Translate¶

Initializing the i18n Database Tables¶

You can either use the CakePHP console or you can manually create it. It is advised to use the console for this, because it might happen that the layout changes in future versions of CakePHP. Sticking to the console will make sure that you have the correct layout.

./cake i18n

Select [I] which will run the i18n database initialization script. You will be asked if you want to drop any existing and if you want to create it. Answer with yes if you are sure there is no i18n table already, and answer with yes again to create the table.

Attaching the Translate Behavior to your Models¶

Add it to your model by using the $actsAs property like in the following example.

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate'
    );
}

This will do nothing yet, because it expects a couple of options before it begins to work. You need to define which fields of the current model should be tracked in the translation table we’ve created in the first step.

Defining the Fields¶

You can set the fields by simply extending the 'Translate' value with another array, like so:

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'fieldOne', 'fieldTwo', 'and_so_on'
        )
    );
}

After you have done that (for example putting “title” as one of the fields) you already finished the basic setup. Great! According to our current example the model should now look something like this:

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title'
        )
    );
}

When defining fields for TranslateBehavior to translate, be sure to omit those fields from the translated model’s schema. If you leave the fields in, there can be issues when retrieving data with fallback locales.

Loading Translations With Left Joins¶

When defining the fields that are translated you can also load translations via LEFT JOIN instead of the standard INNER JOIN. Doing this will allow you to load partially translated records:

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title',
            'body',
            'joinType' => 'left'
        )
    );
}

Conclusion¶

From now on each record update/creation will cause TranslateBehavior to copy the value of “title” to the translation table (default: i18n) along with the current locale. A locale is the identifier of the language, so to speak.

Reading translated content¶

By default the TranslateBehavior will automatically fetch and add in data based on the current locale. The current locale is read from Configure::read('Config.language') which is assigned by the L10n class. You can override this default on the fly using $Model->locale.

// Read the spanish locale data.
$this->Post->locale = 'es';
$results = $this->Post->find('first', array(
    'conditions' => array('Post.id' => $id)
));
// $results will contain the spanish translation.

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title' => 'titleTranslation'
        )
    );
}

Array
(
     [Post] => Array
         (
             [id] => 1
             [title] => Beispiel Eintrag
             [body] => lorem ipsum...
             [locale] => de_de
         )

     [titleTranslation] => Array
         (
             [0] => Array
                 (
                     [id] => 1
                     [locale] => en_us
                     [model] => Post
                     [foreign_key] => 1
                     [field] => title
                     [content] => Example entry
                 )

             [1] => Array
                 (
                     [id] => 2
                     [locale] => de_de
                     [model] => Post
                     [foreign_key] => 1
                     [field] => title
                     [content] => Beispiel Eintrag
                 )

         )
)

$this->Post->bindTranslation(array('title' => 'titleTranslation'));
// need at least recursive 1 for this to work.
$this->Post->find('all', array('recursive' => 1));

Array
(
     [Post] => Array
         (
             [id] => 1
             [title] => Beispiel Eintrag
             [body] => lorem ipsum...
             [locale] => de_de
         )

     [titleTranslation] => Array
         (
             [0] => Array
                 (
                     [id] => 1
                     [locale] => en_us
                     [model] => Post
                     [foreign_key] => 1
                     [field] => title
                     [content] => Example entry
                 )

             [1] => Array
                 (
                     [id] => 2
                     [locale] => de_de
                     [model] => Post
                     [foreign_key] => 1
                     [field] => title
                     [content] => Beispiel Eintrag
                 )

         )
)

Saving in another language¶

You can force the model which is using the TranslateBehavior to save in a language other than the one detected.

To tell a model in what language the content is going to be you simply change the value of the $locale property on the model before you save the data to the database. You can do that either in your controller or you can define it directly in the model.

Example A: In your controller:

class PostsController extends AppController {

    public function add() {
        if (!empty($this->request->data)) {
            // we are going to save the German version
            $this->Post->locale = 'de_de';
            $this->Post->create();
            if ($this->Post->save($this->request->data)) {
                return $this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
            }
        }
    }
}

Example B: In your model:

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title'
        )
    );

    // Option 1) just define the property directly
    public $locale = 'en_us';

    // Option 2) create a simple method
    public function setLanguage($locale) {
        $this->locale = $locale;
    }
}

Multiple Translation Tables¶

If you expect a lot entries you probably wonder how to deal with a rapidly growing database table. There are two properties introduced by TranslateBehavior that allow to specify which “Model” to bind as the model containing the translations.

These are $translateModel and $translateTable.

Lets say we want to save our translations for all posts in the table “post_i18ns” instead of the default “i18n” table. To do so you need to setup your model like this:

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title'
        )
    );

    // Use a different model (and table)
    public $translateModel = 'PostI18n';
}

class PostI18n extends AppModel {
    public $displayField = 'field'; // important
}
// filename: PostI18n.php

class Post extends AppModel {
    public $actsAs = array(
        'Translate' => array(
            'title'
        )
    );

    // Use a different model
    public $translateModel = 'PostI18n';

    // Use a different table for translateModel
    public $translateTable = 'post_translations';
}