Internationalization in JavaScript

Context Specific Translation

Some strings in different contexts can require different translations. If you need to provide a context specific translation, the msgid must contain both, the translation string and the context in the form of “<translation string>_<context>”. For example, if the translation string is “Please wait” and the context is “Submit”, the respective msgid must be “Please wait_Submit”. A context can be created by the system for predefined translations. A package developer can create custom contexts as well.

Predefined Translation

Some default strings used in APS JS SDK widgets have predefined translation into the following languages:

• de_DE - German
• es_ES - Spanish
• fr_FR - French
• ja_JP - Japanese
• nl_NL - Dutch
• pt_BR - Brazilian Portuguese
• ru_RU - Russian

The following strings have predefined translation:

WIDGET	TRANSLATION STRING	CONTEXT	DEFAULT VALUE
aps/Button	Please wait	apsButton	Please wait
aps/DateTextBox	Select date	apsCalendar	Select date
aps/Grid	No item(s) found	apsGrid	No item(s) found
aps/Grid	Number of entries per page:	apsGrid	Number of entries per page:
aps/Grid	item(s) total	apsGrid	item(s) tota
aps/Grid	Search	apsGrid	Search
aps/Grid	Reset Search	apsGrid	Reset Search
aps/Grid	First	apsGrid	First
aps/Grid	Last	apsGrid	Last
aps/Grid	All	apsGrid	All
aps/Grid	Pages	apsGrid	Pages
aps/ListSwitcher	Settings	apsListSwitcher	Settings
aps/ListSwitcher	Sorting:	apsListSwitcher	Sorting:
aps/ListSwitcher	In ascending order: A to Z	apsListSwitcher	In ascending order: A to Z
aps/ListSwitcher	In descending order: Z to A	apsListSwitcher	In descending order: Z to A
aps/ListSwitcher	List View Mode:	apsListSwitcher	List View Mode:
aps/ListSwitcher	Active List	apsListSwitcher	Active List
aps/ListSwitcher	Classic List	apsListSwitcher	Classic List
aps/Password	Reset password	apsPassword	Reset password
aps/Password	Hide password	apsPassword	Hide password
aps/Password	Show password	apsPassword	Show password
aps/Password	Password does not match	apsPassword	Password does not match
aps/Password	Reset	apsPassword	Reset
aps/Password	The value entered is not valid.	apsPassword	The value entered is not valid.
aps/Password	This value is required.	apsPassword	This value is required.
aps/ProgressBar	completed	apsProgressBar	completed
aps/Slider	This value is out of range.	apsSlider	This value is out of range.
aps/Slider	The value entered is not valid.	apsSlider	The value entered is not valid.
aps/Slider	This value is required.	apsSlider	This value is required.
aps/Switch	ON	apsSwitch	ON
aps/Switch	OFF	apsSwitch	OFF
aps/TextBox	Not valid value	apsTextBox	Not valid value
aps/TextBox	The value entered is not valid.	apsTextBox	The value entered is not valid.
aps/TextBox	This value is required.	apsTextBox	This value is required.
aps/TextBox	All symbols required.	apsTextBox	All symbols required.
aps/ToolbarButton	Please wait	apsToolbarButton	Please wait
aps/ToolsItem	Please wait	apsToolsItem	Please wait

Note

The predefined translations are not presented in po files. If you need to substitute a predefined translation with your own custom string, you need to create manually the respective msgid and msgstr pair in the proper po file. The msgid string must include the respective context as presented in the above table.

Custom Translation

Translation Hook

The aps msgmake command extracts localization data from JavaScript code in *.html and *.js files used for building UI views. The _() function is a hook that makes a string available for translation. For example, _("string to translate") makes the aps msgmake command create the msgid “string to translate” and “msgstr” pair in the PO files.

The aps/i18n module redefines the window._() function.

Translation of Plurals

In general case, a string may contain mapped parameters that should not be translated. The mapped parameters must be enclosed into a pair of underscores “__”. In the following example, the msgKey string contains parameters, which values must be found in the paramObjects mapping string.

_(msgKey, paramObjects)

The _() function is used to localize the string @msgKey. For example, @msgKey is actually a string “Found __itemsCount__ item(s)”. This string contains the itemsCount parameter, wrapped by a pair of underscores. The parameter is defined by the mapping string, for example, {“itemsCount”:counter}.

So, if aps msgmake meets the following code when parsing a JavaScript code:

_("Found __itemsCount__ item(s)", {"itemsCount":itemsCount})

it automatically generates the following pair of records in the PO file:

msgid "Found __itemsCount__ item(s)"
msgstr ""

An interpreter can manually translate the message in the following way, for example, into Russian:

msgid "Found __itemsCount__ item(s)"
msgstr "Найдено __itemsCound__ элемент(ов)"

Custom Context

In case, a string translation is context dependent, specify a custom context as in the following example:

title: _("Context specific title", { context: "myOwnContext" })

For each context with the same string, the APS build utility will create a separate msgid and msgstr pair. For the above example, it will be:

msgid "Context specific title_myOwnContext"
msgstr ""

If the same string is used without a context property, a respective msgid will be created without the context property. In the process of building a widget on the client side, the context specific translation takes precedence over the context-less translation.

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