TIP #399: Dynamic Locale Changing for msgcat
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TIP:	399
Title:	Dynamic Locale Changing for msgcat
Version:	$Revision: 1.18 $
Authors:	Harald Oehlmann <harald.oehlmann@elmicron.de>
State:	Accepted
Type:	Project
Tcl-Version:	8.6
Vote:	Done
Created:	Tue Mar 27 00:00:00 UTC 2012
Keywords:	Tcl, localization, msgcat
Abstract
This TIP adds dynamic locale switching capabilities to the msgcat package.
Rationale
Within a multi-language application like a web-server, one may change the locale quite frequently, for example if users with different locales are requesting pages. Unfortunately, this does not fit well with the model adopted by the msgcat package, which assumes that all code follows this sequence:
1.	 Set locale list: mclocale locale
2.	 Load language files with other package load: mcload msg-folder
3.	 Translate strings: mc key args...
Note that if the locale should be changed after other packages are loaded, one must restart at step 2. This requires reloading all packages which is mostly not practical. The key issue is that mcload only loads language files included in the current locale (mcpreferences) and does not load any others.
The aim of this TIP is to extend mcload to load additional language files. Then mclocale may be called to change the locale on runtime without the need to re-execute mcload (which would normally imply to reinitialise or reload the package).
Specification
This TIP proposes to add a new command:
msgcat::mcconfig -pattern ?patternlist?
This command may get or set package options. There is currently one option "-pattern".
Options may be set using
msgcat::mcconfig option value ?option? ?value?
Current option values may be read using:
msgcat::mcconfig option
Option -pattern
The option -pattern consists of a list of language file name patterns like fr*, *, or fr_ch.
Any mcload command executed after this setting will consider this list in addition to the current locale list. Files are searched using a glob command per element on the specified pattern plus the string ".msg". If "fr*" is specified within the pattern list, the file search pattern is "fr*.msg".
The default option value is the empty list . In consequence, only files covered by the current locale list are sourced.
Example Usage
Imagine an application which supports the current user language and French, German and English. An external package tp is used. The package uses msgcat and performes within the package require tp call:
package require msgcat
msgcat::mcload [file join [file dirname [info script]] msgs]
An implementation of the application with the current msgcat 1.4.4 would require the following initialisation sequence:
package require msgcat
package require np
and the following code to change the locale to French:
package forget np
msgcat::mclocale fr
package require np
Using the extension of this tip, the required code for initialisation is:
package require msgcat
msgcat::mcconfig -pattern fr* de* en*
package require np
and to change to french locale:
msgcat::mclocale fr
Within this modification, locale change is a cheap operation. Before, it was computational expensive (if possible, as many packages are not reloadable or a reload may disturb current processing, e.g., by forcing the closing of sockets, etc.).
Reference Implementation
See Tcl Feature Request 3511941. [http://sourceforge.net/support/tracker.php/?aid=3511941]
Compatibility
No incompatibilities are introduced.
Issues
Packages might not be aware of a locale change and may buffer translations outside of msgcat. Packages should not buffer msgcat messages if they are used in a dynamic locale application (like tklib tooltip does for example).
Alternatives
This implementation requires the setting of the pattern before any package with msgcat is loaded. To avoid this, msgcat must store all paths passed by any mcload call. When a locale change happens, any currently missing files are loaded. This requires much more housekeeping and may lead to side effects, especially if packages are not aware of the fact that their package files are loaded outside of the mcload command.
Copyright
This document has been placed in the public domain.
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