92 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
92 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
=====================================
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Internationalization and localization
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=====================================
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.. toctree::
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:hidden:
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:maxdepth: 1
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translation
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formatting
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timezones
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Overview
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========
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The goal of internationalization and localization is to allow a single Web
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application to offer its content in languages and formats tailored to the
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audience.
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Django has full support for :doc:`translation of text
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</topics/i18n/translation>`, :doc:`formatting of dates, times and numbers
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</topics/i18n/formatting>`, and :doc:`time zones </topics/i18n/timezones>`.
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Essentially, Django does two things:
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* It allows developers and template authors to specify which parts of their apps
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should be translated or formatted for local languages and cultures.
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* It uses these hooks to localize Web apps for particular users according to
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their preferences.
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Obviously, translation depends on the target language, and formatting usually
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depends on the target country. This information is provided by browsers in
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the ``Accept-Language`` header. However, the time zone isn't readily available.
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Definitions
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===========
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The words "internationalization" and "localization" often cause confusion;
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here's a simplified definition:
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.. glossary::
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internationalization
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Preparing the software for localization. Usually done by developers.
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localization
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Writing the translations and local formats. Usually done by translators.
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More details can be found in the `W3C Web Internationalization FAQ`_, the `Wikipedia article`_ or the `GNU gettext documentation`_.
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.. _W3C Web Internationalization FAQ: https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-i18n
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.. _GNU gettext documentation: https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/gettext.html#Concepts
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.. _Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalization_and_localization
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.. warning::
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Translation and formatting are controlled by :setting:`USE_I18N` and
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:setting:`USE_L10N` settings respectively. However, both features involve
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internationalization and localization. The names of the settings are an
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unfortunate result of Django's history.
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Here are some other terms that will help us to handle a common language:
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.. glossary::
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locale name
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A locale name, either a language specification of the form ``ll`` or a
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combined language and country specification of the form ``ll_CC``.
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Examples: ``it``, ``de_AT``, ``es``, ``pt_BR``. The language part is
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always in lowercase and the country part in upper case. The separator is
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an underscore.
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language code
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Represents the name of a language. Browsers send the names of the
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languages they accept in the ``Accept-Language`` HTTP header using this
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format. Examples: ``it``, ``de-at``, ``es``, ``pt-br``. Language codes
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are generally represented in lowercase, but the HTTP ``Accept-Language``
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header is case-insensitive. The separator is a dash.
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message file
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A message file is a plain-text file, representing a single language,
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that contains all available :term:`translation strings
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<translation string>` and how they should be represented in the given
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language. Message files have a ``.po`` file extension.
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translation string
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A literal that can be translated.
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format file
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A format file is a Python module that defines the data formats for a given
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locale.
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