translate database fields with rails

Question

hi

I know about the built-in I18n in Rails, but how can I select a database field per locale?

My model structure is something like this:

title    #default (englisch)
title_de #(german)
title_it #(italian)

In my template I want to be able to write only

<%= @model.title %>

and should get the value in the right language.

Is there a plugin or a solution to use different fields per different locale settings with a structure like mine?

Answer 1

Hi,

Try using:

http://github.com/joshmh/globalize2

It may require renaming your columns (to a different standard).

Answer 2

Although your db architecture (different locales hardcoded as table columns) seems wrong to me, I think you can achieve what you want by adding a pseudo-field to your model, something along:

# example not tested
class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base
  def localized_title(locale)
    locale = locale == 'en' ? '' : '_' + locale
    read_attribute("title#{locale}".to_sym")
  end
end

Or, provided that you somehow make your current locale visible to your models, you can similarly overwrite the default title accessor method.

Edit: You can take a look at http://github.com/iain/translatable_columns, it seems pretty much compatible with your architecture....