Translator (i18n) proof of concept

1

So translators are annoying to use because you need to memorize strings like Translate("category", "short_code").
As I recently switched to WebStorm I though what good is autocomplete here. So I’ve developed a proof of concept where you can find translation strings using IDE autocomplete.

So this is the command I use to translate:

T.landing.welcome()

Why the () brackets? Because you can switch the language on the fly (when server sends emails for example):

T.emails.order.newOrder('es')

This makes me so happy. Here’s the code:

// The main object
T = {
    // Default language
    currentLocale: 'et',
    
    // Initialization
    init: (loc) => {
        if (loc)
            T.currentLocale = loc
        T.convert(T)
    },
    
    // Converts {et: '', en: ''} objects
    // into function(){ return localized string }
    convert: (obj) => {
        for (var prop in obj) {
            let p = obj[prop]
            if (p && p.hasOwnProperty('en')) {
                // Encapsulate translations object to stop change next loop
                obj[prop] = (function() {
                    var translations = obj[prop]
                    return function(lang) {
                        if (!lang) lang = T.currentLocale
                        return translations[lang]
                    }
                })()
            } else if (_.isObject(obj[prop]) && obj.hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
                T.convert(obj[prop])
            }
        }
    }
}

// The actual translations (spread across files)
T.order = {
    form: {
        nrPeople: {
            et: 'Inimeste arv',
            en: 'Number of People'
        },
        duration: {
            et: 'Kestvus tundides',
            en: 'Duration in hours'
        }
    }
}

// Start conversion proccess
T.init()

This is so good I couldn’t help but share. This must have been done before, but no Meteor i18n package I’ve seen does it.

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