# I18nViz

[![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/railslove/i18n_viz.png?branch=master)](http://travis-ci.org/railslove/i18n_viz)

Gem to visualize i18n strings within anay rails/ruby project using the commonly used [i18n](https://github.com/svenfuchs/i18n) gem.

**Problem**:

It is very difficult for non-developers (e.g. translators and product managers) working with i18n Rails apps to make the connection from a string within the app to the correct i18n key to edit the corresponding translation.  "I would like to tweak the wording of the subtitle on this page, what string do I need to edit?"

**Solution**:

My solution is to hack the i18n keys into the frontend, so that the keys can be displayed as nice overlay tooltips on top of their strings right within the app.

If you you use a translation management service, such as http://webtranslateit.com, https://lingohub.com, http://localeapp.com/, you get the additional benefit of clickable links that point you right to the correct string to edit within your translation tool.


## Upgrading from < 0.4.x

1.0.0 was basically a whole new approach how i18n hooks into your application,
so if you're using a version below 1.0, this is for you:

### Remove JS
If you required the i18n_viz javascript somewhere, remove it :)
```
// = require i18n_viz
```

### Remove CCS
If you required the i18n_viz stylesheet somewhere, remove it :)
```
/* = require i18n_viz.css */
```

### Remove initializer

Remove the initializer from `config/i18n_viz.rb`

### THEN follow the new installation instructions


## Requirements

* [i18n](https://github.com/svenfuchs/i18n) gem
* jQuery
* Rails > 3.1+
* CoffeeScript

However, with just a little bit of manual work, you should be able to get the whole thing to run without Rails and CoffeeScript.  Just let me know if you need help.

## Installation

### 1. Install the gem

Add the following line to your `Gemfile` and run `bundle install`:

    gem 'i18n_viz'

### 2. Insert the middleware

add do e.g. `config/application.rb`:

    config.middleware.use(I18nViz::Middleware)

if you want to configure an external tool

    config.middleware.use(I18nViz::Middleware) do |viz|
      viz.external_tool_url = "https://webtranslateit.com/en/projects/xxx/locales/en..de/strings?utf8=✓&s="
    end

if you want to configure CSS overrides

    config.middleware.use(I18nViz::Middleware) do |viz|
      viz.css_override = "/* valid CSS text here */"
    end


### 3. Browse to http://localhost:3000?i18n_viz=true

Add the `i18n_viz=true` parameter to visualize the translatable segments.

Alternatively, a cookie with the name `i18n_viz` can be set to any value to achieve the same effect.


## How it works

The gem works by overwriting the `t()` and `translate()` helpers in your rails app to add the key of the i18n string after the actual translated content:

    en:
      examples:
        my_string: "My internationalized string"
        foo: "bar"

    %span= "#{t("examples.my_string")} : #{t("examples.foo")}"

Will result in

    <span>My internationalized string--examples.my_string-- : bar--examples.foo--</span>

The i18n_viz Javascript then parses this and enriches it into:

    <span class="i18n-viz" data-i18nKeys="['examples.my_string', 'examples.foo']">My internationalized string : bar</span>

The so enriched elements then get nice little tooltips attached with the i18n keys and possibly links to where they can be found/changed.


## Gotchas & Limitations

#### Works only in the view layer

The keys will currently only work for strings that are translated in the view layer using the `translate()` and `t()` i18n view helpers.  If you translate a string the model layer using `I18n.translate` method directly (e.g. in ActiveRecord validations) the keys are not displayed in the frontend.


#### Disable i18n_viz if you require certain strings to remain untouched

For certain special strings within your app, the added `--key--` could potentially break your custom logic.  For those cases you need to call the `t()` method the additional `i18n_viz: false` parameter.

Example cases include:

**Iterating overy keys**

    de:
      types:
        foo: "Foo"
        bar: "Bar"

    - t("types").each do |key, string|
        .. do something wit the key ..

**JS data-attributes**

    de:
      date:
        js_format: "dd.mm.yyyy"


    %body{:"data-date-format" => t("date.js_format")}

Will result in this broken output:

    <body data-date-format="dd.mm.yyyy--date.js_format--">


## Thanks

Big thanks to my employer [Railslove](http://railslove.com) for supporting my open source work and to everybody who helped me.


## License

This project is under MIT-LICENSE.