The easiest "storage" plugin for inlang

The Inlang Message Format is a flexible storage plugin for the Inlang ecosystem. It allows you to store messages in JSON, TOML, or HJSON format per language.

The message files contain key-value pairs of the message ID and the translation. You can add variables in your message by using curly braces.

//messages/en.json
{
  "hello_world": "Hello World!",
  "greeting": "Good morning {name}!"
}

Or using TOML:

#messages/de.toml
hello_world = "Hallo Welt!"
greeting = "Guten Tag {name}!"

Or using HJSON:

//messages/fr.hjson
{
  # the $schema key is automatically ignored
  hello_world: Bonjour le monde!
  greeting: Bonjour {name}!
}

Installation

Install the plugin in your Inlang Project by adding it to your "modules" in project.inlang/settings.json. You will also need to provide a pathPattern for the plugin.

// project.inlang/settings.json
{
  "modules" : [
+    "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/plugin-message-format-hjson-toml@latest/dist/index.js"
  ],
+ "plugin.inlang.messageFormat.hjson.toml": {
+   "pathPattern": "./messages/{locale}.hjson" // also supports TOML and JSON
+ }
}

Configuration

Configuration happens in project.inlang/settings.json under the "plugin.inlang.messageFormat.hjson.toml" key.

pathPattern

The path pattern defines where the plugin will be looking for your message files. The default is ./messages/{locale}.hjson. The {locale} placeholder will be replaced with the language tag for each of your languages.

// project.inlang/settings.json
{
  "modules": [ ... ],
  "plugin.inlang.messageFormat.hjson.toml": {
		"pathPattern": "./messages/{locale}.hjson"
	}
}

You can also define an array of paths. The last path in the array will take precedence over the previous ones. This is useful if you want to have a default message file that is overridden by a customer-specific file.

// project.inlang/settings.json
{
  "modules": [ ... ],
  "plugin.inlang.messageFormat.hjson.toml": {
    "pathPattern": ["./defaults/{locale}.hjson", "./customer1/{locale}.hjson"]
  }
}

Messages

You can organize your messages in a nested structure for better organization of your translations. There are two types of messages:

Simple Messages

Simple messages are string values, either directly at the root level or nested within objects:

{
  "hello": "world",
  "navigation": {
    "home": "Home",
    "about": "About",
    "contact": {
      "email": "Email",
      "phone": "Phone"
    }
  }
}

Complex Messages (with variants, pluralization, etc.)

For complex messages with variants, wrap the message object in an array to differentiate it from nested simple messages:

{
  "simple": "This is a simple message",
  "count": [
    {
      "declarations": ["input count", "local countPlural = count: plural"],
      "selectors": ["countPlural"],
      "match": {
        "countPlural=one": "There is one item",
        "countPlural=other": "There are {count} items"
      }
    }
  ]
}

When accessing this complex message, use dot notation: navigation.items.count

Variants (pluralization, gendering, A/B testing)

The message below will match the following conditions:

{
  "jojo_mountain_day": [
    {
      "match": {
        "platform=android, userGender=male": "{username} has to download the app on his phone from the Google Play Store.",
        "platform=ios, userGender=female": "{username} has to download the app on her iPhone from the App Store.",
        "platform=*, userGender=*": "The person has to download the app."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Pluralization is also supported. You can define a variable in your message and then use it in the selector.

{
  "some_happy_cat": [
    {
      "declarations": ["input count", "local countPlural = count: plural"],
      "selectors": ["countPlural"],
      "match": {
        "countPlural=one": "There is one cat.",
        "countPlural=other": "There are many cats."
      }
    }
  ]
}