    ]
];

In above examples, the array keys and placeholders are left as they are in all translation of same context.While the part of the values are translated depending on the local.

Usages

To translate between different languages, you can set the default locale in the env file. Additionally, implement a switcher in your application to allow users to change between locales for other languages translation.

echo lang(
    'Users.notify', // Context
    null, // No Default
    null, // Use Default Local (en)
    ['name' => 'Peter', '20'] // Placeholders
);

//Output: Hello, Peter! You have 20 new messages.

Change locale from English to French

echo lang(
    'Users.notify', // Context
    null, // No Default
    'fr', // Use French Local (fr)
    ['name' => 'Peter', '20'] // Placeholders
);

//Output: Bonjour, Peter! Vous avez 20 nouveaux messages.

Change Local

To temporarily change the locale for runtime session, you can use the setenv function or store the user-selected locale in a session or cookie.

Envirnment Variable:

$locale = 'fr';
setenv('app.locale', $locale, false);

// Get Local from session

$local = end('app.locale');
// Output: fr

Note:Avoid using locale($locale) or setenv('app.locale', $locale, true) for temporal changes, as this will update the locale in your env file, affecting all other users and forcing them to use the same locale as the current user.

In Session

$locale = 'fr';
session()->set('users.locale', $locale);

// Get Local from session

$local = session('users.locale');
// Output: fr

In Cookie

$locale = 'fr';
cookie('users.locale', $locale);

// Get Local from session

$local = cookie('users.locale')->get();
// Output: fr