Linguini

Linguini is a C# implementation of Project Fluent, a localization system for natural-sounding translations with features like:

Asymmetric Localization

Natural-sounding translations with genders and grammatical cases only when necessary. Expressiveness is not limited by the grammar of the source language.

Progressive Enhancement

Translations are isolated; locale-specific logic doesn't leak to other locales. Authors can iteratively improve translations without impact on other languages.

Modular

Linguini is highly modular. You only can use the parts you need. Need just parsing? Get Linguni.Syntax. Need only Plural Rules data? Get PluralRules.Generator and connect to XML CLDR Plural rules data.

Performant

Linguini uses a zero-copy parser to parse the resources. While at the moment, there are no benchmarks, it is used by RobustToolbox as a localization framework.

How to get it?

To install the Fluent Bundle type in your console:

dotnet add package Linguini.Bundle

You can also follow other NuGet installation instructions. E.g. :

paket add Linguini.Bundle

Or copy this code to your PackageReference

<PackageReference Include="Linguini.Bundle" Version="0.8.2" />

How to use it?

For a 2-minute tour of Linguini, add this to your C# code:

var bundler = LinguiniBuilder.Builder()
    .CultureInfo(new CultureInfo("en"))
    .AddResource("hello-user =  Hello, { $username }!")
    .UncheckedBuild();

var message = bundler.GetAttrMessage("hello-user",  ("username", (FluentString)"Test"));
Assert.AreEqual("Hello, Test!", message);

The 10 min tour - What do the lines mean?

Let's go line by line and see how LinguiniBuilder works.

1. Init - This creates a LinguiniBuilder using a type-safe builder pattern.

   var bundler = LinguiniBuilder.Builder()

2. Set the language - a translation bundle must have a language to translate to. In this case, we choose the English language.

   .CultureInfo(new CultureInfo("en"))

3. Add a resource - a translation bundle without resources is pointless. We choose inline string for ease of the example.

       .AddResource("hello-user =  Hello, { $username }!")

   If you need an example of passing files, here is a oneliner example assuming you defined using var streamReader = new StreamReader(path_to_file); somewhere (Hint: no need to use StreamReader, any TextReader will do).

        .AddResource(streamReader)

4. Complete the ResourceBundle - We call UncheckedBuild() to convert a builder to a bundle. The bundle will parse its resources and report errors. Since we don't care about errors, we are fine with ResourceBundle throwing errors.

       .UncheckedBuild();
   

5. Get hello-user term where username is Test.

   bundler.GetAttrMessage("hello-user",  ("username", (FluentString)"Test"));

How to develop for it?

To develop you need to install Git and .NET SDK first.

Installation of these tools is out of the scope of the document

git clone https://github.com/Ygg01/Linguini.git
cd Linguini
dotnet test

Build documentation

To build API documentation for Linguini.

1. Install docfx

dotnet tool install -g docfx

2. Build documentation

docfx build .\docfx_project\docfx.json --serve

3. Open http://localhost:8080/api

Quick questions and answers

Why FluentBundle isn't thread-safe?

Making it concurrent could add a performance penalty; otherwise, a concurrent bundle would be the default. To make it thread-safe, add UseConcurrent() in builder:

    var bundler = LinguiniBuilder.Builder()
       .CultureInfo(new CultureInfo("en"))
       .AddResource("hello-user =  Hello, { $username }!")
       .UseConcurrent()
       .UncheckedBuild();

Or set UseConcurrent = true in FluentBundleOption passed to the factory method:

    var x = new FluentBundleOption()
    {
        UseConcurrent = true,
    };
    var bundle = FluentBundle.MakeUnchecked(defaultBundleOpt);

Isn't .ftl FreeMarker Template language?

No, it can also be Fluent, a localization system by Mozilla.

What syntax does Fluent Localization use?

For more details, see Fluent syntax guide.

Licenses

Linguini Bundle and associated projects are licensed under Apache and MIT licenses. Consult the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE for more detail.