Language switcher using directory structure

[e11world]

Hi all,
I’ve been looking on the net for something like this and found a few things but because I’m a beginner still, I can’t put it together.
I need to change the site’s language based on the folder /en/ or /fr/ and the file names are always the same. The site is not big and this would work perfectly.

I have this code in asp that does it but not sure how to convert it into php:
A sample site using it is http://www.contacservices.com/fr/contactus.html but on home page, it’s using index.html and index_fr.html because they’re not in the /en/ and /fr/ folders

Code:

<% Dim PATH_INFO PATH_INFO = Request.ServerVariables("PATH_INFO") If (Instr(PATH_INFO,"/fr/")>0) Then
‘Response.Write(“FRENCH”)
PATH_INFO =Replace( PATH_INFO , “/fr/”, “/en/”)
ElseIf (Instr(PATH_INFO,”/en/”)>0) Then
‘Response.Write(“ENGLSIH”)
PATH_INFO =Replace( PATH_INFO , “/en/”, “/fr/”)
End If
%>
<%'Response.Write(Request.ServerVariables("PATH_INFO"))%>

” target=”_self” title=”Passer au français”>Français

I also found this http://www.phpbuilder.com/tips/item.php?id=343 but I can’t figure out why it’s not working. Maybe I’m just not using it right.
Can you guys please help me?

[Chris Coyier]

I really have no idea. The closest I’ve ever come to playing with multiple language support is this nice jQuery plugin:

http://sundaymorning.jaysalvat.com/

[e11world]

Unfortunately, this is not what I had in mind. I’ve seen that before but I’ve posted my request on another forum and will post back a link once I get the right answer. Thanks Chris!

[e11world]

The url looks messy when you click on the flags and navigation back and forth. I think this confuses the user.
I found another sample but also not sure how to use this one either http://www.phpbuilder.com/tips/item.php … int_mode=1 :?
Please, I hope someone answer my question the way I wrote it. I think I’m getting closer but I would love to see code samples because I’m such a newbie with PHP.
I need it to do the same thing shown here http://www.contacservices.com/en/aboutus.html (when you click on the Français in the top right corner). It just changes the folder from en to fr and reloads/redirects the page. This works from any page except the home page which is because it’s not within the en or fr folders.
Thanks to anyone who can help!

[davesgonebananas]

Ok I think I understand what you mean. You have this setup:
[img]http://grab.by/2mmk[/img]
and you want the php code to create a link that will switch between the en and fr directories.

[e11world]

EXACTLY! Thanks for clearing this up Dave. Only thing is, the include folder would be in the top root level as well as the en and fr folders. Do you have a solution for this?

[davesgonebananas]

You can use a regular expression to get the language out of the url. Such as:

Code:

if (preg_match(‘/^/(en|fr)/(.*)/’, $_SERVER[‘REQUEST_URI’], $matches)) {
$cur_lang = $matches[1];
if ($cur_lang == ‘en’)
$alt_lang = ‘fr’;
else
$alt_lang = ‘en’;

$alt_lang_url = “/{$alt_lang}/{$matches[2]}”;

echo “$alt_lang“;
}

[e11world]

Thanks for the reply again dave.
But I found a solution after playing around with my original code!!! :lol: :lol: Basically converting the code I already had from the start from ASP to PHP did the trick:

I put the following code in the include folder and I named it hdr-ar.php

Code:

0){
echo “YOU ARE IN THE ARABIC SITE”;
$path_info = str_replace(“/ar/”, “/en/”, $path_info);
}else if (strpos($path_info, “/en/”) > 0){
echo “YOU ARE IN THE ENGLISH SITE”;
$path_info = str_replace(“/en/”, “/ar/”, $path_info);
}
echo ‘
‘;
echo $path_info;
?>

” target=”_self” title=”Switch to English”>Switch to English

You can comment the echo statements. It’s just there for testing.

I put the following code in the include folder and I named it hdr-en.php

Code:

0){
echo “YOU ARE IN THE ARABIC SITE”;
$path_info = str_replace(“/ar/”, “/en/”, $path_info);
}else if (strpos($path_info, “/en/”) > 0){
echo “YOU ARE IN THE ENGLISH SITE”;
$path_info = str_replace(“/en/”, “/ar/”, $path_info);
}
echo ‘
‘;
echo $path_info;
?>

” target=”_self” title=”????”>????

*The arabic writing might show weird on this post but you get the point.

I had a problem running this using PATH_INFO which didn’t really do anything. Then I used REQUEST_URI and that fixed it right away.
Just include the file(s) using

Code:

and you’re good to go.

It’s too bad not many people answered my question properly (maybe didn’t fully understand it) and I’m more amazed/sad :shock: at how little responses there were but anyways, I hope this helps someone in the future. :D
By the way, this works in php5 and should be fine in php4 too.

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