The “I18n” class provides internationalization and localization features for MintyPHP, including formatting for currency, dates, times, and translation management for multiple locales.

Price

I18n::price($price, $minDecimals = 2, $maxDecimals = 2): string

Format a price with currency symbol (€).

Parameters:

  • $price - The price value (float, int, or null)
  • $minDecimals - Minimum decimal places (default: 2)
  • $maxDecimals - Maximum decimal places (default: 2)

Returns formatted price string with currency symbol, or empty string if null.

Example:

echo I18n::price(1234.56);
// Output (English): € 1,234.56
// Output (German): € 1.234,56

Currency

I18n::currency($currency, $minDecimals = 2, $maxDecimals = 2): string

Format a currency value without currency symbol.

Parameters:

  • $currency - The currency value (float, int, or null)
  • $minDecimals - Minimum decimal places (default: 2)
  • $maxDecimals - Maximum decimal places (default: 2)

Returns formatted currency string without symbol, or empty string if null.

Example:

echo I18n::currency(1234.56);
// Output (English): 1,234.56
// Output (German): 1.234,56
// Output (Dutch): 1.234,56

Controlling decimal precision:

echo I18n::currency(1234.5, 2, 3);
// Output: 1,234.50 (padded to min 2 decimals)

echo I18n::currency(1234.567, 2, 3);
// Output: 1,234.567 (displays up to 3 decimals)

Date

I18n::date($str): string

Format a date string according to locale.

Example:

echo I18n::date('2024-03-15');
// Output (English): 03/15/2024
// Output (German): 15.03.2024
// Output (Dutch): 15-03-2024

Datetime

I18n::datetime($str): string

Format a datetime string according to locale.

Example:

echo I18n::datetime('2024-03-15 14:30:45');
// Output (English): 03/15/2024 14:30:45
// Output (German): 15.03.2024 14:30:45
// Output (Dutch): 15-03-2024 14:30:45

Time

I18n::time($hours, $minutes, $seconds = 0): string

Format a time value.

Example:

echo I18n::time(14, 30, 45);
// Output: 14:30:45

echo I18n::time(14, 30);
// Output: 14:30:00

Duration

I18n::duration($seconds, $trim = false): string

Format a duration in seconds as HH:MM:SS.

Parameters:

  • $seconds - Duration in seconds
  • $trim - Whether to trim leading zeros (default: false)

Example:

echo I18n::duration(3665);
// Output: 01:01:05

echo I18n::duration(125);
// Output: 00:02:05

echo I18n::duration(125, true);
// Output: 02:05 (trimmed)

echo I18n::duration(3665, true);
// Output: 01:01:05 (not trimmed, has hours)

Weekday

I18n::weekDay($dayOfWeek): string

Get the localized name of a weekday.

Parameters:

  • $dayOfWeek - Day of week (0-7, where 0 and 7 are Sunday)

Example:

echo I18n::weekDay(1);
// Output (English): Monday
// Output (German): Montag
// Output (Dutch): maandag

echo I18n::weekDay(0);
// Output (English): Sunday
// Output (German): Sonntag

Month Name

I18n::monthName($monthOfYear): string

Get the localized name of a month.

Parameters:

  • $monthOfYear - Month number (1-12)

Example:

echo I18n::monthName(1);
// Output (English): January
// Output (German): Januar
// Output (Dutch): januari

echo I18n::monthName(12);
// Output (English): December
// Output (German): Dezember

Datetime Short

I18n::datetimeShort($str): string

Format a datetime string in a shortened format. Smart formatting that shows:

  • Year if different from current year
  • Time (HH:MM) if within 24 hours
  • Day abbreviation + time if within 7 days
  • Day abbreviation + date otherwise

Example:

// Assuming today is 2024-03-20

echo I18n::datetimeShort('2023-03-15 10:30:00');
// Output: 3/15/2023 (different year)

echo I18n::datetimeShort('2024-03-20 10:30:00');
// Output: 10:30 (within 24 hours)

echo I18n::datetimeShort('2024-03-18 10:30:00');
// Output: Mo 10:30 (within 7 days)

echo I18n::datetimeShort('2024-03-10 10:30:00');
// Output: Su 3/10 (older than 7 days)

Translate

I18n::translate($id): string

Translate a string ID to localized text. Loads translation files from i18n/{domain}_{locale}.json on demand.

Parameters:

  • $id - The translation ID (dot-notation supported)

Returns the translated text, or the ID itself if translation not found.

Example:

echo I18n::translate('welcome.message');
// Loads from: i18n/default_en.json
// Returns: "Welcome to our website!"

echo I18n::translate('errors.not_found');
// Returns: "Page not found" (or the key if not in translation file)

Translation file format (i18n/default_en.json):

{
  "welcome.message": "Welcome to our website!",
  "errors.not_found": "Page not found",
  "errors.forbidden": "Access denied"
}

Configuration

The I18n class can be configured by setting static properties in config/config.php:

use MintyPHP\I18n;

I18n::$locale = 'de';           // Current locale (e.g., 'en', 'de', 'nl')
I18n::$defaultLocale = 'en';    // Fallback locale
I18n::$domain = 'default';      // Translation domain

Locale

The active locale determines formatting for currency, dates, and translations.

I18n::$locale = 'nl'; // Dutch formatting

Default Locale

The fallback locale used when translations are not found in the current locale.

I18n::$defaultLocale = 'en';

Domain

The translation domain used for loading translation files. Multiple domains allow separate translation files for different parts of your application.

I18n::$domain = 'admin'; // Loads i18n/admin_en.json

Supported Locales

MintyPHP supports extensive locale formatting for:

Western European:

  • en - English
  • de - German
  • fr - French
  • nl - Dutch
  • es - Spanish
  • it - Italian
  • pt - Portuguese

Nordic:

  • dk - Danish
  • se - Swedish
  • fi - Finnish

Eastern European:

  • pl - Polish
  • bg - Bulgarian
  • ro - Romanian
  • lv - Latvian
  • lt - Lithuanian
  • ee - Estonian

Each locale has proper formatting for:

  • Thousand separators and decimal points
  • Date and time formats
  • Weekday and month names

Usage with Translation Function

The global t() function is a shortcut for translation with sprintf-style formatting:

function t() {
    $arguments = func_get_args();
    $arguments[0] = I18n::translate($arguments[0]);
    return call_user_func_array('sprintf', $arguments);
}

Usage:

echo t('welcome.user', $username);
// If translation is "Welcome %s!", outputs: "Welcome John!"

echo t('cart.items', $count);
// If translation is "You have %d items", outputs: "You have 5 items"

Complete Example

use MintyPHP\I18n;

// Configure locale
I18n::$locale = 'de';
I18n::$defaultLocale = 'en';

// Format prices
$price = 1299.99;
echo I18n::price($price); // € 1.299,99

// Format dates
$date = '2024-03-15';
echo I18n::date($date); // 15.03.2024

$datetime = '2024-03-15 14:30:45';
echo I18n::datetime($datetime); // 15.03.2024 14:30:45

// Get localized names
echo I18n::weekDay(1); // Montag
echo I18n::monthName(3); // März

// Format durations
echo I18n::duration(7265); // 02:01:05
echo I18n::duration(125, true); // 02:05

// Translate strings
echo I18n::translate('welcome.message');
// Returns translated text from i18n/default_de.json

UTC Date/Time Methods

The I18n class also provides UTC-aware variants:

I18n::dateUtc($str): string       // Format UTC date
I18n::datetimeUtc($str): string   // Format UTC datetime
I18n::timeUtc($h, $m, $s): string // Format UTC time

These methods automatically convert UTC times to the local timezone before formatting.

Best Practices

  1. Set locale early: Configure I18n::$locale in your config file or based on user preferences.

  2. Use translation files: Store all user-facing strings in translation files, not hardcoded in PHP.

  3. Consistent formatting: Use I18n methods consistently throughout your application for all dates, times, and currency values.

  4. Translation file organization: Use dot-notation for translation IDs to organize them logically: 
    {
  "nav.home": "Home",
  "nav.about": "About",
  "errors.404": "Page not found",
  "errors.500": "Server error"
}

  5. Handle null values: The price() and currency() methods return empty strings for null values, making them safe for optional fields.

  6. Cache translations: Translation files are loaded once per request and cached in memory.