By default, I18n content in database does not support fallback in default culture. This snippet allow you to enable I18n content fallback in order to always have a default value for your texts.

This snippet is sponsored by Dorigo consultants.

Fallback I18n content

To enable the fallback, edit your table object class in lib/model/TableClassName.php and add the following code. Then search and replace TableClassName by your table object class name.

  /**
   * Fetch the i18n object for this object culture.
   * 
   * @return     mixed A i18n object
   * @throws     PropelException Any exceptions caught during processing will be
   *     rethrown wrapped into a PropelException.
   */
  public function getCurrentTableClassNameI18n()
  {
    if (!isset($this->current_i18n[$this->culture]))
    {
      $obj = TableClassNameI18nPeer::retrieveByPK($this->getId(), $this->culture);
      if ($obj) // Test if there is a translation for current culture
      {
        $this->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($obj, $this->culture);
      }
      else // Create a translation for this culture
      {
        $new_i18n = new TableClassNameI18n();
 
        $default_culture = sfConfig::get('sf_i18n_default_culture');
 
        // We try to fetch the default culture translation to initialise the new culture.
        if (!isset($this->current_i18n[$default_culture]))
        {
          $obj = TableClassNameI18nPeer::retrieveByPK($this->getId(), $default_culture);
          if ($obj) // Test if there is a translation for current culture
          {
            $this->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($obj, $default_culture);
          }
        }
        else
        {
          $obj = $this->current_i18n[$default_culture];
        }
 
        if ($obj)
        {
          $obj->copyInto($new_i18n);
        }
 
        $new_i18n->setId($this->getId());
        $new_i18n->setCulture($this->culture);
 
        $this->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($new_i18n, $this->culture);
      }
    }
 
    return $this->current_i18n[$this->culture];
  }
 

Saving fallback values at creation

You now need to add default translation when you create a new object. We do that with this doSave function.

To use this function, edit your table object class in lib/model/TableClassName.php and add the following code. Then search and replace TableClassName by your table object class name.

  /**
   * Stores the object in the database while setting default culture if necessary.
   *
   * If the object is new, it inserts it; otherwise an update is performed.
   * All related objects are also updated in this method.
   *
   * @param      Connection $con The database connection
   * @return     int The number of rows affected by this insert/update and any referring fk objects' save() operations.
   * @throws     PropelException Any exceptions caught during processing will be
   *     rethrown wrapped into a PropelException.
   * @see        save()
   */
  protected function doSave($con)
  {
 
    $default_culture = sfConfig::get('sf_i18n_default_culture');
 
    // We try to fetch the default culture translation to initialise the new culture.
    if (!isset($this->current_i18n[$default_culture]))
    {
      $obj = TableClassNameI18nPeer::retrieveByPK($this->getId(), $default_culture, $con);
      if ($obj) // Test if there is a translation for current culture
      {
        $this->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($obj, $default_culture);
      }
    }
    else
    {
      $obj = $this->current_i18n[$default_culture];
    }
 
    if(!$obj && isset($this->current_i18n[$this->culture]))
    {
      $new_i18n = new TableClassNameI18n();
      $this->current_i18n[$this->culture]->copyInto($new_i18n);
 
      $new_i18n->setId($this->getId());
      $new_i18n->setCulture($default_culture);
 
      $this->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($new_i18n, $default_culture);
    }
 
    return parent::doSave($con);
  }
 

Fetching a list with default translations

To complete this snippet, here is a fallback version of doSelectWithI18n.

To enable the fallback, edit your table object peer class in lib/model/TableClassNamePeer.php and add the following code. Then search and replace TableClassName by your table object class name.

  /**
   * Selects a collection of TableClassName objects pre-filled with their i18n objects.
   *
   * @param      Criteria $criteria
   * @param      string $culture The selected culture.
   * @param      Connection $con An optional database connection
   * @return     array Array of TableClassName objects.
   * @throws     PropelException Any exceptions caught during processing will be
   *     rethrown wrapped into a PropelException.
   */
  public static function doSelectWithI18n(Criteria $c, $culture = null, $con = null)
  {
    if ($culture === null)
    {
      $culture = sfContext::getInstance()->getUser()->getCulture();
    }
 
    $default_culture = sfConfig::get('sf_i18n_default_culture');
 
    // Set the correct dbName if it has not been overridden
    if ($c->getDbName() == Propel::getDefaultDB())
    {
      $c->setDbName(self::DATABASE_NAME);
    }
 
    TableClassNamePeer::addSelectColumns($c);
    $startcol = (TableClassNamePeer::NUM_COLUMNS - TableClassNamePeer::NUM_LAZY_LOAD_COLUMNS) + 1;
 
    TableClassNameI18nPeer::addSelectColumns($c);
 
    $c->addJoin(TableClassNamePeer::ID, TableClassNameI18nPeer::ID);
    $criterion = $c->getNewCriterion(TableClassNameI18nPeer::CULTURE, $culture);
    $criterion->addOr($c->getNewCriterion(TableClassNameI18nPeer::CULTURE, $default_culture));
    $c->add($criterion);
 
    $rs = BasePeer::doSelect($c, $con);
    $results = array();
    $uncultured_results = array();
 
    while($rs->next()) {
 
      $omClass = TableClassNamePeer::getOMClass();
 
      $cls = Propel::import($omClass);
      $obj1 = new $cls();
      $obj1->hydrate($rs);
      $obj1->setCulture($culture);
 
      if(isset($results[$obj1->getId()]))
      {
        $obj1 = $results[$obj1->getId()];
      }
 
      $omClass = TableClassNameI18nPeer::getOMClass($rs, $startcol);
 
      $cls = Propel::import($omClass);
      $obj2 = new $cls();
      $obj2->hydrate($rs, $startcol);
 
      $obj1->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($obj2, $obj2->getCulture());
      $obj2->setTableClassName($obj1);
 
      if(!isset($uncultured_results[$obj1->getId()]))
      {
        $uncultured_results[$obj1->getId()] = $obj1;
      }
 
      if($obj2->getCulture() == $culture)
      {
        $uncultured_results[$obj1->getId()] = false;
      }
 
      if(!isset($results[$obj1->getId()]))
      {
        $results[$obj1->getId()] = $obj1;
      }
      elseif($obj2->getCulture() == $culture)
      {
        // Move result to the end of results array to fit eventual sort
        // criteria (ugly fix).
        unset($results[$obj1->getId()]);
        $results[$obj1->getId()] = $obj1;
      }
 
    }
 
    foreach($uncultured_results as $obj1)
    {
      if($obj1)
      {
        $obj1->setCulture($default_culture);
        $default_culture_object = $obj1->getCurrentTableClassNameI18n();
        if($default_culture_object)
        {
          $obj2 = new TableClassNameI18n();
          $default_culture_object->copyInto($obj2);
          $obj2->setCulture($culture);
          $obj2->setTableClassName($obj1);
          $obj1->setTableClassNameI18nForCulture($obj2, $obj2->getCulture());
        }
        $obj1->setCulture($culture);
      }
    }
 
    return array_values($results);
  }
 

Counting results filtered on translations

If you want to use a pager with a filter on translations, you will need this count method. Once this method present, the magic is done by :

    $criteria->setDistinct();
    $pager->setCriteria($criteria);
    $pager->setPeerMethod('doSelectWithI18n');
    $pager->setPeerCountMethod('doCountWithI18n');
 

Note : The setDistinct is very important for this snippet to work. It should not falsify your results, and without it, the doCountWithI18n method could return bad results.

To enable the fallback, edit your table object peer class in lib/model/TableClassNamePeer.php and add the following code. Then search and replace TableClassName by your table object class name.

  /**
   * Returns the number of rows matching criteria with I18N criteria.
   *
   * @param      Criteria $criteria
   * @param      boolean $distinct Whether to select only distinct columns (You can also set DISTINCT modifier in Criteria).
   * @param      Connection $con An optional database connection
   * @param      string $culture The selected culture.
   * @return     int Number of matching rows.
   */
  public static function doCountWithI18n(Criteria $criteria, $distinct = false, $con = null, $culture = null)
  {
    // we're going to modify criteria, so copy it first
    $criteria = clone $criteria;
 
    $default_culture = sfConfig::get('sf_i18n_default_culture');
 
    if ($culture === null)
    {
      // We use current user culture.
      $culture = sfContext::getInstance()->getUser()->getCulture();
    }
 
    // clear out anything that might confuse the ORDER BY clause
    $criteria->clearSelectColumns()->clearOrderByColumns();
    $criteria->addSelectColumn(TableClassNamePeer::COUNT_DISTINCT);
 
    // just in case we're grouping: add those columns to the select statement
    foreach($criteria->getGroupByColumns() as $column)
    {
      $criteria->addSelectColumn($column);
    }
 
    $criteria->addJoin(TableClassNamePeer::ID, TableClassNameI18nPeer::ID);
    $criterion = $criteria->getNewCriterion(TableClassNameI18nPeer::CULTURE, $culture);
    $criterion->addOr($criteria->getNewCriterion(TableClassNameI18nPeer::CULTURE, $default_culture));
    $criteria->add($criterion);
 
    $rs = TableClassNamePeer::doSelectRS($criteria, $con);
    if ($rs->next()) {
      return $rs->getInt(1);
    } else {
      // no rows returned; we infer that means 0 matches.
      return 0;
    }
  }
 

This filter use the accepted-languages browser setting to setup the user culture. The autodetection is run once by session.

This filter is sponsored by Dorigo consultants.

It check app.yml for accepted_languages setting in order to fit the available application locales.

It allow the use of sf_culture request parameter overide (this overide is avaible by default in symfony afaik). So you can use language changing links in your application.

It may be enhanced by a check of the really available locales but i don't know how it can be done.

To use this filter, create a file named SwitchLanguageFilter.class.php in lib/ or app/frontend/lib and fill it with this code and follow its documentation :

<?php
/**
 * Setup user culture from request
 * 
 * from http://www.symfony-project.com/snippets/snippet/80
 * Thanks to François Zaninotto
 * Thanks to Garfield-fr on #symfony-fr
 * 
 * Add the following lines in your app.yml to configure your application available languages.
 *   all:
 *     accepted:
 *       languages: [en, fr]
 * 
 * Then add this to your filters.yml
 * 
 *   # Filter that setup user culture
 *   mySwitchLanguageFilter:
 *     class: SwitchLanguageFilter
 * 
 * @package    SwitchLanguageFilter
 * @subpackage filter
 * @author     Pierre-Yves Landuré <py.landure@dorigo.fr>
 */
 
class SwitchLanguageFilter extends sfFilter
{
 
  /**
   * Check that the language is a valid application culture.
   * @param string $language The tested language code
   * @param string $default_language The default language code
   * 
   * @return string $language if no accepted languages is set,
   *                else $language if it is in accepted languages
   *                else $default_language
   */
  private function getAvailableCulture($language, $default_language = null)
  {
    $all_languages = sfConfig::get('app_accepted_languages', array());
 
    if(count($all_languages))
    {
      if(in_array($language, $all_languages)) // Test if language is available
      {
        return $language;
      }
      else // Else test if first part of language is available
      {
        $language_parts = explode('_', $language);
        if(count($language_parts))
        {
          if(in_array($language_parts[0], $all_languages))
          {
            return $language_parts[0];
          }
        }
      }
      return $default_language;
    }
 
    return $language;
  }
 
  /**
   * The filter call.
   */
  public function execute ($filterChain)
  {
    $context = $this->getContext();
    $user = $context->getUser();
 
    $default_culture = sfConfig::get('sf_i18n_default_culture');
    $selected_culture = $user->getCulture();
 
    if(!$user->getAttribute('sf_culture_autodetected', false))
    {
      $browser_languages = $context->getRequest()->getLanguages();
 
      foreach($browser_languages as $language)
      {
        $allowed_culture = $this->getAvailableCulture($language);
        if($allowed_culture)
        {
          $selected_culture = $allowed_culture;
          break;
        }
      }
 
      $user->setAttribute('sf_culture_autodetected', true);
    }
 
    $selected_culture = $context->getRequest()->getParameter('sf_culture', $selected_culture);
    $selected_culture = $this->getAvailableCulture($selected_culture, $default_culture);
    if($selected_culture != $user->getCulture())
    {
      // The user wants to see the page in another language
      $user->setCulture($selected_culture);
    }
 
    $filterChain->execute();
  }
}