DMZ 1.7.1 (DataMapper OverZealous Edition)

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
Hello,

I just upgraded to 1.7.1 and I'm glad to see the new localization functions. I have a feature suggestion to make this library even more powerful, but I'm not sure if my situation is too specific.

For several of my models, some of the fields are enum types, and those correspond to lines in my language files. With the new localization features, I moved those lines into the auto-loaded model language files and created a proper naming convention for them.

Code:

<?php
// Language File for Transaction Model
$lang['transaction_amount']     = 'Amount';
$lang['transaction_account']     = 'Account';
$lang['transaction_date']         = 'Date';
$lang['transaction_type']         = 'Type';

$lang['transaction_type_deposit'] = 'Deposit';
$lang['transaction_type_transfer'] = 'Transfer';

/* End of file model_transaction_lang.php */
/* Location: ./application/language/english/model_transaction_lang.php */

Then, in the model file, I created a function to retrieve those lines.

Code:

public function localize_type() {
    return $this->localize_by_model('${model}_type_${field}', $this->type);
}

In my User model, I even gave the function some static functionality (although I haven't written it to work as a truly static function yet).

Code:

public function localize_status($status = null) {
    return $this->localize_by_model('${model}_status_${field}', ($status ? $status : $this->status));
}

In the case of that function, if no parameter is given, it defaults to the object instance's field value.

Could something like this be implemented as a magic function? For example, a function localize_{field}() which would return the line {model}_{field}_{value}, where {value} is the value of the specified field. This would make producing localized strings of enumerations incredibly easy.

I'm having a great time with DMZ, so thank you for the excellent work. :-)

Henry Merriam