多语言php应用程序

Question

Currently I have my php application running on english. We have to now cater for few other languages. We notice some do a whole set of translation of the all the form and put in a new folder label according to the translated language. Is that an optimize method?

Answer 1

I'm still for the idea of database.

Let's say you have input field, next to it there is "Username" in english, it's value by default is "Enter your username". You can have something like:

<td><?=$obj->translate('username');?></td>
<td><input type="text" name="username" value="<?=$obj->translate('enter_username');?>" /></td>

So you have i.e. in your db table translations:

id | placeholder     |         en          |    pl                      |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  | username        |      Username       | Nazwa użytkownika          |
2  | enter_username  | Enter your username | Wprowadź nazwę użytkownika |

So your client is polish, you set him $_SESSION['language'] = 'pl'

You build function/method translate(), which returns the current language translation.

public function translate($word) {
    $sql = "SELECT $_SESSION['language'] FROM translations WHERE placeholder = '$word';";
    $this->db->query($sql);
    return $this->db->result();
}

So basicly, when you run $obj->translate('enter_username'); for your Polish client, you make query like this:

SELECT pl FROM translations WHERE placeholder = 'enter_username';

which returns 'Wprowadź nazwę użytkownika'

Everytime you need something to be printed, you have to insert it's placeholder in your db, and later or immediately it's translations.

If you need and error alert via javascript, for wrong username for example, you add a placeholder in the db i.e. 'wrong_username_from_login_form" lately translated in English as "You have entered wrong username. Please go back and try again".

You can have:

<script>
alert("<?=$obj->translate('wrong_username_from_login_form');?>");
</script>

If your client is English, he will have alerted on its screen: "You have entered wrong username. Please go back and try again"