Attention

Version 3 is now the current version of MathJax. This document is for version 2.

The MathJax.Localization Class

Beginning in version 2.2 of MathJax, all of MathJax’s messages, menus, dialog boxes, and so are are localizable (meaning they can be presented in languages other than English). This is accomplished through the MathJax.Localization object. This object stores the data about the available languages, and the selected language, together with the routines needed to obtain the translated strings for the messages used by MathJax, and the ones used to register translations with the system.

Localizable strings in MathJax are identified by a unique ID (a character string used to obtain the translation), and MathJax has functions that obtain the translated message associated with the ID. Some messages need values inserted into them (like file names, or TeX macro names), and MathJax can insert those values into the translated string automatically. The localization system has support for plural and number forms, which differ from language to language. These issues are described in more detail in the Localization Strings documentation.

A number of MathJax’s messaging functions handle localization of their messages automatically. For example, the MathJax.Message.Set() function and the TeX input jax’s Error() function both will look up localization strings automatically.

Because the localization data needs to be downloaded over the network, MathJax only loads this data when it is actually needed (many users will only see mathematical expressions and will never need an actual translated message string, so there is no need to waste time downloading the localization data for them). Since MathJax loads files asynchonously, there is a synchronization issue that you need to be aware of when using localized message strings. There are support routines to help make this easier (these are described in more detail below).

Finally, MathJax consists of a number of relatively separate components, and can be extended by third-party plug-ins, it is possible that there would be name collisions with the ID’s used to identify localizable strings. To make it easier to manage the string ID’s, and to break up the localization data into smaller chunks that can be loaded quickly when needed, MathJax breaks up the messages into domains, each with its own set of ID’s for the messages in that domain. Typically, a component (like the math menu, or the TeX input jax) has its own domain, so it can keep its message ID’s separate from other components.

Getting a Translated String

The basic means of obtaining the string to use for a message to display to the user is to call the _() method of the MathJax.Localization object, passing the string id and the English phrase. For example,

MathJax.Localization._("TC","Typsetting Complete");

would return the string for “Typesettings Complete” in the currently selected language. This can be facilitated by defining the function

var _ = function () {return MathJax.Localization._.apply(MathJax.Localization,arguments)}

so that you only need to use

_("TC","Typesetting Complete");

to obtain the translated string.

Both these examples take the translation from the default domain (the _ domain), but most components will want to use their own domain. For example, the TeX input jax uses the TeX domain. To request a translation from a specific domain, replace the ID with an array consisting of the domain and ID. For example

MathJax.Localization._(["TeX","MissingBrace"],"Missing Close Brace");

would get the string associated with the ID MissingBrace from the TeX domain in the current language. To make this easier, the TeX input jax could define

var _ = function (id) {
  return  MathJax.Localization._.apply(MathJax.Localization,
                  [["TeX",id]].concat([].slice.call(arguments,1)));
};

which appends the TeX domain automatically. With this definition, you could use the simpler form

_("MissingBrace","Missing Close Brace");

to get the MissingBrace message from the TeX domain.

Parameter Substitution

Some messages may want to include values (like file names, or TeX macro names) as part of their strings. The MathJax localization system provides a means of including such values in the translated strings. In addition to the ID and message strings, you pass the values that need to be substituted into the message, and use the special sequences %1, %2, etc. to indicate where they go within the message. For example

MathJax.Localization._("NotFound","File %1 not found",filename)

would obtain the translation for “File %1 not found” and insert the filename at the location of %1 in the translated string.

There are also mechanisms of handling plural forms (which differ from language to language) and number forms. See the Localization Strings documentation for complete details.

HTML Snippets

MathJax allows you to encode HTML snippets using javascript data (see the HTML snippets documentation for details), and these often contain textual data that needs to be localized. You can pass HTML snippets to the _() function and a domain in which the strings are to be looked up. You then use a localization string (an array consisting of the ID and string, plus optional parameters to be substituted into the string) in place of a normal string in the HTML snippet. For example,

[
  "Follow this link: ",
  ["a",{href:"http://www.mathjax.org"},[
    ["img",{src:"external.gif"}]
  ]]
]

could be localized as

MathJax.Localization._("myDomain",[
  ["FollowLink","Follow this link"],": ",
  ["a",{href:"http://www.mathjax.org"},[
    ["img",{src:"external.gif"}]
  ]]
])

where the FollowLink ID is looked up in the myDomain domain of the current language.

See the HTML snippets section of the Localization Strings documentation for complete details.

Synchronization Issues

Because the translation data are stored in files that are loaded only when they are needed, and since file loading in MathJax is asynchronous, you need to take this loading process into account when you use _() to obtain a localized string. If this is the first string obtained from the language, or the first one from the requested domain, MathJax may have to load the data file or that language or domain (or both). In that case, you need to be prepared to wait for that file to load and retry obtaining the translation string. The localization system provides you with two functions to make this easier, but you do have to keep in mind that obtaining translation strings may be an asynchronous action.

The first method is MathJax.Localization.loadDomain(), which takes a domain name and an optional callback, and forces MathJax to load the language data for that domain (and the main language data file, if needed), then calls the callback. In this way, the callback function knows that the localization data that it needs will be available, and it doesn’t have to worry about the possibility that _() will start a file loading operation. The loadDomain() function returns the callback object, which can be used in callback queues, for example, to coordinate further actions.

For example, suppose you want to perform the check

if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
  alert("Your url must use the http protocol");
  url = null;
}

and want to localize the error message. The naive approach would be

if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
  alert(_("BadProtocol","Your url must use the http protocol"));
  url = null;
}

(provided you have defined _() for your domain as described above). The problem is that _() might need to load the language data for your message, and that causes _() to throw a restart error. That would cause an error message to appear on the javascript console, and your alert would never occur. Instead, you want to make sure that the localization data are available before calling _().

Suppose the domain for your message ID is myDomain, then one way to do this would be

if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
  MathJax.Localization.loadDomain("myDomain",function () {
    alert(_("BadProtocol","Your url must use the http or https protocol"));
  });
  url = null;
}

This uses loadDomain to force the myDomain data to be loaded before attemptin the _() call, so you are sure the call will succeed. If several localized string are needed, you may want to use loadDomain around the entire function:

MathJax.Localization.loadDomain("myDomain",function () {
  if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
    alert(_("BadProtocol","Your url must use the http or https protocol"));
    url = null;
  }
  if (url && !url.match(/\.js$/)) {
    alert(_("BadType","Your url should refer to a javascript file"));
  }
});

It is also possible to use loadDomain() as part of a callback queue:

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
  MathJax.Localization.loadDomain("myDomain"),
  function () {
    if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
      alert(_("BadProtocol","Your url must use the http or https protocol"));
      url = null;
    }
  }
);

Here the function will not be performed until after the myDomain domain is loaded.

The second tool for synchronizing with the localization system is the MathJax.Localization.Try() function. This method takes a callback specification (for example, a function, though it could be any valid callback data) and runs the callback with error trapping. If the callback throws a restart error (due to loading a localization data file), Try() will wait for that file to load, then rerun the callback (and will continue to do so if there are additional file loads).

Using this approach, you don’t have to worry about loading the domains explicitly, as _() will throw a restart error when one is needed, and Try() will catch it and restart after the load. For example,

MathJax.Localization.Try(function () {
  if (!url.match(/^https?:/)) {
    alert(_("BadProtocol","Your url must use the http or https protocol"));
    url = null;
  }
});

Note that, as with loadDomain(), Try() may return before the callback has been run successfully, so you should consider this to be an asynchronous function. You can use callbacks to synchronize with other actions, if needed.

Also note that your function may be called multiple times before it succeeds (if localization data needs to be loaded). So you need to write the function in such a way that it doesn’t matter if it gets partway through and fails. For example, you might not want to create structures or modify values that affect what happens if the function has to be rerun from the beginning when one of its _() causes a file load.

A number of functions in MathJax are able to accept localization strings as their inputs, and these already take care of the synchronization issues for you. For example, MathJax.Message.Set() can accept either a plain (untranslated) string, or a localization string (array with ID, string, and substitution parameters). It uses Try() internally to make sure your message is properly translated before posting it to the screen. That means you don’t have to worry about that yourself when you use MathJax.Message.Set(), though you shoud be aware that the posting of the message may be asynchronous, so the message might not be visible when Set() returns. Fortunately, MathJax.Message.Clear() coordinates with Set() so that even if you call Clear() before the original message posts, MathJax won’t get confused). Similarly, the TeX input jax’s Error() function handles the calling of _() and its synchronization for you.

The Localization Data

The MathJax.Localization object holds the data for the various translations, as well as the service routines for adding to the translations and retrieving translations.

Methods

The methods in MathJax.Localization include:

_(id, message[, arguments])

The function (described in detail above) that returns the translated string for a given id, substituting the given arguments as needed.

Parameters:

id — the ID of the message to translate, or an array [domain,ID]
message — the English phrase to use as fallback if there is no translation, or an HTML snippet to be localized
arguments — values to be inserted into the translated string

Returns:

the translated string or HTML snippet

setLocale(locale)

Sets the selected locale to the given one, e.g.

MathJax.Localization.setLocale("fr");

Parameters:

locale — the two-character identifier for the desired locale

Returns:

null

addTranslation(locale, domain, def)

Defines (or adds to) the translation data for the given locale and domain. The def is the definition to be merged with the current translation data (if it exists) or to be used as the complete definition (if not). The data format is described below.

Parameters:

locale — the two-letter identifier for the locale to update or create
domain — the name of the domain to add or modify
def — the definition of the domain (see below)

Returns:

null

setCSS(div)

Sets the CSS for the given div to reflect the needs of the locale. In particular, it sets the font-family, if needed, and the direction (for right-to-left languages).

Parameters:

div — the DOM element whose CSS is to be modified

Returns:

the div

fontFamily(): Get the font-family needed to display text in the selected language. Returns null if no special font is required.

fontDirection(): Get the direction needed to display text in the selected language. Returns null if no special font is required.

plural(n): The method that returns the index into the list of plural texts for the value n. See the [CLDR rules](http://unicode.org/cldr/charts/supplemental/language_plural_rules.html) for more information. This calls the locale’s plural() method, if there is one, otherwise it defaults to the English version.

number(n): The method that returns the localized version of the number n. This calls the locale’s number() method, if there is one, otherwise it defaults to the English version.

loadDomain(domain[, callback])

This causes MathJax to load the data file for the given domain in the current language, and calls the callback when that is complete. If the domain is already loaded, the callback is called immediately. This lets you synchronize actions that require localization with the loading of the needed data so that you are sure that the needed translations are available. See the section on synchonization above for details.

Parameters:

domain — the name of the domain to load
callback — the callback object to be run after loading

Returns:

the callback object (or a blank one if none specified)

Try(fn)

This method runs the function fn with error trapping and if an asynchronous file load is performed (for loading localizaton data), reruns the function again after the file loads. This lets you synchronize actions that require localization with the loading of the needed data (see the section on synchronization above for details). Note that the function should be one that can be run multiple times, if needed. Also note that Try() can return before the fn has been completed, so you should consider fn to be running asynchronously (you can use callbacks to synchronize with other actions, if needed).

Parameters:

fn — a callback specification for a function that uses localization data

Returns:

null

Properties

locale: The currently selected locale, e.g., "fr". This is set by the setLocale() method, and should not be modified by hand.

directory: The URL for the localization data files. This can be overridden for individual languages or domains (see below). The default is [MathJax]/localization.

strings: This is the main data structure that holds the translation strings. It consists of an entry for each language that MathJax knows about, e.g., there would be an entry with key fr whose value is the data for the French translation. Initially, these simply reference the files that define the translation data, which MathJax will load when needed. After the file is loaded, they will contain the translation data as well. This is described in more detail below.

Translation Data

Each language has its own data in the MathJax.Localization.strings structure. This structure holds data about the translation, plus the translated strings for each domain.

A typical example might be

fr: {
  menuTitle: "Fran\u00E7ais",                // title used in language menu
  version: "1.0",
  directory: "[MathJax]/localization/fr",    // optional
  file: "fr.js",                             // optional (file contains the data below)
  isLoaded: true,                            // set when loaded
  fontFamily: "...",                         // optional
  plural: function (n) {...},                // optional implementation of plural forms
  number: function (n) {...},                // optional implementation of number forms

  domains: {
    "_": {
      version: "1.0",
      file: "http://somecompany.com/MathJax/localization/fr/hub.js",  //  optional (contains the rest of the data)
      isLoaded: true,
      strings: {
        fnf: "File '%1' not found",
        fl: "%1 %{plural:%1|file|files|} loaded",
        ...
      }
    },
    TeX: {
      ...
    },
    MathMenu: {
      ...
    }
    ...
  }
}

The fields have the following meanings:

menuTitle: The string used for the menu item in the language submenu (it should be in the language itself, not English).

version: The version of the translation data.

directory: An optional value that can be used to override the directory where the translation files for this language are stored. The default is to add the locale identifier to the end of MathJax.Localization.directory, so the value given in the example above is the default value, and could be omitted.

file: The name of the file containing the translation data for this language. The default is the locale identifier with .js appended, so the value given in the example above is the default value, and could be omitted.

isLoaded: This is set to true when MathJax has loaded the data for this language. Typically, when a language is registered with MathJax, the data file isn’t loaded at that point. It will be loaded when it is first needed, and when that happens, this value is set.

fontFamily: This is a CSS font-family (or list of font-families) that should be used when text in this language is displayed. If not present, then no special font is needed.

fontDirection: This is a string ltr or rtl that specifies if the language is left-to-right or right-to-left. If not present, ltr will be assumed.

plural(n): This is an optional function that returns the index into the list of plural values apropriate for the given integer n. If not provided, the English plural() function is used.

plural(n): This is an optional function that returns the index into the list of plural values apropriate for the given integer n. If not provided, the English plural() function is used.

number(n): This is an optional function that returns the a string representing the decimal number n in the format used by the given locale. If not provided, the English number() function is used.

domains: This is an object that contains the translation strings for this language, grouped by domain. Each domain has an entry, and its value is an object that contains the translation strings for that domain. The format is described in more detail below.

Domain Data

Each domain for which there are translations has an entry in the locale’s domains object. These store the following information:

version: The version of the data for this domain.

file: If the domain data is stored in a separate file from the rest of the language’s data (e.g., a third-party extension that is not stored on the CDN may have translation data that is provied by the thrid-party), this property tells where to obtain the translation data. In the example above, the data is provided by another company via a complete URL. The default value is the locale’s directory with the domain name appended and .js appended to that.

isLoaded: This is set to true when the data file has been loaded.

strings: This is an object that contains that actual translated strings. The keys are the message identifiers described in the overview section above, and the values are the translations

Registering a Translation

Typically, for languages stored on the CDN, MathJax will register the language with a call like

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("fr",null,{});

which will create an fr entry in the localization data that will be tied to the [MathJax]/localization/fr directory, and the [MathJax]/localization/fr/fr.js file. That directory could contain individual files for the various domains, or the fr.js file itself could contain combined data that includes the most common domains, leaving only the lesser-used domains in separate files.

An example fr.js file could be

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("fr",null,{
  menuTitle: "Fran\u00E7ais",
  version: "1.0",
  domains: {
    "_": {},
    TeX: {},
    MathMenu: {}
  }
});

This would declare that there are translation files for the _, TeX, and MathMenu domains, and that these will be loaded individually from their default file names in the default directory of [MathJax]/localization/fr. Other domains will not be translated unless they register themselves via a command like

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("fr","HelpDialog",{});

in which case the domain’s data file will be loaded automatically when needed.

One could preload translation strings by including them in the fr.js file:

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("fr",null,{
  menuTitle: "Fran\u00E7ais",
  version: "1.0",
  domains: {
    "_": {
      isLoaded: true,
      strings: {
        'NotFound': "Fichier `%1` non trouvé",
        ...
      }
    },
    TeX: {
      isLoaded: true,
      strings: {
        'MissingBrace': "Accolade de fermeture manquante",
        ...
      }
    },
    MathMenu: {}
  }
});

Here the _ and TeX strings are preloaded, while the MathMenu strings will be loaded on demand.

A third party extension could include

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("fr","myExtension",{
  file: "http://myserver.com/MathJax/localization/myExtension/fr.js"
});

to add French translations for the myExtension domain (used by the extension) so that they would be obtained from the third-party server when needed.

A third party could provide a translation for a language not covered by the MathJax CDN by using

MathJax.Localization.addTranslation("kr",null,{
  menuTitle: "\uD55C\uAD6D\uB9D0",
  fontFamily: "Butang, 'Arial unicode MS', AppleMayungjo",
  directory: "http://mycompany.com/MathJax/localization/kr"
});

and providing a kr.js file in their MathJax/localization/kr directory that defines the details of their translation. If the Korean (kr) locale is selected, MathJax will load http://mycompany.com/MathJax/localization/kr/kr.js and any other domain files when they are needed.

See the subdirectories in the MathJax/localization directory for examples of language files. The English directory (en) is not actually used by MathJax (because the English strings a built in), but it can serve as an example and starting point for producing your own translations.

The Translation Files

Version 2.2 of MathJax comes with translations for French and German. Additional languages will be made available as they are developed. We hope to use community-based websites like Transifex to help produce these translations. Currently, however, the language data files are not in a form that can be used by these sites, so the only way to generate new translations is to copy the English data files and modify them for the new language.

In the future, MathJax will provide conversion programs that create the files needed for such sites in the formats they require (e.g., YAML), and that convert the translated versions back into the data files needed by MathJax, but these programs are not yet ready.

In addition, there will be a program that scans the MathJax files to obtain the ID’s and English strings that are needed for the translation files. This will make maintenance of language files easier in the future, but these are not available yet.