Using variables in Language files

[eluser]Philo01[/eluser]
Hi there!

I was wondering if it's possible to display variables in the language files.
For example:

Code:

<?php

$lang['unread_messages'] = "You have ".$this->my_model->unread_messages()." unread messages";

?>

Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Would appreciate it!

Kind regards,

Philo

[eluser]Cro_Crx[/eluser]
You can use placeholders like this:

Code:

$lang['unread_messages'] = "You have %s unread messages";

Then when calling it, use:

Code:

$number = $this->my_model->unread_messages();
$message = sprintf($this->lang->line('unread_messages'), $number);

[eluser]nlogachev[/eluser]
cro_crx, you can certainly do that but differences in language grammar might result in the variable positions changing.

What I did was overload the line() function in the Language class to allow number-based arguments:

Code:

<?php  if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

class MY_Language extends CI_Language
{

    function MY_Language()
    {
        parent::CI_Language();
    }
    
    /**
     * Fetch a single line of text from the language array. Takes variable number
     * of arguments and supports wildcards in the form of '%1', '%2', etc.
     * Overloaded function.
     *
     * @access public
     * @return mixed false if not found or the language string
     */
    public function line()
    {
        //get the arguments passed to the function
        $args = func_get_args();
        
        //count the number of arguments
        $c = count($args);
        
        //if one or more arguments, perform the necessary processing
        if ($c)
        {
            //first argument should be the actual language line key
            //so remove it from the array (pop from front)
            $line = array_shift($args);
            
            //check to make sure the key is valid and load the line
            $line = ($line == '' OR ! isset($this->language[$line])) ? FALSE : $this->language[$line];
            
            //if the line exists and more function arguments remain
            //perform wildcard replacements
            if ($line && $args)
            {
                $i = 1;
                foreach ($args as $arg)
                {
                    $line = preg_replace('/\%'.$i.'/', $arg, $line);
                    $i++;
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            //if no arguments given, no language line available
            $line = false;
        }
        
        return $line;
    }
    
    
}

?>

It works the same way as the original function. Simply put MY_Language.php into your application/libraries folder and you can do stuff like this:

Code:

//in english
$lang['some_key'] = 'Some string with %1 %2.';

//in another language
$lang['some_key'] = 'Some string %2 with %1.';

//the actual usage
echo $this->lang->line('some_key','first','second');

Hope this helps.

[eluser]Buso[/eluser]
Interesting, thanks for sharing. I had this problem once and had to change my redaction =s

[eluser]juddmuir[/eluser]
Regarding internationalisation, the quicker solution is to use php's ability argument swapping functionality in the sprintf function (see http://php.net/manual/en/function.sprintf.php)

//in english
$lang['unread_messages'] = "You have %1$s unread messages, %2$s";

//in another language
$lang['unread_messages'] = "Hi %2$s, You have %1$s unread messages";

$message = sprintf($this->lang->line('unread_messages'), $number, $name);

[eluser]nlogachev[/eluser]
Yes, but then you would be writing sprintf($this->lang->line(.....)) every single time.

Overload once, use as normal. Easier.

[eluser]Jelenik[/eluser]
Will this work for Codeigniter Reactor 2.0 version too?