DateTime::Locale - Localization support for DateTime.pm
use DateTime::Locale;
my $loc = DateTime::Locale->load('en_GB');
print $loc->native_locale_name, "\n",
$loc->long_datetime_format, "\n";
# but mostly just things like ...
my $dt = DateTime->now( locale => 'fr' );
print "Aujourd'hui le mois est " . $dt->month_name, "\n":
DateTime::Locale is primarily a factory for the various locale subclasses. It also provides some functions for getting information on available locales.
If you want to know what methods are available for locale objects, then please read the DateTime::Locale::Base documentation.
This module provides the following class methods:
Returns the locale object for the specified locale id, name, or alias - see the DateTime::LocaleCatalog documentation for a list of built in names and ids. The name provided may be either the English or native name.
If the requested locale is not found, a fallback search takes place to find a suitable replacement.
The fallback search order is:
language_script_territory language_script language_territory_variant language_territory language
Eg. For locale es_XX_UNKNOWN the fallback search would be:
es_XX_UNKNOWN # Fails - no such locale
es_XX # Fails - no such locale
es # Found - the es locale is returned as the
# closest match to the requested id
Eg. For locale es_Latn_XX the fallback search would be:
es_Latn_XX # Fails - no such locale
es_Latn # Fails - no such locale
es_XX # Fails - no such locale
es # Found - the es locale is returned as the
# closest match to the requested id
If no suitable replacement is found, then an exception is thrown.
Please note that if you provide an id to this method, then the returned locale object's id() method will always return the value you gave, even if that value was an alias to some other id.
This is done for forwards compatibility, in case something that is currently an alias becomes a unique locale in the future.
This means that the value of id() and the object's class may not match.
The loaded locale is cached, so that locale objects may be singletons. Calling register(), add_aliases(), or remove_alias() clears the cache.
my @ids = DateTime::Locale->ids; my $ids = DateTime::Locale->ids;
Returns an unsorted list of the available locale ids, or an array reference if called in a scalar context. This list does not include aliases.
my @names = DateTime::Locale->names; my $names = DateTime::Locale->names;
Returns an unsorted list of the available locale names in English, or an array reference if called in a scalar context.
my @names = DateTime::Locale->native_names; my $names = DateTime::Locale->native_names;
Returns an unsorted list of the available locale names in their native language, or an array reference if called in a scalar context. All native names are utf8 encoded.
NB: Many locales are only partially translated, so some native locale names may still contain some English.
Adds an alias to an existing locale id. This allows a locale to be load()ed by its alias rather than id or name. Multiple aliases are allowed.
If the passed locale id is neither registered nor listed in "AVAILABLE LOCALES", an exception is thrown.
DateTime::Locale->add_aliases( LastResort => 'es_ES' );
# Equivalent to DateTime::Locale->load('es_ES');
DateTime::Locale->load('LastResort');
You can also pass a hash reference to this method.
DateTime::Locale->add_aliases( { Default => 'en_GB',
Alternative => 'en_US',
LastResort => 'es_ES' } );
Removes a locale id alias, and returns true if the specified alias actually existed.
DateTime::Locale->add_aliases( LastResort => 'es_ES' );
# Equivalent to DateTime::Locale->load('es_ES');
DateTime::Locale->load('LastResort');
DateTime::Locale->remove_alias('LastResort');
# Throws an exception, 'LastResort' no longer exists
DateTime::Locale->load('LastResort');
This method allows you to register custom locales with the module. A single locale is specified as a hash, and you may register multiple locales at once by passing an array of hash references.
Until registered, custom locales cannot be instantiated via load() and will not be returned by querying methods such as ids() or names().
register( id => $locale_id,
en_language => ..., # something like 'English' or 'Afar',
# All other keys are optional. These are:
en_script => ...,
en_territory => ...,
en_variant => ...,
native_language => ...,
native_sript => ...,
native_territory => ...,
native_variant => ...,
# Optional - defaults to DateTime::Locale::$locale_id
class => $class_name,
replace => $boolean
)
The locale id and English name are required, and the following formats should used wherever possible:
id: languageId[_script][_territoryId[_variantId]]
Where: languageId = Lower case ISO 639 code -
Always choose 639-1 over 639-2 where possible.
script = Title Case ISO 15924 script code
territoryId = Upper case ISO 3166 code -
Always choose 3166-1 over 3166-2 where possible.
variantId = Upper case variant id -
Basically anything you want, since this is typically the
component that uniquely identifies a custom locale.
You cannot not use '@' or '=' in locale ids - these are reserved for future use. The underscore (_) is the component separator, and should not be used for any other purpose.
If the "native_*" components are supplied, they must be utf8 encoded and follow:
If omitted, the native name is assumed to be identical to the English name.
If class is supplied, it must be the full module name of your custom locale. If omitted, the locale module is assumed to be a DateTime::Locale subclass.
Examples:
DateTime::Locale->register
( id => 'en_GB_RIDAS',
en_language => 'English',
en_territory => 'United Kingdom',
en_variant => 'Ridas Custom Locale',
);
# Returns instance of class DateTime::Locale::en_GB_RIDAS
my $l = DateTime::Locale->load('en_GB_RIDAS');
DateTime::Locale->register
( id => 'hu_HU',
en_language => 'Hungarian',
en_territory => Hungary',
native_language => 'Magyar',
native_territory => 'Magyarország',
);
# Returns instance of class DateTime::Locale::hu_HU
my $l = DateTime::Locale->load('hu_HU');
DateTime::Locale->register
( id => 'en_GB_RIDAS',
name => 'English United Kingdom Ridas custom locale',
class => 'Ridas::Locales::CustomGB',
);
# Returns instance of class Ridas::Locales::CustomGB
# NOT Ridas::Locales::Custom::en_GB_RIDAS !
my $l = DateTime::Locale->load('en_GB_RIDAS');
If you register a locale for an id that already exists, the "replace" parameter must be true or an exception will be thrown.
The complete name for a registered locale is generated by joining together the language, territory, and variant components with a single space.
This means that in the first example, the complete English and native names for the locale would be "English United Kingdom Ridas Custom Locale", and in the second example the complete English name is "Hungarian Hungary", while the complete native name is "Magyar Magyarország". The locale will be loadable by these complete names (English and native), via the load() method.
These are added in one of two ways:
In either case the locale MUST be registered before use.
The following example sublasses the United Kingdom English locale to provide different date/time formats:
package Ridas::Locale::en_GB_RIDAS1;
use strict;
use DateTime::Locale::en_GB;
@Ridas::Locale::en_GB_RIDAS1::ISA = qw ( DateTime::Locale::en_GB );
my $locale_id = 'en_GB_RIDAS1';
my $date_formats =
{
'full' => '%A %{day} %B %{ce_year}',
'long' => '%{day} %B %{ce_year}',
'medium' => '%{day} %b %{ce_year}',
'short' => '%{day}/%m/%y',
};
my $time_formats =
{
'full' => '%H h %{minute} %{time_zone_short_name}',
'long' => '%{hour12}:%M:%S %p',
'medium' => '%{hour12}:%M:%S %p',
'short' => '%{hour12}:%M %p',
};
sub short_date_format { $date_formats{short} }
sub medium_date_format { $date_formats{medium} }
sub long_date_format { $date_formats{long} }
sub full_date_format { $date_formats{full} }
sub short_time_format { $time_formats{short} }
sub medium_time_format { $time_formats{medium} }
sub long_time_format { $time_formats{long} }
sub full_time_format { $time_formats{full} }
1;
Now register it:
DateTime::Locale->register
( id => 'en_GB_RIDAS1',
# name, territory, and variant as described in register() documentation
class => 'Ridas::Locale::en_GB_RIDAS1' );
A completely new custom locale must implement the following methods:
id month_names month_abbreviations day_names day_abbreviations am_pms eras short_date_format medium_date_format long_date_format full_date_format short_time_format medium_time_format long_time_format full_time_format datetime_format_pattern_order date_parts_order _default_date_format_length _default_time_format_length
See DateTime::Locale::Base for a description of each method, and take a look at DateTime/Locale/root.pm for an example of a complete implementation.
You are, of course, free to subclass DateTime::Locale::Base if you want to, though this is not required.
Once created, remember to register it!
Of course, you can always do the registration in the module itself, and simply load it before using it.
All objects that inherit from DateTime::Locale::Base will offer certain methods. All the included locales are DateTime::Locale::Base subclasses.
The following methods can be used to get information about the locale's id and name.
The complete locale id, something like "en_US".
The language portion of the id, like "en".
The script portion of the id, like "Hant".
The territory portion of the id, like "US".
The variant portion of the id, like "PREEURO".
The locale's complete name, which always includes at least a language component, plus optional territory and variant components. Something like "English United States". The value returned will always be in English.
The relevant component from the locale's complete name, like "English" or "United States".
The locale's complete name in localized form as a UTF-8 string.
The relevant component from the locale's complete native name as a UTF-8 string.
The following methods all accept a DateTime.pm object and return a localized name.
The following methods return strings appropriate for the DateTime.pm strftime() method:
The following methods deal with the default format lengths:
These methods return one of "full", "long", "medium", or "short", indicating the current default format length.
The default when an object is created is determined by the CLDR locale data.
These methods accept one of "full", "long", "medium", or "short", indicating the new default format length.
The following methods can be used to get the object's raw localization data. If a method returns a reference, altering it will alter the object, so make a copy if you need to do so.
Returns an array reference containing the full names of the months, with January as the first month.
Returns an array reference containing the abbreviated names of the months, with January as the first month.
Returns an array reference containing the narrow names of the months, with January as the first month. Narrow names are the shortest possible names, and may not be unique.
Returns an array reference containing the full names of the days, with Monday as the first day.
Returns an array reference containing the abbreviated names of the days, with Monday as the first day.
Returns an array reference containing the narrow names of the days, with Monday as the first day. Narrow names are the shortest possible names, and may not be unique.
Returns an array reference containing the localized forms of "AM" and "PM".
Returns an array reference containing the localized forms of "BCE" and "CE".
Returns a hash reference containing the date formats used for the locale. The hash contains the keys "long", "full", "medium", and "short".
Returns a hash reference containing the time formats used for the locale. The hash contains the keys "long", "full", "medium", and "short".
This returns a boolean value indicating whether or not the date comes before the time when formatting a complete date and time for presentation.
This returns a string indicating the order of the parts of a date that is in the form XX/YY/ZZ. The possible values are "dmy", "mdy", "ydm" and "ymd".
Please be aware that all locale data has been generated from the CLDR (Common Locale Data Repository) project locales data). The data is currently incomplete, and will contain errors in some locales.
When reporting errors in data, please check the primary data sources first, then where necessary report errors directly to the primary source via the CLDR bug report system. See http://unicode.org/cldr/filing_bug_reports.html for details.
Once these errors have been confirmed, please forward the error report and corrections to the DateTime mailing list, datetime@perl.org.
Support for this module is provided via the datetime@perl.org email list. See http://lists.perl.org/ for more details.
Richard Evans <rich@ridas.com>
Dave Rolsky <autarch@urth.org>
These modules are loosely based on the DateTime::Language modules, which were in turn based on the Date::Language modules from Graham Barr's TimeDate distribution.
Thanks to Rick Measham for providing the Java to strftime pattern conversion routines used during locale generation.
Copyright (c) 2003 Richard Evans. Copyright (c) 2004-2006 David Rolsky. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included with this module.
The locale modules in directory DateTime/Locale/ have been generated from data provided by the CLDR project, see DateTime/Locale/LICENSE.cldr for details on the CLDR data's license.
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