override gettext .mo files

Question

For translations in our application, we're using Zend Translate with the gettext adapter. In each module is a folder translations, containing .mo files for all the languages;

• da.mo
• nl.mo
• en.mo

Which are scanned and added through the addTranslation() method:

if ( is_dir( $translations_dir ) ) {
    foreach ( new DirectoryIterator( $translations_dir ) as $file ) {
        if ( substr( $file, -3 ) == '.mo' ) {
            $ZendTranslate->addTranslation( $file->getPathname(), $file->getBasename('.mo') );
        }
    }
}

The strings in my application are translated using the _() method, passing the current language as a parameter (it's stored in my framework's Language class):

$ZendTranslate->_( $string, $this->language );

Now I need to customize the Dutch (nl) language strings for a specific customer. I don't want to modify the nl.mo file, as that would affect other customers. So I created a file called nl_kpn.mo (kpn is the customer name), and switched the $this->language to 'nl_kpn'. I was hoping Zend Transate would take nl.mo as the base file, overriding the customized strings found in nl_kpn.mo. But unfortunately I experienced, as the manual states:

fr_CH will be downgraded to fr

So all the strings were still from the nl.mo file, even though $this->language was set to 'nl_kpn'. So how can I create a more specific version of a language, overriding strings from the general one? It must be possible, right? Because there's also en_UK and en_US, which are different 'dialects' of the same language.

Answer 1

I think the answer is just this is not possible. The locale has to be an existing language/dialect, and is validated with the list in Zend_Locale:

'root'  => true, 'aa_DJ' => true, 'aa_ER' => true, 'aa_ET' => true, 'aa'    => true,
'af_NA' => true, 'af_ZA' => true, 'af'    => true, 'ak_GH' => true, 'ak'    => true,
'am_ET' => true, 'am'    => true, 'ar_AE' => true, 'ar_BH' => true, 'ar_DZ' => true,
'ar_EG' => true, 'ar_IQ' => true, 'ar_JO' => true, 'ar_KW' => true, 'ar_LB' => true,
'ar_LY' => true, 'ar_MA' => true, 'ar_OM' => true, 'ar_QA' => true, 'ar_SA' => true,
'ar_SD' => true, 'ar_SY' => true, 'ar_TN' => true, 'ar_YE' => true, 'ar'    => true,
'as_IN' => true, 'as'    => true, 'az_AZ' => true, 'az'    => true, 'be_BY' => true,
'be'    => true, 'bg_BG' => true, 'bg'    => true, 'bn_BD' => true, 'bn_IN' => true,
'bn'    => true, 'bo_CN' => true, 'bo_IN' => true, 'bo'    => true, 'bs_BA' => true,
'bs'    => true, 'byn_ER'=> true, 'byn'   => true, 'ca_ES' => true, 'ca'    => true,
'cch_NG'=> true, 'cch'   => true, 'cop'   => true, 'cs_CZ' => true, 'cs'    => true,
'cy_GB' => true, 'cy'    => true, 'da_DK' => true, 'da'    => true, 'de_AT' => true,
'de_BE' => true, 'de_CH' => true, 'de_DE' => true, 'de_LI' => true, 'de_LU' => true,
'de'    => true, 'dv_MV' => true, 'dv'    => true, 'dz_BT' => true, 'dz'    => true,
'ee_GH' => true, 'ee_TG' => true, 'ee'    => true, 'el_CY' => true, 'el_GR' => true,
'el'    => true, 'en_AS' => true, 'en_AU' => true, 'en_BE' => true, 'en_BW' => true,
'en_BZ' => true, 'en_CA' => true, 'en_GB' => true, 'en_GU' => true, 'en_HK' => true,
'en_IE' => true, 'en_IN' => true, 'en_JM' => true, 'en_MH' => true, 'en_MP' => true,
'en_MT' => true, 'en_NA' => true, 'en_NZ' => true, 'en_PH' => true, 'en_PK' => true,
'en_SG' => true, 'en_TT' => true, 'en_UM' => true, 'en_US' => true, 'en_VI' => true,
'en_ZA' => true, 'en_ZW' => true, 'en'    => true, 'eo'    => true, 'es_AR' => true,
'es_BO' => true, 'es_CL' => true, 'es_CO' => true, 'es_CR' => true, 'es_DO' => true,
'es_EC' => true, 'es_ES' => true, 'es_GT' => true, 'es_HN' => true, 'es_MX' => true,
'es_NI' => true, 'es_PA' => true, 'es_PE' => true, 'es_PR' => true, 'es_PY' => true,
'es_SV' => true, 'es_US' => true, 'es_UY' => true, 'es_VE' => true, 'es'    => true,
'et_EE' => true, 'et'    => true, 'eu_ES' => true, 'eu'    => true, 'fa_AF' => true,
'fa_IR' => true, 'fa'    => true, 'fi_FI' => true, 'fi'    => true, 'fil_PH'=> true,
'fil'   => true, 'fo_FO' => true, 'fo'    => true, 'fr_BE' => true, 'fr_CA' => true,
'fr_CH' => true, 'fr_FR' => true, 'fr_LU' => true, 'fr_MC' => true, 'fr_SN' => true,
'fr'    => true, 'fur_IT'=> true, 'fur'   => true, 'ga_IE' => true, 'ga'    => true,
'gaa_GH'=> true, 'gaa'   => true, 'gez_ER'=> true, 'gez_ET'=> true, 'gez'   => true,
'gl_ES' => true, 'gl'    => true, 'gsw_CH'=> true, 'gsw'   => true, 'gu_IN' => true,
'gu'    => true, 'gv_GB' => true, 'gv'    => true, 'ha_GH' => true, 'ha_NE' => true,
'ha_NG' => true, 'ha_SD' => true, 'ha'    => true, 'haw_US'=> true, 'haw'   => true,
'he_IL' => true, 'he'    => true, 'hi_IN' => true, 'hi'    => true, 'hr_HR' => true,
'hr'    => true, 'hu_HU' => true, 'hu'    => true, 'hy_AM' => true, 'hy'    => true,
'ia'    => true, 'id_ID' => true, 'id'    => true, 'ig_NG' => true, 'ig'    => true,
'ii_CN' => true, 'ii'    => true, 'in'    => true, 'is_IS' => true, 'is'    => true,
'it_CH' => true, 'it_IT' => true, 'it'    => true, 'iu'    => true, 'iw'    => true,
'ja_JP' => true, 'ja'    => true, 'ka_GE' => true, 'ka'    => true, 'kaj_NG'=> true,
'kaj'   => true, 'kam_KE'=> true, 'kam'   => true, 'kcg_NG'=> true, 'kcg'   => true,
'kfo_CI'=> true, 'kfo'   => true, 'kk_KZ' => true, 'kk'    => true, 'kl_GL' => true,
'kl'    => true, 'km_KH' => true, 'km'    => true, 'kn_IN' => true, 'kn'    => true,
'ko_KR' => true, 'ko'    => true, 'kok_IN'=> true, 'kok'   => true, 'kpe_GN'=> true,
'kpe_LR'=> true, 'kpe'   => true, 'ku_IQ' => true, 'ku_IR' => true, 'ku_SY' => true,
'ku_TR' => true, 'ku'    => true, 'kw_GB' => true, 'kw'    => true, 'ky_KG' => true,
'ky'    => true, 'ln_CD' => true, 'ln_CG' => true, 'ln'    => true, 'lo_LA' => true,
'lo'    => true, 'lt_LT' => true, 'lt'    => true, 'lv_LV' => true, 'lv'    => true,
'mk_MK' => true, 'mk'    => true, 'ml_IN' => true, 'ml'    => true, 'mn_CN' => true,
'mn_MN' => true, 'mn'    => true, 'mo'    => true, 'mr_IN' => true, 'mr'    => true,
'ms_BN' => true, 'ms_MY' => true, 'ms'    => true, 'mt_MT' => true, 'mt'    => true,
'my_MM' => true, 'my'    => true, 'nb_NO' => true, 'nb'    => true, 'nds_DE'=> true,
'nds'   => true, 'ne_IN' => true, 'ne_NP' => true, 'ne'    => true, 'nl_BE' => true,
'nl_NL' => true, 'nl'    => true, 'nn_NO' => true, 'nn'    => true, 'no'    => true,
'nr_ZA' => true, 'nr'    => true, 'nso_ZA'=> true, 'nso'   => true, 'ny_MW' => true,
'ny'    => true, 'oc_FR' => true, 'oc'    => true, 'om_ET' => true, 'om_KE' => true,
'om'    => true, 'or_IN' => true, 'or'    => true, 'pa_IN' => true, 'pa_PK' => true,
'pa'    => true, 'pl_PL' => true, 'pl'    => true, 'ps_AF' => true, 'ps'    => true,
'pt_BR' => true, 'pt_PT' => true, 'pt'    => true, 'ro_MD' => true, 'ro_RO' => true,
'ro'    => true, 'ru_RU' => true, 'ru_UA' => true, 'ru'    => true, 'rw_RW' => true,
'rw'    => true, 'sa_IN' => true, 'sa'    => true, 'se_FI' => true, 'se_NO' => true,
'se'    => true, 'sh_BA' => true, 'sh_CS' => true, 'sh_YU' => true, 'sh'    => true,
'si_LK' => true, 'si'    => true, 'sid_ET'=> true, 'sid'   => true, 'sk_SK' => true,
'sk'    => true, 'sl_SI' => true, 'sl'    => true, 'so_DJ' => true, 'so_ET' => true,
'so_KE' => true, 'so_SO' => true, 'so'    => true, 'sq_AL' => true, 'sq'    => true,
'sr_BA' => true, 'sr_CS' => true, 'sr_ME' => true, 'sr_RS' => true, 'sr_YU' => true,
'sr'    => true, 'ss_SZ' => true, 'ss_ZA' => true, 'ss'    => true, 'st_LS' => true,
'st_ZA' => true, 'st'    => true, 'sv_FI' => true, 'sv_SE' => true, 'sv'    => true,
'sw_KE' => true, 'sw_TZ' => true, 'sw'    => true, 'syr_SY'=> true, 'syr'   => true,
'ta_IN' => true, 'ta'    => true, 'te_IN' => true, 'te'    => true, 'tg_TJ' => true,
'tg'    => true, 'th_TH' => true, 'th'    => true, 'ti_ER' => true, 'ti_ET' => true,
'ti'    => true, 'tig_ER'=> true, 'tig'   => true, 'tl'    => true, 'tn_ZA' => true,
'tn'    => true, 'to_TO' => true, 'to'    => true, 'tr_TR' => true, 'tr'    => true,
'trv_TW'=> true, 'trv'   => true, 'ts_ZA' => true, 'ts'    => true, 'tt_RU' => true,
'tt'    => true, 'ug_CN' => true, 'ug'    => true, 'uk_UA' => true, 'uk'    => true,
'ur_IN' => true, 'ur_PK' => true, 'ur'    => true, 'uz_AF' => true, 'uz_UZ' => true,
'uz'    => true, 've_ZA' => true, 've'    => true, 'vi_VN' => true, 'vi'    => true,
'wal_ET'=> true, 'wal'   => true, 'wo_SN' => true, 'wo'    => true, 'xh_ZA' => true,
'xh'    => true, 'yo_NG' => true, 'yo'    => true, 'zh_CN' => true, 'zh_HK' => true,
'zh_MO' => true, 'zh_SG' => true, 'zh_TW' => true, 'zh'    => true, 'zu_ZA' => true,
'zu'    => true

I guess I'll just have to devise a different way to override the files. Maybe just loading in a different .po file from PHP.