Laravel I18N Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require richan-fongdasen/laravel-i18n
   

   Publish the config file:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="RichanFongdasen\LaravelI18n\LaravelI18nServiceProvider" --tag="config"
   

2. Configure Supported Locales Update config/laravel-i18n.php:

   'locales' => [
       'en' => 'English',
       'fr' => 'Français',
       'es' => 'Español',
   ],
   

3. First Use Case: Localized Routes Define a localized route in routes/web.php:

   Route::i18n([
       'en' => 'home',
       'fr' => 'accueil',
       'es' => 'inicio',
   ], function () {
       return view('welcome');
   });
   

   Access via /en/home, /fr/accueil, etc.

Implementation Patterns

Route Localization

• Dynamic Route Grouping Use Route::i18nGroup() for shared prefixes:

  Route::i18nGroup(['prefix' => 'admin'], function () {
      Route::i18n(['en' => 'dashboard', 'fr' => 'tableau-de-bord'], function () {
          // ...
      });
  });
  

• Locale Fallback Set a default locale in config/laravel-i18n.php:

  'default_locale' => 'en',
  'fallback_locale' => 'en',
  

Eloquent Localization

• Localized Model Attributes Use the Localizable trait:

  use RichanFongdasen\LaravelI18n\Eloquent\Localizable;
  
  class Product extends Model
  {
      use Localizable;
  
      protected $localizable = ['name', 'description'];
  }
  

  Access translations:

  $product->name('fr'); // Get French name
  $product->setName('fr', 'Nouveau nom'); // Set French name
  

• Database Schema The package auto-creates localizable_<table_name> tables. Migrate with:

  php artisan i18n:migrate
  

Middleware & Request Handling

• Locale Detection Use middleware to auto-detect locale from:

  • URL (/fr/...)
  • Accept-Language header
  • Session Configure in app/Http/Kernel.php:

  protected $middlewareGroups = [
      'web' => [
          // ...
          \RichanFongdasen\LaravelI18n\Http\Middleware\DetectLocale::class,
      ],
  ];
  

• Locale-Specific Responses Dynamically load views/translations:

  $locale = app()->getLocale();
  return view("pages.{$locale}.home");
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

• Route Caching Conflicts Clear route cache after adding localized routes:

  php artisan route:clear
  

  Or disable caching in config/laravel-i18n.php:

  'cache_routes' => false,
  

• Locale-Specific Validation Ensure validation rules account for localized fields:

  $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
      "name.{$locale}" => 'required|string',
  ]);
  

• Database Overhead Localized fields create additional database tables. Monitor query performance with:

  php artisan tinker
  >>> \DB::enableQueryLog();
  >>> $product->name('fr');
  >>> \DB::getQueryLog();
  

Debugging

• Locale Not Switching? Check middleware order in app/Http/Kernel.php. DetectLocale must run before ShareErrorsFromSession or StartSession.

• Missing Translations Verify the localizable_<table> tables exist and are populated. Use:

  php artisan i18n:refresh
  

Extension Points

• Custom Locale Providers Extend locale detection by implementing RichanFongdasen\LaravelI18n\Contracts\LocaleProvider:

  class CookieLocaleProvider implements LocaleProvider
  {
      public function getLocale(): string
      {
          return request()->cookie('locale', config('app.locale'));
      }
  }
  

  Register in config/laravel-i18n.php:

  'providers' => [
      \RichanFongdasen\LaravelI18n\Providers\UrlLocaleProvider::class,
      App\Providers\CookieLocaleProvider::class,
  ],
  

• Locale-Specific Controllers Use route model binding with localized models:

  Route::i18n(['en' => 'product/{product}', 'fr' => 'produit/{product}'], function (Product $product) {
      // $product is automatically localized
  });
  

• Fallback Logic Override fallback behavior in a service provider:

  public function boot()
  {
      app()->setFallbackLocale(function () {
          return request()->ip() === '127.0.0.1' ? 'en' : config('app.fallback_locale');
      });
  }