Internationalisation of bash scripts

Fatipati

3/28/23, 3:08 AM

I want to get the language locale so that I can call the relevant help function for the specific language. I can use locale to get the LANG or LANGUAGE variable. But need some assistance to implement the check with a conditional for a specific language.

locale
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_US
LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_TIME=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_NAME=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_ADDRESS=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_TELEPHONE=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_MEASUREMENT=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_IDENTIFICATION=en_GB.UTF-8
LC_ALL=

156

0 + 0

bash

internationalization

sudodus

3/28/23, 3:26 AM

What kind of check? What specific language? Should many or all possible languages branch off to their own help functions? I guess you need either a `case` statement of `if` statement.

Fatipati

3/28/23, 3:35 AM

For now I will have help functions in english, french and italian: `help_en`, `help_fr`, `help_it`. Could simply do `comlang="$LANG"`. Would need to match `en`, `fr`, `it` in `comlang` with `case` then.

bac0n

3/30/23, 9:58 PM

I think it closed prematurely.

Fatipati

4/2/23, 8:50 AM

It is something that happens quite often. The curse of moderation and the eagerness to interfere !

bac0n

4/2/23, 1:41 PM

Related: [How to add localization support](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/098) or you may use `gettext`.

Score:6

Ubuntu

sudodus

3/28/23, 3:59 AM

The following script could be part of your bash shellscript.

#!/bin/bash

function help_fr () {
    echo "Francais"
}
#
function help_it () {
    echo "Italiano"
}
#
function help_en () {
    echo "English"
}

# main

curlang="${LANG:0:2}"

case "$curlang" in
 fr)
  help_fr
  ;;
 it)
  help_it
  ;;
 *) # assuming default English
  help_en
  ;;
esac

0 + 0

Fatipati

3/28/23, 6:04 AM

Many Thanks @sudodus

sudodus

3/28/23, 6:12 AM

@Fatipati, I'm glad I could help you. You are welcome :-)

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: Internationalisation of bash scripts

TH: การทำให้เป็นสากลของสคริปต์ทุบตี

RO: Internaționalizarea scripturilor bash

RU: Интернационализация bash-скриптов

VI: Quốc tế hóa các tập lệnh bash

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