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Python, flask, babel- message, and e.g. Spanish - How to


I am utterly confused with trying to use babel with flask for language translation.

Lets assume the following. A user has a preferance of spanish over english. I have a variable that marks this:

g.user.default_language='sp'

Lets say I have to messages, one on english and the other in spanish that I want to display. 'Please' vs 'por fovor'

<html>
<h1>INSERT TRANSLATION HERE</h1>
</html>

Here is my base babel config file

[python: **.py]
[jinja2: **/templates/**.html]
extensions=jinja2.ext.autoescape,jinja2.ext.with_

So, where does 'Please' go and how is it mapped to 'por fovor' if user pref is spanish?

Then, how to I call from a template based on language profile?

Thanks


Solution

  • Flask-Babel is really great project. If you looking for jinja, i18n and Flask on google, you will find some useful examples. Please see docs for more info. Here I'll provide a little example:

    1. Create the translations dir:

    my_website/translations/pt/LC_MESSAGES/
    my_website/translations/en/LC_MESSAGES/
    

    Assuming that your site is in Portuguese and English. It is a manual way to do that. You'd better use pybabel init command.

    2. Create a file named messages.po (these files will contain translated strings):

    $ touch my_website/translations/pt/LC_MESSAGES/messages.po 
    $ printf "msgid \"Hello world\"\nmsgstr \"Olá mundo\"" > my_website/translations/pt/LC_MESSAGES/messages.po
    $ cat my_website/translations/pt/LC_MESSAGES/messages.po
    

    It will create a file with the follow content:

    msgid "HELLO WORLD"
    msgstr "Olá mundo"
    

    3. Compile translation

     $ pybabel compile -d translations
    

    4. Added line code this to your flask's main app file.

    app.config['BABEL_DEFAULT_LOCALE'] = 'pt_BR' #(context locale to load language).
    

    5. Use _() function in your jinja's template file in order to see Olá mundo string.

    <h1>{{ _('HELLO WORLD') }}</h1>
    

    I hope it'll be useful.