CakePHP 2.1 URL Language Parameter

Question

I finally have my multilingual CakePHP 2.1 app almost working.

First, I define the default language at the end of core.php:

/* Define default language */
Configure::write('Config.language', 'eng');

Here is my code in AppControler.php:

public function beforeFilter() {
parent::beforeFilter();
    $this->_setLanguage();
    //Configure::write('Config.language', 'fre'); //Manually change the language to test .po file
    $this->Auth->allow('index','view','home','display','logout');
}

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');
    }
}

If I uncomment Configure::write('Config.language', 'fre'); in AppController.php, the whole site is in French (except database driven content, for which I plan to use TranslateBehavior). However, I want to use URL-based language switching on a button click, and that's where the app breaks down. Here is my route, based on this nuts-and-bolts tutorial:

Router::connect('/:language/:controller/:action/*', array(), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}'));

Here is my button code:

<?php echo $this->Html->link($this->Html->image('../img/PUZ013-US-Flag.png', array('border' => '0')),array('language'=>'eng'),array('target' => '_parent', 'escape' => false));;?>&nbsp <?php echo $this->Html->link($this->Html->image('../img/PUZ013-FR-Flag.png', array('border' => '0')),array('language'=>'fre'),array('target' => '_parent', 'escape' => false));?>

I have this in AppHelper to handle the URL switching, but it's not working. The URL should be example.com/fre/controller/action, but instead it is example.com/controller/action/language:fre, and the cookie is not changing.

class AppHelper extends Helper {

  public function url($url = null, $full = false) {
        if(!isset($url['language']) && isset($this->params['language'])) {
          $url['language'] = $this->params['language'];
        }

        return parent::url($url, $full);
   }

}

If you click on the flags, nothing happens. What am I missing?

Answer 1

I ended up adding a function to my AppController and calling it in my beforeFilter():

My beforeFilter() looks like this:

public function beforeFilter() {
    parent::beforeFilter();
    $this->_checkRoute();
    $this->Auth->allow('index','view','home','display','logout');
}

Here is the _checkRoute() function:

function _checkRoute() {
        $params = $this->params['pass'];
        $url = $this->here;

        if (strpos($url, 'language:fre')) {
            $this->Session->write('Config.language', 'fre'); 
            Configure::write('Config.language', 'fre');
        }

        elseif (strpos($url, 'language:eng')) {
            Configure::write('Config.language', 'eng');
            $this->Session->write('Config.language', 'eng');
        }

}

When a user clicks the language icon button, the individual page is translated. The only remaining issue is that the session unsets when the user clicks on a menu link, as the URL parameter is not maintained. Another puzzle for another day.

Answer 2

Just in case others fall over this question. What I did was using deewilcox's answer above and changed the code a bit.

function _checkRoute() {
    $lang = $this->params["language"];


    if ($lang != $this->Session->read("Config.language")) {
        $this->Session->write('Config.language', "".$lang);
        Configure::write('Config.language', "".$lang);
    }
}

I used the routing as in the question, but I also use custom routing. The custom routing has to be written before

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

if you use

$this->Html->link()

Answer 3

Can you give us the HTML output of the flags ?

I think it's an issue with your url method in your AppHelper. If you try to echo something in it, does it show ?

Edit : I've another explanation, in your route, you have :

'language' => '[a-z]{2}'

As your language code use 3 characters, you should use :

'language' => '[a-z]{3}'