ZF2 use translator in controller

Question

For a url redirection I need to translate something in the controller.

How can I acces $this->translate(); in the controller?

Thanks! Nick

Answer 1

Translation is done via a Translator. The translator is an object and injected for example in a view helper, so if you call that view helper, it uses the translator to translate your strings. For this answer I assume you have configured the translator just the same as the skeleton application.

The best way is to use the factory to inject this as a dependency into your controller. The controller config:

'controllers' => array(
  'factories' => array(
    'my-controller' => function($sm) {
      $translator = $sm->getServiceLocator()->get('translator');
      $controller = new MyModule\Controller\FooController($translator);
    }
  )
)

And the controller itself:

namespace MyModule;

use Zend\Mvc\Controller\AbstractActionController;
use Zend\I18n\Translator\Translator;

class FooController extends AbstractActionController
{
  protected $translator;

  public function __construct(Translator $translator)
  {
    $this->translator = $translator;
  }
}

An alternative is to pull the translator from the service manager in your action, but this is less flexible, less testable and harder to maintain:

public function fooAction()
{
  $translator = $this->getServiceManager()->get('translator');
}

In both cases you can use $translator->translate('foo bar baz') to translate your strings.