B4A Library AHLocale library

corwin42 · Jan 29, 2011

With this library you can convert dates, timestamps, numbers and normal texts to the format your device uses. You can even translate your apps to different languages.

The AHLocale object provides many information about your devices locale settings like Currency symbol, month names, weekday names etc.

The AHTranslator object provides methods for creating multilanguage apps.

The AHDateTime object provides methods for formatting and parsing date strings. The internal DateTime object of B4A has the problem that it uses localized format identifier so it is not possible to parse a date string in the format "2011/05/19 12:15 AM" on a german device because the "AM" is "vorm." on it. With the AHDateTime object you can parse and format dates in any locale.

The AHTimeZone object provides methods to get information about timezones (like offset to UTC, DST offset etc.)

The AHDateUtils object provides methods to format dates and date ranges and display them localized.

The AHNumeric object provides methods to handle different (localized) number formats.

The example app starts always in english. Translation files for german, italian and japanese are provided. Try to select another language with the topmost spinner and see how the language of the user interface changes.

AHLocale
Author: Markus Stipp
Version: 1.16

AHDateTime
Fields:

DEFAULT As Int

FULL As Int

LONG As Int

MEDIUM As Int

SHORT As Int

Methods:

Format (ticks As Long) As String
Formats the specified ticks value to a string with the specified pattern.

GetDefaultDatePattern (Style As Int) As String
Gets the default DatePattern of the device default locale

Style - Use constants SHORT, MEDIUM, LONG, FULL, DEFAULT

GetDefaultDatePattern2 (Style As Int, Locale As AHLocale) As String
Gets the default DatePattern of given locale

Style - Use constants SHORT, MEDIUM, LONG, FULL, DEFAULT
Locale - Reference to an AHLocale object

GetDefaultDateTimePattern (DateStyle As Int, TimeStyle As Int) As String
Gets the device default DateTimePattern

DateStyle - Style for Date
TimeStyle - Style for Time

GetDefaultDateTimePattern2 (DateStyle As Int, TimeStyle As Int, Locale As AHLocale) As String
Gets the DateTimePattern for the given Locale

DateStyle - Style for Date
TimeStyle - Style for Time

GetDefaultTimePattern (Style As Int) As String
Gets the default TimePattern of the device default locale

Style - Use constants SHORT, MEDIUM, LONG, FULL, DEFAULT

GetDefaultTimePattern2 (Style As Int, Locale As AHLocale) As String
Gets the default TimePattern of given locale

Style - Use constants SHORT, MEDIUM, LONG, FULL, DEFAULT
Locale - Reference to an AHLocale object

GetShortDatePatternWithoutYear As String
Return a short date pattern without year information

Initialize
Initializes the AHDateTime object with the default locale.

Initialize2 (locale As AHLocale)
Initializes the AHDateTime object with the given AHLocale object

InitializeUS
Initializes the AHDateTime object with the en_US locale.

Parse (date As String) As Long
Parses the specified string and returns a tick value.

Throws an exception if the string can not be parsed.

is24HourFormat As Boolean
Returns true if the user preference settings is 24 hour format.

Properties:

Lenient As Boolean
If you set this to true the parser is not very strict on his date format.

Pattern As String
Sets or gets the Date/Time pattern

Default pattern is: yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss

For allowed placeholders look here: <link>SimpleDateFormat|http://developer.android.com/reference/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html</link>

TimeZone As AHTimezone
Sets or gets the timezone for the AHDateTime object

AHDateUtils
Fields:

FORMAT_12HOUR As Int

FORMAT_24HOUR As Int

FORMAT_ABBREV_ALL As Int

FORMAT_ABBREV_MONTH As Int

FORMAT_ABBREV_RELIVE As Int

FORMAT_ABBREV_TIME As Int

FORMAT_ABBREV_WEEKDAY As Int

FORMAT_CAP_AMPM As Int

FORMAT_CAP_MIDNIGHT As Int

FORMAT_CAP_NOON As Int

FORMAT_CAP_NOON_MIDNIGHT As Int

FORMAT_NO_MIDNIGHT As Int

FORMAT_NO_MONTH_DAY As Int

FORMAT_NO_NOON As Int

FORMAT_NO_NOON_MIDNIGHT As Int

FORMAT_NO_YEAR As Int

FORMAT_NUMERIC_DATE As Int

FORMAT_SHOW_DATE As Int

FORMAT_SHOW_TIME As Int

FORMAT_SHOW_WEEKDAY As Int

FORMAT_SHOW_YEAR As Int

FORMAT_UTC As Int

LENGTH_LONG As Int

LENGTH_MEDIUM As Int

LENGTH_SHORT As Int

LENGTH_SHORTER As Int

LENGTH_SHORTEST As Int

Methods:

FormatDateRange (StartTicks As Long, EndTicks As Long, Flags As Int) As String
Formats a date or a time range according to the local conventions.

Note that this is a convenience method. Using it involves creating an
internal Formatter instance on-the-fly, which is somewhat costly in terms
of memory and time.

StartTicks - start time
EndTicks - end time
Flags - a bit mask of options

FormatDateTime (Ticks As Long, Flags As Int) As String
Formats a date or a time according to the local conventions. There are
lots of options that allow the caller to control, for example, if the
time is shown, if the day of the week is shown, if the month name is
abbreviated, if noon is shown instead of 12pm, and so on.

Ticks - time/date to format
Flags - a bit mask of options

FormatElapsedTime (Seconds As Long) As String
Formats an elapsed time in the form "MM:SS" or "H:MM:SS" for display on
the call-in-progress screen.

Seconds - the elapsed time in seconds.

GetRelativeDateTimeString (Ticks As Long, MinResolution As Long, TransitionResolution As Long, Flags As Int) As CharSequence
Return string describing the elapsed time since startTime formatted like
"[relative time/date], [time]".

Ticks - some time in the past.

MinResolution - the minimum elapsed time (in milliseconds) to
report when showing relative times. For example, a time 3 seconds in the
past will be reported as "0 minutes ago" if this is set to
MINUTE_IN_MILLIS.

TransitionResolution - the elapsed time (in milliseconds) at which
to stop reporting relative measurements. Elapsed times greater than this
resolution will default to normal date formatting. For example, will
transition from "6 days ago" to "Dec 12" when using WEEK_IN_MILLIS.

Flags - a bit mask of options

GetRelativeTimeSpanString (Ticks As Long, Now As Long, MinResolution As Long, Flags As Int) As CharSequence
Returns a string describing 'time' as a time relative to 'now'.

Time spans in the past are formatted like "42 minutes ago". Time spans in
the future are formatted like "in 42 minutes". Can use
FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE flag to use abbreviated relative times, like
"42 mins ago".

Ticks - the time to describe, in milliseconds

Now - the current time in
milliseconds

MinResolution - the minimum timespan to report. For example,
a time 3 seconds in the past will be reported as "0 minutes ago" if this
is set to MINUTE_IN_MILLIS. Pass one of 0, MINUTE_IN_MILLIS,
HOUR_IN_MILLIS, DAY_IN_MILLIS, WEEK_IN_MILLIS

Flags - a bit mask of
formatting options, such as FORMAT_NUMERIC_DATE or FORMAT_ABBREV_RELATIVE

IsToday (Ticks As Long) As Boolean
Returns true if the supplied Ticks value is today else false

AHLocale
Methods:

Initialize
Initializes the AHLocale object with the default locale.

Initialize2 (language As String)
Initializes the AHLocale object using the specified language.

Initialize3 (language As String, country As String)
Initializes the AHLocale object using the specified language and country.

InitializeUS
Initializes the AHLocale Object with en_US locale. This locale is
available on every device.

Properties:

AmPmStrings() As String [read only]
Returns the array of strings which represent AM and PM.

AvailableLocales As List [read only]
Returns the system's installed locales. These are returned as a B4A List of AHLocale Objects.
There are only locales in this list which have a non empty country and language.

Country As String [read only]
Returns the country/region code for this locale, which will either be the
empty string or an uppercase ISO 3166 2-letter code.

CurrencyCode As String [read only]
Returns this currency's ISO 4217 currency code.

CurrencyFractionDigits As Int [read only]
Returns the default number of fraction digits for this currency.

CurrencySymbol As String [read only]
Returns the localized currency symbol for this currency in locale.

DisplayCountry As String [read only]
Returns the name of this locale's country, localized to locale. Returns
the empty string if this locale does not correspond to a specific country

DisplayLanguage As String [read only]
Returns the name of this locale's language, localized to locale. If the
language name is unknown, the language code is returned.

DisplayName As String [read only]
Returns this locale's language name, country name, and variant, localized
to locale. The exact output form depends on whether this locale
corresponds to a specific language, country and variant, such as:
English, English (United States), English (United States,Computer),
anglais (?tats-Unis), anglais (?tats-Unis,informatique).

EnglishCountry As String [read only]
Returns the name of this locale's country in english. Returns
the empty string if this locale does not correspond to a specific country

EnglishLanguage As String [read only]
Returns the name of this locale's language in english. If the
language name is unknown, the language code is returned.

EnglishName As String [read only]
Returns this locale's language name, country name, and variant in english.
The exact output form depends on whether this locale
corresponds to a specific language, country and variant, such as:
English, English (United States), English (United States,Computer),
anglais (?tats-Unis), anglais (?tats-Unis,informatique).

FirstDayOfWeek As Int [read only]
Gets the first day of the week

ISO3Country As String [read only]
Gets the three letter ISO country code which corresponds to the country
code for this Locale.

ISO3Language As String [read only]
Gets the three letter ISO language code which corresponds to the language
code for this Locale.

ISOCode As String [read only]
Returns the ISO Code for this Locale such as en_US or de_DE

ISOCountries() As String [read only]
Gets the list of two letter ISO country codes which can be used as the
country code for a Locale.

ISOLanguages() As String [read only]
Gets the list of two letter ISO language codes which can be used as the
language code for a Locale.

Initialized As Boolean [read only]
Returns if the object is initialized

Language As String [read only]
Gets the language code for this Locale or the empty string if no language
was set.

Months() As String [read only]
Returns the array of strings containing the full names of the months.

ShortMonths() As String [read only]
Returns the array of strings containing the abbreviated names of the months.

ShortWeekDays() As String [read only]
Returns the array of strings containing the abbreviated names of the days of the week.

WeekDays() As String [read only]
Returns the array of strings containing the full names of the days of the week.

AHNumeric
Methods:

Format (Value As Double) As String
Format the number to a string using the pattern and rules of this object.

Initialize
Initializes a standard NumberFormat object with the standard locale

Initialize2 (Locale As AHLocale)
Initializes a standard NumberFormat object with the given locale.

InitializeCurrency
Initializes a currency NumberFormat object with the standard locale

InitializeCurrency2 (Locale As AHLocale)
Initializes a currency NumberFormat object with the given locale.

InitializeInteger
Initializes an integer NumberFormat object with the standard locale

InitializeInteger2 (Locale As AHLocale)
Initializes an integer NumberFormat object with the given locale.

InitializeNumber
Initializes a standard NumberFormat object with the standard locale

InitializeNumber2 (Locale As AHLocale)
Initializes a standard NumberFormat object with the given locale.

InitializePercent
Initializes a percent NumberFormat object with the standard locale

InitializePercent2 (Locale As AHLocale)
Initializes a percent NumberFormat object with the given locale.

Parse (Value As String) As Number
Parse the given string and convert it to a number. This may throw a
ParseException if the format of the string is not correct.

Properties:

MaximumFractionDigits As Int
Set or get the maximum fraction digits.

MaximumIntegerDigits As Int
Set or get the maximum integer digits.

MinimumFractionDigits As Int
Set or get the minimum fraction digits.

MinimumIntegerDigits As Int
Set or get the minimum integer digits

Pattern As String
Set or get the pattern that is used for formatting and parsing.

AHTimeZone
Fields:

STYLE_LONG As Int

STYLE_SHORT As Int

Methods:

GetDisplayName (DaylightTime As Boolean, Style As Int) As String
Returns the Display name of this timezone

DaylightTime - Set to true if you want to have DST included into the name
Style - AHTimeZone.SHORT or AHTimeZone.LONG format

GetDisplayName2 (DaylightTime As Boolean, Style As Int, Locale As AHLocale) As String
Returns the Display name of this timezone

DaylightTime - Set to true if you want to have DST included into the name
Style - AHTimeZone.SHORT or AHTimeZone.LONG format
Locale - a AHLocale object to set in which language you want the displayname

GetOffset (Date As Long) As Long
Returns the offset in milliseconds from UTC for this time zone at time.
The offset includes daylight savings time if the specified date is within the daylight savings time period.

Date - Date for which you want to have the info

InDaylightTime (Date As Long) As Boolean
Returns true if Date is in a daylight savings time period for this time zone.

Date - Date for which you want to get the info

Initialize
Initialize a AHTimeZone object with default timezone

Initialize2 (ID As String)
Initializes a AHTimeZone object with the given TimeZone ID

ID - TimeZone ID like "Europe/Berlin"

Properties:

AvailableIds As List [read only]
Returns a list of available timezone IDs on this device.
One of the results can be passed to the Initialize2() Method to reinitialize
an AHTimeZone object with a different timezone

DSTSavings As Long [read only]
Returns the daylight savings offset in milliseconds for this time zone.
The base implementation returns 3600000 (1 hour) for time zones that use daylight savings
time and 0 for timezones that do not.
Note that this method doesn't tell you whether or not to apply the offset: you need to call
InDaylightTime() for the specific time you're interested in. If this method returns a non-zero
offset, that only tells you that this TimeZone sometimes observes daylight savings.

ID As String
Gets or sets the timezone ID as String for this timezone

RawOffset As Long
Sets or gets the Raw offset for this timezone

AHTranslator
Methods:

GetText (text As String) As String
Searches for the text in the translation table. If a translation is
available it will be returned. If no translation is available the text is
added to the missing translation table and the original text is returned.
So you can write your whole program in a default language. If a
translation is available it will be used, if not, the text will be
returned in the default language.

GetText2 (text As String, params As List) As String
Searches for the text in the translation table and returns the translated
text.

You can use Placeholders in the form of {1} {2} etc. which will be
replaced with the content of the second parameter. {1} will be replaced
with the first item in the Array/List, {2} with the second one and so on.

Initialize (dir As String, basename As String)
Initializes a translation object with the device language. Tries to read a
translation file with the following name convention: basename_language.lng

Initialize2 (dir As String, basename As String, language As String)
Initializes a translation object with the given language. Tries to read a
translation file with the following name convention: basename_language.lng

Initialize3 (dir As String, basename As String, language As String, country As String)
Initializes a translation object with the given language and country code.
Tries to read a translation file with the following name
convention: basename_language_country.lng

WriteTranslation (dir As String, filename As String)
Writes two files to the specified dir. The current translation Map is
written to [filename]_[language].lng and the missing translation Map is
written to [filename]_miss_[language].lng

Properties:

CurrentCountry As String [read only]
Returns the current County code

CurrentFile As String [read only]
Returns current file name of language file

CurrentLanguage As String [read only]
Returns current Language code

DefaultLanguage As String
Sets or gets the default language. This is the language used when no language file is found.
If you don't set it the default language will be empty and is not used.

Extension As String
Sets or gets the current file extension

MissingTranslationMap As Map [read only]
Returns a Map object with all text phrases which are missing in the
translation file.

TranslationMap As Map
Returns a Map object with the current translations

History:
V1.1:

fixed Documentation
fixed some bugs (DisplayXXX methods)
new AHDateTime object
some minor improvements

V1.11:

fixed problem with AvailableLocales not working on all devices

V1.12:

new AHTimeZone object to get information from timezones

V1.13: (never released)

Add TimeZone property to AHDateTime object

V1.14:

AHTranslator.java - Removed log output
Timezone.java - fixed type

V1.15:

AHDateUtils object - new
AHNumeric object - new

V1.16:

AHDateTime - Methods for getting default date and time format strings
AHTranslation - Support for Countries
AHTranslation - Support for default language
AHTranslation - Support for different file extensions

corwin42 · Jun 14, 2013

Firpas said:
AHTimeZone.AvailableIds returns a lot of zones, but ...
is posible to sort then by TimeOffset?

I think AHTimeZone.AvailableIds is s list, and then is posible to sort with sortType?

AHTimeZone.AvailableIds is just a wrapper to the TimeZone.getAvailableIDs() method. So there is no possibility to change the sort order in the library.

wimpie3 · Aug 28, 2013

Can you please modify the library to accept also ".properties" files as the source? I'm using a java properties editor which writes .properties files. They cannot be read by AHLocale because of the file extension used.

Informatix · Aug 28, 2013

And you cannot change the extension of your files?

wimpie3 · Aug 28, 2013

The files cannot be opened in my resource editor when they don't have a ".properties" extension. I know I can rename the files every time I want to modify them, but why make life harder when it's (probably) a simple modification in AHLOCALE?

corwin42 · Aug 29, 2013

I will see what I can do. I'm currently adding some minor features to the translation object.

wimpie3 · Oct 31, 2013

Any news on the ".properties" extension?

corwin42 · Nov 4, 2013

Updated the library to V1.16

AHDateTime - Methods for getting default date and time format strings
AHTranslation - Support for Countries
AHTranslation - Support for default language
AHTranslation - Support for different file extensions

For the default language and file extension just set AHTranslator.Extension or AHTranslator.DefaultLanguage prior to initialize the Translator object and it will be initialized with the given options.

With the DefaultLanguage option you can create translations with real placeholder for the strings. Create a translation file with all translations in your default language ("en" for example). This translation file is loaded prior to other translation files. So if english is your default language you should supply a translation file for english which includes ALL translated strings. If your app then runs in german but your german translation file does not contain all strings, the english translation will be used if no german translation exists.

I think support for Countries needs a bit more testing. Translation files can be named xxxx_en_us.lng for example

enrico · Jan 13, 2014

How to change Application Name for different languages ?

corwin42 · Jan 14, 2014

enrico said:
How to change Application Name for different languages ?

What do you want to do? The basename is a parameter to the initialize method.

enrico · Jan 14, 2014

Is it not possible that an app is installed with a different name if the device language is different ?

corwin42 · Jan 15, 2014

enrico said:
Is it not possible that an app is installed with a different name if the device language is different ?

If you want to translate your application name you have to use the "Android like" solution explained here

Richard Goh · Mar 2, 2014

how can i add a new language file into the program and where to set it? i had created a new language file with "localeexample_zh.lng" and added the file into b4a. it's doesn't set the label text set in the file when I run the sample program and select the language with zh. where it's go wrong?
attached is the lng file. but i renamed it to .txt due to not a valid upload file for ".lng". pls advice. thank you.

corwin42 · Mar 4, 2014

Your file is UTF16 with DOS CR/LF encoding. Use UTF8 with Unix CR/LF.
You have to use unicode notation if you want to use non ASCII characters.
A online converter can be found here.

leitor79 · Mar 13, 2014

Hi!

Could someone explain the file format? I have this, from the example:

Currency\:=valuta\:
First\ day\ of\ Week\:=Primo giorno della settimana\:
Current\ Language\:=Lingua attuale\:
Select\ Month=Selezionare mese
Select\ weekday=Selezionare giorno
Locale\ Example=Esempio Locale
Translation\ with\ variable\ values=Traduzione con variabli locali
You\ are\ in\ {1}\ and\ your\ Currency\ is\ {2}=Ti trovi in {1} e la tua valuta {2}

Although I could copy the format, I'd like to understand why the \ and the \:

Thank you!

corwin42 · Mar 13, 2014

leitor79 said:
Could someone explain the file format? I have this, from the example:

Although I could copy the format, I'd like to understand why the \ and the \:

It is a standard java properties file. See here for more information

Richard Goh · Mar 25, 2014

leitor79 said:
Hi!

Could someone explain the file format? I have this, from the example:

Although I could copy the format, I'd like to understand why the \ and the \:

Thank you!

I think it's an escape code used for space and some special characters... it's will not work without "\" is placed in.

Richard Goh · Mar 25, 2014

I managed to translate the file to the language I required. Just for a reference to those like me facing the same problem.
Below is the steps I do for my translation. I did it in windows.
1. create or copy the sample file from the sample program and name the file to your language with the language code.
eg. Language_zh.lng (chinese)

2. add in the word or sentense to translate.
eg. Login\ Password=

3. translate the words to the language you required. (I used google translator)
eg. Login\ Password=登录密码

4. translate the language to java unicode by using the link provide by corwin42 (http://itpro.cz/juniconv/) and replace with the unicode.
eg. Login\ Password=\u767B\u5F55\u5BC6\u7801

5. then convert your language file to unix format using dos2unix programs. Can be found at http://dos2unix.sourceforge.net/

6. then add the tranlate function into the program. Please refer to the sample program.
trans.Initialize2(File.DirAssets, "Language", locale.Language)
passwordLabel.Text = trans.GetText("Login Password")
Note:
Remember to use "\" for space between the search words.
It's a case sensitive so the words must be match exactly.
This is what I had discover during this task. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you.

Informatix · Apr 8, 2014

There's an issue with the map returned by AHTranslator. The order of keys is random compared to the original file because you use ReadMap (which mixes them for an obscure reason). It's a real problem when you want to display a menu or a list. You cannot use the order returned by your lib and have to sort the map yourself (which is not quick and easy because there's no sort function for maps and, in some cases, you don't want to sort, just to display things in a certain order). I'm currently in a case where I have to keep a pair of lines together, which is impossible, so it would be nice to change the way you convert files into maps. I can write the Java function if you wish.

corwin42 · Apr 9, 2014

Informatix said:
There's an issue with the map returned by AHTranslator. The order of keys is random compared to the original file because you use ReadMap (which mixes them for an obscure reason). It's a real problem when you want to display a menu or a list. You cannot use the order returned by your lib and have to sort the map yourself (which is not quick and easy because there's no sort function for maps and, in some cases, you don't want to sort, just to display things in a certain order). I'm currently in a case where I have to keep a pair of lines together, which is impossible, so it would be nice to change the way you convert files into maps. I can write the Java function if you wish.

I don't really understand why you need the entries in a sorted order. You normally should get the strings with the GetText methods. I never use the translationmaps in my apps directly. They are intended for creating a translation file in development time.

But if you really need them in sorted order just write the Java function and I will add it.

Informatix · Apr 9, 2014

corwin42 said:
I don't really understand why you need the entries in a sorted order. You normally should get the strings with the GetText methods. I never use the translationmaps in my apps directly. They are intended for creating a translation file in development time.

But if you really need them in sorted order just write the Java function and I will add it.

Suppose that you have a variable menu depending on the state of the app or the user profile (e.g. in some cases, you read menu1_fr.lng, in other cases, you read menu2_fr.lng or menu3_fr.lng for a given menu). You want to display the menu in the exact order of the entries. You have to get the map values by index, not by key. In my particular case, the file content can change during the application life so I have no idea of the number of lines and keys that it contains when I want to display the menu.
That being said, I finally solved my problem by writing my own routine in Basic4Android:

B4X:

Private Sub DecoderFichierTexte(Fichier As String, CodeLangue As String, TradMap As Map)
    Fichier = "trad/" & Fichier.ToLowerCase & "_" & CodeLangue.ToLowerCase & ".lng"
    Dim Reader As TextReader
    Reader.Initialize2(File.OpenInput(File.DirAssets, Fichier), "ISO-8859-1")
    TradMap.Initialize
    Dim S As String, PosEgal As Int
    S = Reader.ReadLine
    Do While S <> Null
        PosEgal = S.IndexOf("=")
        If PosEgal = -1 Then Continue
        TradMap.Put(S.SubString2(0, PosEgal), S.SubString(PosEgal + 1))
        S = Reader.ReadLine
    Loop
    Reader.Close
End Sub

Another problem (that I solved in the above code) is the encoding. ReadMap does not seem to support UTF-8.

B4A Library AHLocale library

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