JEL and Internationalization
JEL was created with internationalization (i18n) in mind, and is able to be localized into other speaking-languages (currently a work-in-progress). This is done by ensuring that any text used in the library is separated out into language resource strings, hence...
The Jel.Lang object
The Jel.Lang object holds any textual resource strings used within the entire class library, which at the time of writing includes Date strings (used in Jel.Date), String-related strings (used in Jel.String), and form validator related strings (used in Jel.FormValidator). The current structure is like (for the US build):
An example property is the Jel.Lang.Date.DAYS array, which holds the long names of days of the week:
Since these strings are held in a separate file, it allows me to quickly build specific localizations of JEL for use in other regions, without changing the classes that make use of these strings.
Localized Builds
At the time of this writing, only English (US) and English (UK) localizations are available, and they are not vastly different from each other.
The English (UK) build currently simply overrides a few properties in Jel.Lang, as shown in the code below (see further down for more about Jel.Lang):
These properites could be used in an application, where you want to enforce the correct date format for your region. The UK build may be expanded upon later, if any words are used in JEL that require alternative British spelling (such as the words internationalization, localization, which are spelt with an S), but as yet no language strings in JEL require this. You can download the single file UK builds from the links below:
- Regular Size (UK single source file)
- Travel Size (UK packed build)
If extra languages become available in the future, I will improve the main download page to take this into account!