Localization of attribute names

[wout]

Not too long ago, we added the I18nBackend, which does a great job for translations. But one thing is missing. The attribute names themselves are not translated, which looks odd.

I think this can be implemented easily by changing the following method to look in the i18n backend first:

https://github.com/luckyframework/avram/blob/main/src/lucky/ext/avram/errors.cr#L17-L19

To:

module Avram
  class InvalidOperationError < AvramError
    # ...

    def renderable_details : String
      "#{localized_invalid_attribute_name} #{validation_messages.first}"
    end

    private def localized_invalid_attribute_name
      Avram.settings.i18n_backend.get?("attribute_#{invalid_attribute_name}") ||
        invalid_attribute_name
    end

    # ....
  end
end

Note that Avram::I18nBackend will need to have a get? variant to make this work. Alternatively there could be a get_with_default(key: Symbol, String, default: String) : String instead of a get?(key : String) : String? method to avoid nilable values.

There can be a naming convention for attributes translations, something like:

{
  # ...
  validate_required:       "is vereist",
  validate_uniqueness_of:  "bestaat al",

  attribute_email:         "e-mail",
  attribute_password:      "wachtwoord",    
}

We could even take it further by allowing operation-specific attribute translations. The only change needed would be storing the operation argument as in the instance variable:

https://github.com/luckyframework/avram/blob/main/src/avram/errors.cr#L62

module Avram
  class InvalidOperationError < AvramError
    getter errors : Hash(Symbol, Array(String))
    private getter operation : Avram::Operation

    def initialize(@operation)
      #...
    end
  end
end

Then we could:

module Avram
  class InvalidOperationError < AvramError
    # ...

    def renderable_details : String
      "#{localized_invalid_attribute_name} #{validation_messages.first}"
    end

    private def localized_invalid_attribute_name
      Avram.settings.i18n_backend.get?("attribute_#{operation.class.name.underscore}_#{name}") ||
        Avram.settings.i18n_backend.get?("attribute_#{name}") ||
        invalid_attribute_name
    end

    # ...
  end
end

That would be the cherry on the cake. 🙂

What do you guys think?

[jwoertink]

oh interesting. I guess I didn't consider the actual attribute names, but that makes sense. Het is een goed idee!

[wout]

Geweldig! ;)

I already have it working with Rosetta in one of my projects. I'll prepare a PR.

[wout]

I'm testing this in a few projects to iron out any possible issues. Once I feel comfortable enough with it, I'll create a PR.

[zw963]

Does this available for avram for now? (current avram version 1.2.0)

I need column name to I18n, for now, only message displayed by Chinese, it is wired.

[wout]

Not yet. Unfortunately, I got stuck somewhere. I have to rethink the strategy. But I need it soon myself for a project, so I'll pick this up again.