Multi-language Support

To allow your application to appear in multiple languages, first change all displayable text to utilize the __() function. For example, for echoed text like the following:

echo 'This text';

Replace it with the following:

__('This text');

For variables, such as the following:

$directions = array('N' => 'North', 'S' => 'South', 'E' => 'East', 'W' => 'West');

Replace it with the following:

$directions = array('N' => __('North', true), 'S' => __('South', true), 'E' => __('East', true), 'W' => __('West', true));

Then build your /app/locale/default.pot file using the console

# cd /app
# /cake/console/cake i18n extract

Accept default options and the file is created. Edit the /app/locale/default.pot with a program like Poedit, add your translations, then save the file in the appropriate directory as a catalog (.po file) e.g. /app/locale/spa/LC_MESSAGES/default.po Be sure to re-extract and update the .pot and catalog files every time you add new text to your application. To add a language to the beginning of each path add the following to your /app/config/routes.php:

  /* For internationalization */
  Router::connect('/:language/:controller/:action/*', array(), array('language' => '[a-z]{3}'));

To specify a default language, add the following to your /app/config/core.php and add the following lines:

  /* For internationalization */
  Configure::write('Config.language', 'eng');

Now to create a language switching link use the following:

  echo $this->Html->link('Español', array('language' => 'spa'));

Ensure Cookies and Session components are loaded and put the following functions in the /app/app_controller.php:

var $components = array('Session', 'Cookie');
 
function beforeFilter() {
  $this->_setLanguage();
}

function _setLanguage() {
  if ($this->Cookie->read('lang') && !$this->Session->check('Config.language')) {
    $this->Session->write('Config.language', $this->Cookie->read('lang'));
  }
  else if (isset($this->params['language']) && ($this->params['language'] !=  $this->Session->read('Config.language'))) {
    $this->Session->write('Config.language', $this->params['language']);
    $this->Cookie->write('lang', $this->params['language'], false, '20 days');
  }
}

Lastly, create the /app/app_helper.php file

params['language'])) {
      $url['language'] = $this->params['language'];
    }
    return parent::url($url, $full);
  }
}
?>