can't translate to any other language using gettext php function

Question

I use a WAMP server on Windows and make a test project. I have these files in the website folder:

C:\wamp\www\project\locale\ar_EG\LC_MESSAGES\messages.po C:\wamp\www\project\locale\en_US\LC_MESSAGES\messages.po

Below is the PHP Code:

$language="en_US";
$encoding = "UTF-8";
putenv("LANG=".$language);
setlocale(LC_ALL,$language);
$domain="messages"; // name of PO file
bindtextdomain($domain,"Locale");
bind_textdomain_codeset($domain, $encoding);
textdomain($domain);
echo gettext("name");

Above code is working fine. When I try to replace en_US with ar_EG it also displays the translation for en_US, and when I try to remove the en_US folder and try again it displays the msgid not msgstr.

I searched and found that there is a problem with setlocale on the Windows platform, but I need a solution for it to run on Windows.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 30 '14 at 12:15

1

setlocale() on Windows has issues.

From setLocale() in PHP Manual:

Windows users will find useful information about locale strings at Microsoft's MSDN website. Supported language strings can be found in the » language strings documentation and supported country/region strings in the » country/region strings documentation.

You might try to use $language = 'english-us'; instead of $language = 'en_US';.

I'm not sure about the language code for ar_eg, maybe Arabic_Egypt or Arabic_Egypt.1256.

If that doesn't work, you still have the option to use a PHP library, which implements gettext, like https://github.com/oscarotero/Gettext or https://launchpad.net/php-gettext.

answered Dec 30 '14 at 12:15

Jens A. Koch

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thanks @Jens-Andre Koch but unfortunately , Arabic Egypt not works, could you please tell me how to use PHP library. – Dec 30 '14 at 12:27
Please check the usage example out: https://github.com/oscarotero/Gettext#usage-example – Jens A. Koch Dec 30 '14 at 12:30
For me the error was type `fr_fr` instead of `fr_FR` – Flimm Feb 07 '17 at 16:37

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 30 '14 at 12:14

0

I made it work on windows with following code:

$locale = 'en_US';

if(!defined('LC_MESSAGES') || !setlocale(LC_ALL, $locale)) {
    putenv("LC_ALL=$locale");
}

$domain = 'messages';
$path = "C:\wamp\www\project\locale";
$codeset = 'UTF-8';

bindtextdomain($domain, $path);
textdomain($domain);
bind_textdomain_codeset($domain, $codeset);

echo gettext("name");

answered Dec 30 '14 at 12:14

bitWorking

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hey @bitWorking , i have no problem with en_US , my code is working fine when i use en_US. the problem happened when i use ar_EG , do u have any idea ? – Dec 30 '14 at 12:25
yes i try ar_EG but it echo the english language , what is the result when u try ar_EG ?? – Dec 30 '14 at 13:09

can't translate to any other language using gettext php function

2 Answers2