G11n is Globalization

Globalization (g11n) is a Ruby Gem for easy language file handling aimed at internationalized projects.

The developers of g11n are well aware of the existence of both i18n and r18n Ruby Gems, but wanted a new approach (specially in terms of simplicity) and this is the answer.

G11n assumes you will have a series of language files written in YAML in an accessible folder to your project, named after each language's locale and followed by the YAML extension. Both .yaml and .yml extensions are recognized.

The default path for that folder is translations/. So, for example, if you have a file named translations/it.yaml that reads as...

# ./translations/it.yaml
home:
  title: La pasta della nonna
  menu:
    preparation: Comme farla
    eating: Comme si mangia
    wine: Con che si accompagna

... you can, in your project, insert the following code and get the internationalized strings:

# .script.rb
require "g11n"

G11n.locale :it                             # Configures G11n to use italian. Default is "en"
G11n.locale                                 # => :it

G11n.t.home.title                           # => "La pasta della nonna"
G11n.t.home.menu.wine                       # => "Con che si accompagna"

gem install g11n

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'g11n'

And then execute:

bundle install

Configuration is straight forward. You are using another directory for your language files? Just G11n.path "your/path". You want to change the locale? G11n.locale :yours.

For example, a translations file in a non-standard folder:

# ./i18ns/ru.yml
home:
  land: Российская Федерация

And a script in the base folder:

# ./script.rb
require "g11n"

G11n.path "i18ns"
G11n.locale :ru

G11n.t.home.land                           # => "Российская Федерация"

Also, the G11n::DSL module can be included in any object of class you want to use the #t method more confortably.

The G11n DSL (the #t and #translate methods) are available as a module unimaginatively called G11n::DSL. You can of course include it into your helpers as easy as:

# .app.rb
require 'sinatra'
require 'g11n'

helpers G11n::DSL

G11n.locale :es

get '/' do
  t.welcome                             # => "¡Bienvenido, amigo!" 
                                        # as described in es.yaml
end

# .translations/es.yaml
welcome: ¡Bienvenido, amigo!

It works in modular style too.

• Change the Configuration DSL so #translations_path or #translations or something like that is used to set the path, so that the full DSL can be included as helper in Sinatra. Deprecate Configuration#path
• Add support to reload. Store "last read" date and reload the file if changed. Disable in production mode (good reason to add Sinatra Extension: disabling in production and autoincluding the DSL)
• Document usage of Ruby's String interpolation in G11n
• Add support for named string interpolation using the same % operator. Add an alias to the % interpolation operation, some method name easier to remember (even if its longer)
• Add support for string arguments to get further Rails I18n compatibility
• Add flag to activate Rails I18n compatibility mode
• Add support for locale as argument of Translator#translate

Rails provide a nice functionality for number and date helpers that, since relays on words, ends up needing internationalizations. G11n is compatible with Rails I18n approach, that uses YAML, but not entirely since G11n uses different files for each locale.

In the case that a helper library that doesn't depend on Rails with those methods its found in the wild, G11n should be someway be made compatible.

Related to the helpers above... well, is known that many words need to be translated only once. A package manager for G11n will do the trick of getting a lot of translations easier.

Of course, since one cannot know the handler for certain word in every case, G11n should also implement a Chain of Responsibility to discover standard handlers if none is defined.

Cucumber features and RSpec specs are provided to check functionality.

Copyright (C) 2012 Fetcher

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