MochiKit.I18n -- proposed new module for internationalization

Discussion:

Per Cederberg

2011-01-10 10:38:55 UTC

Since I found the MochiKit.Format.formatLocale() function too limited,
I hacked up a new MochiKit.I18n module:

https://github.com/cederberg/mochikit/blob/i18n/MochiKit/I18n.js

It is backwards compatible and adds locales for most languages on
earth (data derived from Wikipedia and Google Closure sources). At the
moment it only contains numeric formatting information, but can be
extended with currency and datetime formatting information if needed.

My intention is to include this in the default MochiKit 1.4 tree and
update the MochiKit.Text module to properly support the number
formatting specified in these locales (some are not currently
supported).

Please let me know if you have any issues with this.

Cheers,

/Per

PS. Pasting in the source rst docs below to give a clue as to how it
is supposed to work.

----

Name
====

MochiKit.I18n - internationalization, localization and globalization

Synopsis
========

::

assert( locale().decimal == "." );
assert( locale("sv_SE").decimal == "," );

Description
===========

This module contains numeric localization information for most languages
and regions on earth. Actual text formatting lives in other modules (such
as :mochiref:`MochiKit.Text`).

Dependencies
============

- :mochiref:`MochiKit.Base`

Overview
========

Locale Names
------------
MochiKit uses IETF language codes [1] to identify a locale, e.g.
``"en_US"``. The locale database also supports the use of previously
unknown locale identifiers by creating a new locale based on the
language code or the default locale. A number of built-in locale
identifiers are also supported:

+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Language | Description |
+=============+=========================================================+
| ``system`` | The built-in system locale. It is identical to a |
| | ``"en_US"`` locale for backward compatibility. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| ``user`` | The user locale, as reported by the browser. This |
| | points to a specific language locale (or the |
| | ``"system"`` locale.) |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| ``default`` | The default locale, used when no language code is |
| | provided. This points to the ``"system"`` locale by |
| | default. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+

The default locale is modified by accessing the ``MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE``
cache of resolved locale objects:

::

MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE["default"] = locale("user");

Locale Objects
--------------

The locale objects returned by :mochiref:`locale()` and stored in the
``MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE`` cache all have the following properties (some
inherited through the prototype chain):

+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Name | Description |
+=====================+=========================================+
| ``decimal`` | The decimal dot character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``separator`` | The thousands grouping character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``separatorGroups`` | The size of thousands groups (from |
| | right to left). Repeats when exhausted. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``percent`` | The percent character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``permille`` | The permille character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``plus`` | The plus sign character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``minus`` | The minus sign character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``signAtEnd`` | The boolean sign at end of string flag. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``infinity`` | The infinity character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+

API Reference
=============

Functions
---------

:mochidef:`locale(spec="default")`:

Returns the locale object corresponding to ``spec``. The locale
object returned contains formatting and localization information
that is used when displaying data in non-English languages (see
description above for details).

Note that the cached locale database entry is returned, so any
modifications to this object will affect other calls.

``spec``:
The optional ISO/IETF language code [1] or an object to merge
with the default locale. If ``spec`` is omitted, the default
locale is returned. If ``spec`` is not recognized or is not a
string, a custom locale will be created (based on the default
locale).

*Availability*:
Available in MochiKit 1.5+

See Also
========

.. [1] IETF BCP 47:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCP_47

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MochiKit" group.
To post to this group, send email to ***@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to mochikit+***@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mochikit?hl=en.

Bob Ippolito

2011-01-11 13:56:41 UTC

Permalink

This is pretty cool, something I always imagined that I might do if I
were doing this kind of localization. We've only done en and zh at
Mochi, so haven't needed anything outside of the system format.

Post by Per Cederberg
Since I found the MochiKit.Format.formatLocale() function too limited,
https://github.com/cederberg/mochikit/blob/i18n/MochiKit/I18n.js
It is backwards compatible and adds locales for most languages on
earth (data derived from Wikipedia and Google Closure sources). At the
moment it only contains numeric formatting information, but can be
extended with currency and datetime formatting information if needed.
My intention is to include this in the default MochiKit 1.4 tree and
update the MochiKit.Text module to properly support the number
formatting specified in these locales (some are not currently
supported).
Please let me know if you have any issues with this.
Cheers,
/Per
PS. Pasting in the source rst docs below to give a clue as to how it
is supposed to work.
----
Name
====
MochiKit.I18n - internationalization, localization and globalization
Synopsis
========
assert( locale().decimal == "." );
assert( locale("sv_SE").decimal == "," );
Description
===========
This module contains numeric localization information for most languages
and regions on earth. Actual text formatting lives in other modules (such
as :mochiref:`MochiKit.Text`).
Dependencies
============
- :mochiref:`MochiKit.Base`
Overview
========
Locale Names
------------
MochiKit uses IETF language codes [1] to identify a locale, e.g.
``"en_US"``. The locale database also supports the use of previously
unknown locale identifiers by creating a new locale based on the
language code or the default locale. A number of built-in locale
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Language | Description |
+=============+=========================================================+
| ``system`` | The built-in system locale. It is identical to a |
| | ``"en_US"`` locale for backward compatibility. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| ``user`` | The user locale, as reported by the browser. This |
| | points to a specific language locale (or the |
| | ``"system"`` locale.) |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| ``default`` | The default locale, used when no language code is |
| | provided. This points to the ``"system"`` locale by |
| | default. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
The default locale is modified by accessing the ``MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE``
MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE["default"] = locale("user");
Locale Objects
--------------
The locale objects returned by :mochiref:`locale()` and stored in the
``MochiKit.I18n.LOCALE`` cache all have the following properties (some
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Name | Description |
+=====================+=========================================+
| ``decimal`` | The decimal dot character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``separator`` | The thousands grouping character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``separatorGroups`` | The size of thousands groups (from |
| | right to left). Repeats when exhausted. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``percent`` | The percent character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``permille`` | The permille character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``plus`` | The plus sign character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``minus`` | The minus sign character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``signAtEnd`` | The boolean sign at end of string flag. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| ``infinity`` | The infinity character. |
+---------------------+-----------------------------------------+
API Reference
=============
Functions
---------
Returns the locale object corresponding to ``spec``. The locale
object returned contains formatting and localization information
that is used when displaying data in non-English languages (see
description above for details).
Note that the cached locale database entry is returned, so any
modifications to this object will affect other calls.
The optional ISO/IETF language code [1] or an object to merge
with the default locale. If ``spec`` is omitted, the default
locale is returned. If ``spec`` is not recognized or is not a
string, a custom locale will be created (based on the default
locale).
Available in MochiKit 1.5+
See Also
========
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BCP_47
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MochiKit" group.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mochikit?hl=en.

Fredrik Blomqvist

2011-01-11 23:59:15 UTC

Permalink

FYI.
Before I noticed this thread I and Per exchanged couple of ideas
@github.
https://github.com/cederberg/mochikit/commit/4b69ff89ae1cd2ce6b2380933c10d52f57454a39#comments

Summary: both Per and I have had a look at Google Closure i18n module.
comprehensive coverage.
An upcoming (Microsoft sponsored) jQuery-glob lib also seems very
promising, better calendar support for example. It's available in a
non jQuery version here (nice move!): https://github.com/nje/jquery-glob/blob/master/globalization.js
Perhaps simply add a thin wrapper (using Per's interface) for
MochiKit?

// Fredrik

Post by Bob Ippolito
This is pretty cool, something I always imagined that I might do if I
were doing this kind of localization. We've only done en and zh at
Mochi, so haven't needed anything outside of the system format.

Per Cederberg

2011-01-28 10:45:17 UTC

Permalink

Once again, the jQuery-route seems to be the way to go. I'll abandon
my dev branch for now.

Cheers,

/Per

Post by Fredrik Blomqvist
FYI.
Before I noticed this thread I and Per exchanged couple of ideas
@github.
https://github.com/cederberg/mochikit/commit/4b69ff89ae1cd2ce6b2380933c10d52f57454a39#comments
Summary: both Per and I have had a look at Google Closure i18n module.
comprehensive coverage.
An upcoming (Microsoft sponsored) jQuery-glob lib also seems very
promising, better calendar support for example. It's available in a
non jQuery version here (nice move!): https://github.com/nje/jquery-glob/blob/master/globalization.js
Perhaps simply add a thin wrapper (using Per's interface) for
MochiKit?
// Fredrik

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MochiKit" group.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/mochikit?hl=en.

Fredrik Blomqvist

2011-02-04 10:36:09 UTC

Permalink

For reference, I noticed the official(?) jQuery version of the glob-
lib resides here: https://github.com/jquery/jquery-global
For some reason the "nje" and "jQuery" version don't link to each
other, rather a manual fork.
The jQuery version has dropped the lib-neutral support but is still
very close to "nje", it currently seems to be more active, has unit-
tests etc. But at time of writing this the actual code- and doc-diff
is just couple of minor fixes and tweaks.

Also, to clarify, one thing that's not included in jQuery-glob but
included in Closure i18n, is timezone detection and handling (thought
not the complete offset listing).

Well, I'm currently evaluating this in an actual app, I'll see what I
learn.
Regards
// Fredrik Blomqvist

Post by Per Cederberg
Once again, the jQuery-route seems to be the way to go. I'll abandon
my dev branch for now.
Cheers,
/Per

Post by Fredrik Blomqvist
FYI.
Before I noticed this thread I and Per exchanged couple of ideas
@github.
https://github.com/cederberg/mochikit/commit/4b69ff89ae1cd2ce6b238093...
Summary: both Per and I have had a look at Google Closure i18n module.
comprehensive coverage.
An upcoming (Microsoft sponsored) jQuery-glob lib also seems very
promising, better calendar support for example. It's available in a
non jQuery version here (nice move!):https://github.com/nje/jquery-glob/blob/master/globalization.js
Perhaps simply add a thin wrapper (using Per's interface) for
MochiKit?
// Fredrik

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MochiKit" group.
For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/mochikit?hl=en.