nativescript-i18n

This is a plugin for Nativescript that implements i18n in an easy manner.

It uses the native capabilities of each platform without the need of a separate JS or JSON file.

It is heavily inspired from NativeLang and this thread

The plugin defines an L() method at the application level so it will be accessible both from the XML and JS files.

Please don't forget to read the IMPORTANT section! 😄

Credits

Most thanks goes out to Dan Tamas (@rborn) for developing and maintaining this plugin in the past. When he had to abandon it due to shifted priorities, he was kind enough to move the repo to me.

Thanks to @TheBrousse and @ValioStoychev for the help with iOS and @alejonext for creating the initial module.

Also a big thanks to all the contributors that made this repo better :)

Usage

Install the plugin in your app

npm install --save nativescript-i18n

Create a folder i18n in the app folder with the following structure:

app
  |
  |-- App_Resources
  |
[...]
  |
  |-- i18n
       |
       |-- en
             |- strings.xml
       |
       |-- es
             |- strings.xml

Require nativescript-i18n and globals in app.js as early as possible (I do it even before I require the application module, the very first 2 lines).

	require('globals');
	require('nativescript-i18n');

If you use TypeScript and want to use L() in the code you will need to cast the global var to any like belowin the file you intend to use L(). You can read more about this in EddyVerbruggen#57

	declare var global:any;

And in the code use it like this:

XML files

Simple string

	<Label text="{{ L('hello') }}">

It supports one or multiple replacements, directly or from the model

	<Label text="{{ L('hello') }}" class="title" textWrap="true" />
	<Label text="{{ L('hello_replace','my friend') }}" class="message" textWrap="true" />
	<Label text title="{{ L('multi_replace','direct replacement', modelReplacement) }}">

Assuming you have defined in strings.xml the definitions and in the model the replacement modelReplacement variable

	<string name="hello">Hello!</string>
	<string formatted="false" name="hello_replace">Hello %s!</string>
	<string formatted="false" name="multi_replace">We can replace directly in xml: %s or from the model: %s</string>

To define a custom path for the i18n files (other than App_Resources/i18n), add this configuration to your project's package.json

"nativescript-i18n": {
    "customLangPath": "app/resources/i18n"
}

Language defaults to english if the phone's language doesn't match any of your defined languages. If you want to set your own default language, add this configuration to your project's package.json

Keep in mind that on iOS the language picked by the device will be based on the order in Settings -> Language & Region -> Preferred language order

"nativescript-i18n": {
    "defaultLang": "es"
}

IMPORTANT

• for all the strings definitions that have a replacement you need to add formatted=false

• quotes and apostrophes need to be escaped <string name="with_quotes">Apostrophe: \' and quotes: \"</string>

• % signs need to be escaped by setting formatted="false" and then doubling them up: <string formatted="false" name="percent"> Percent Sign: %%</string>

• We need to use the following format for the strings.xml otherwise app build will fail

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <resources>
  </resources>
  

• We need to add in strings.xml the next two lines for the app to compile properly which also makes the app name localized on both ios and android and sets the title of the initial activity on android

  <string name="app_name">demo</string>
  <string name="title_activity_kimera">demo</string>
  

• Sometimes you might need to fully delete the app from the device/sim for the plugin to fully work (usually only when the plugin is installed at a later stage of the project development)

• If you get TypeScript complaining about L not being defined, then put /// <reference path="./node_modules/nativescript-i18n/references.d.ts" /> Nativescript i18n in your references.d.ts.

JS files

	console.log(L('home'));
	console.log(L('multi_replace', 'ONE', 'TWO'));

Angular

In case you use Angular for your app, things get a little more complicated.

My Angular skills are zero but @alejonext has a solution for it in this comment.

Update 28.06.2016

@AirMike and @loloof64 did a great job by testing and further improving @alejonext's PR so the plugin includes now support for Angular 🙇

After you import the plugin in the app in the usual way just need to import the module NativeScriptI18nModule from nativescript-i18n/angular in your file (main.ts)

(Please be aware that the below intructions are in typescript not pure js)

	import { NativeScriptI18nModule } from "nativescript-i18n/angular";

and then import it in your app module

	@NgModule({


      imports: [
        NativeScriptI18nModule
      ]


    })
    export class AppModule { }

Angular usage is {{ value | L:args }}

	<Button text="{{ 'Login' | L }}"></Button>

As for a more detailed example :

You can put a code like this in your main.ts :

    import { NativeScriptI18nModule } from 'nativescript-i18n/angular';

    import { NativeScriptModule } from "nativescript-angular/platform";
    import { NgModule } from "@angular/core";
    import { AppComponent } from "./app.component";


    @NgModule({

      imports: [
        NativeScriptModule,
        NativeScriptI18nModule
      ],

      declarations: [
        AppComponent,
      ],
      bootstrap: [AppComponent]
    })
    export class AppModule { }

For the main component, let's say that the following html template is used (the strings definitions follow next):

    <GridLayout rows="*,*,*">
        <label row="0" text="{{'menuitem_new_file' | L }}"></label>
        <label row="1" text="{{'menuitem_new_folder' | L }}"></label>
        <label row="2" text="{{'menuitem_new' | L:'---':'***':124.25693 }}"></label>
    </GridLayout>

And let's say that these are the string definitions for "en" (put in app/i18n/en/strings.xml)

    <resources>
        <string name="app_name">Chess Exercices Cupboard</string>
        <string name="title_activity_kimera">Chess Exercices Cupboard</string>

        <string formatted="false" name="menuitem_new">%s New... %s %0.2f</string>
        <string name="menuitem_new_file">File</string>
        <string name="menuitem_new_folder">Folder</string>
    </resources>

And the french translations (put in app/i18n/fr/srings.xml)

    <resources>
        <string name="app_name">Chess Exercices Cupboard</string>
        <string name="title_activity_kimera">Chess Exercices Cupboard</string>

        <string formatted="false" name="menuitem_new">%s Nouveau... %s %0.2f</string>
        <string name="menuitem_new_file">Fichier</string>
        <string name="menuitem_new_folder">Dossier</string>
    </resources>

Then if your phone is configured for french you'll see something like this :

    Fichier
    Dossier
    --- Nouveau... *** 124.25693

Or, if configured for english or "unrecognized" language :

    File
    Folder
    --- New... *** 124.25693

Demo

Please have a look in the demo folder for a working example.

iOS Permission text

Add this special keys to app/i18n/(lang)/strings.xml used to notify user, in configured language while showing permission alerts.

Key	Description of key
NSAppleMusicUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to use the media library
NSBluetoothPeripheralUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to use Bluetooth
NSCalendarsUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s calendars
NSCameraUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the device’s camera
NSContactsUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s contacts
NSHealthShareUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to read the user’s health data
NSHealthUpdateUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to make changes to the user’s health data
NSHomeKitUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s HomeKit configuration data
NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s location information at all times
NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s location information while your app is in use
NSMicrophoneUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access any of the device’s microphones
NSMotionUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the device’s accelerometer
NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s photo library
NSRemindersUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to access the user’s reminders
NSSiriUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to send user data to Siri
NSSpeechRecognitionUsageDescription	Specifies the reason for your app to send user data to Apple’s speech recognition servers

(Pseudo) roadmap/ideas

The following ideas are inspired by this comment and issues posted by the users of this plugin

• Android implementation - use the native strings.xml in App_Resources/Android/values/
• iOS implementation - use the native Localizable.strings files (where do we need to put this files?)
• Allow formatted strings, eg: L('hello', 'world') to translate the definition hello %s (and/or other other types %d, etc)
• Possibly a cli tool/command to extract strings from our language function uses and put them into our strings.xml to be translated
• Move the strings.xml files in app/i18n (exact folder structure to be decided) and use them as a base for the next points
  • Build a hook to move the files in the right place before compiling for Android
  • Build a hook to translate and move the files in the right place before compiling for iOS
• What about assets (images/splash screens/etc) ? might be out of scope of this plugin
• What about the app name?
• Do we need a cache at the module level so we don't have to cross the native bridge everytime? (a benchmark should be done to decide this)
• Make the cache aware of the current language and language change
• Angular support
• Custom path for the language files (#28)
• Set default language for app (#11)
• Show translations on app permission alerts on iOS (#45)
• Report errors on case some files could not be created
• Webpack support (#49, #42)