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Guide to Locales - Bracket Notation

Introduction

Bracket notation allows you to customize the localized strings in your custom code. This document explains the basic use of of bracket notation in custom applications and interfaces.

• For additional examples of localization in Template Toolkit files, read our Guide to Template Toolkit in cPanel & WHM documentation.
• For in-depth documentation about the Locale::Maketext module's methods and additional options, read CPAN's Locale::Maketext::Utils documentation.

Bracket notation basics

The following examples use the asis method to modify the way in which the locale system handles the text bracket notation.

• In bracket notation, the square braces contain the bracket notation method name first, with any additional arguments as a comma-separated list.
• For a list of available methods and their use requirements, read our Guide to Locales - Bracket Notation Methods documentation.
• For instructions to add methods to the bracket notation method whitelist, read our Guide to Locales - The Bracket Notation Whitelist documentation.

Because the asis method instructs translators not to translate the specified text, these examples would render the following strings after translation:

Perl

$locale->maketext('My text uses [asis,bracket notation].');

Template Toolkit

[% locale.maketext('My text uses [asis,bracket notation].') %]

JavaScript

LOCALE.maketext("My text uses [asis,bracket notation].");

Arguments

The is_defined method will use the following arguments:

• _1 — The first argument instructs the method to check whether the $value variable is defined.
• “_1” is an invalid — The second argument provides text that the method will display if the $value variable is defined.
• Specify a valid — The third argument provides text that the method will display if the $value variable is not defined.

For example, the following examples might render the following strings after translation:

Many bracket notation methods accept ordered arguments. For example, the following localized strings include three arguments with the is_defined method:

Perl

$locale->maketext('Error: [is_defined,_1,"_1" is an invalid,Specify a valid] value.', $value);

Template Toolkit

[% locale.maketext('Error: [is_defined,_1,"_1" is an invalid,Specify a valid] value.', $value) %]

JavaScript

LOCALE.maketext("Error: [is_defined,_1,"_1" is an invalid,Specify a valid] value.", $value);