Files by language, how would you do it?

[heldercervantes]

Hi forum,

I'm implementing a site where a files field needs to be language-sensitive. I don't mean descriptions, but the files themselves need to be different according to language.

I could have a field for each language, but that would mean having to add new fields if we add new languages later on.

So my attempt was to use the description as a filter. If there is one, show the file, if not ignore it. So a file that has a description only for english would only show when viewing english. But the description defaults to the main language.

Is there a way to get the actual description on a given language without defaulting when it's empty?

Or some other approach that's minimally elegant for this problem.

 

Thanks,
H

[adrian]

This is the approach I use for ML file fields: https://processwire.com/api/multi-language-support/multi-language-fields/#language-alternate-field-values

[heldercervantes]

Thx adrian, but this doesn't seem to work for file fields. Even with outputformatting set to false I always get the default language.

[adrian]

Just now, heldercervantes said:

Thx adrian, but this doesn't seem to work for file fields. Even with outputformatting set to false I always get the default language.

Works great for file fields for me - I use it for different language versions of the same PDF report.

I don't think you want outputformatting off though - you'd want it on to get the localized version of the file and its description.

Maybe someone with more ML experience might have an idea why it's not working for you?

 

[heldercervantes]

I think I misinterpreted you.

Your approach is to add a file field for each language?

[adrian]

Just now, heldercervantes said:

I think I misinterpreted you.

Your approach is to add a file field for each language?

Correct - that is how those language alternate fields work. Just add the name of the language as a suffix to the base field name and it should all be taken care of automatically. Maybe not the cleanest solution because you do need a new field for each language, but other than that it works seamlessly in my experience.

[heldercervantes]

Found a pretty cool solution for this. Repeater + Page + Files.

So I set up a repeater called langFiles. Inside that repeater I added a Page selector called lang and the files field.

The page selector is set to be a single select, by template = language.

So in the admin I get a repeater, add an item, select the language and upload the files. Add another one for the second language, and so on. 

Then on the frontend:

// Somehow $page->langFiles->find('lang='.$user->language) doesn't work
foreach ($page->langFiles as $lf) {
  if ($lf->lang == $user->language) {
    $filesRepeaterBlock = $lf;
    break;
  }
}

if ($filesRepeaterBlock->files->count) {
  echo '<ul>';
  foreach ($filesRepeaterBlock->files as $file) {
    echo '<li><a href="'.$file->url.'" target="_blank">'.$file->name.'</a></li>';
  }
  echo '</ul>';
}

And there it is. Add a new language tomorrow, and it adapts. And it's not too weird for the admin.

[adrian]

Nice one!

25 minutes ago, heldercervantes said:

// Somehow $page->langFiles->find('lang='.$user->language) doesn't work

Try this:

$page->langFiles->find('lang.name='.$user->language) 

 

[heldercervantes]

Already did, no cigar.

If I get the first langFiles->lang, it returns 1010, same as outputting $user->language. Comparing those in an IF statement works, but the find returns nothing.

I tried:

find('lang.name='.$user->language->name);
find('lang='.$user->language->id);
find('lang.id='.$user->language->id);

Nothing works.

I even tried adding a title field and fake a string and still get nothing. Something's preventing that from working. But that foreach solves the problem and in this small site performance won't be an issue so I give up streamlining more.

 

 

 

[adrian]

Yes of course - sorry, you can't actually "find" a specific repeater item.

However one thing you might prefer is rather than using a Page field for the language, just use the built in "language" field.

[Robin S]

8 hours ago, adrian said:

Yes of course - sorry, you can't actually "find" a specific repeater item.

Maybe this issue is specific to language pages when used in a Page field, because I can successfully find repeater items with a Page field matching a given id, name, title, etc.

[adrian]

2 minutes ago, Robin S said:

Maybe this issue is specific to language pages when used in a Page field, because I can successfully find repeater items with a Page field matching a given id, name, title, etc.

Can you find the actual repeater item, or just the page that has a repeater item that matches the find?

[Robin S]

15 minutes ago, adrian said:

Can you find the actual repeater item, or just the page that has a repeater item that matches the find?

The actual repeater item. I also installed Language Support and set up a test Page field with template=language and that works too.

$results = $page->test_repeater->find("test_page.name=german");
echo $results->each("<p>{name}</p>"); // echoes the repeater item name, e.g. 1484443861-212-1

Edit: fixed the above

[adrian]

Just trying this here:

d($page->repeatertest->find("language=".$user->language)->each("author_name"));

In this case I am using the system "language" field, rather than a page field and I am reporting the author_name which is another field within the repeater.

It actually seems ok here