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Version: 26.2 (stable)

Using the ICU MessageFormat

HELIO uses a common standard that professional translators know well, to handle tricky translations. This language is the ICU MessageFormat. It has many tools for translations and internationalization – it can handle things like…

  • variables
  • plural forms
  • genders
  • select expressions

…and more. This allows you to create very detailed messages in different languages.

How to Use the Format in Your HMI​

  1. Create a Parameter Page

…and add a Markdown element to it:

←→
  1. Add your message format

Copy the following text into the Content property of the Markdown element.

{pendingTaskCount, plural,
    =0 {Congrats, you've got it all done! 🎉}
    one {Just one last task, and then you're done! 💪}
    other {You have {pendingTaskCount, number} tasks to do.}
}

The text introduces a variable called pendingTaskCount and makes use of the plural keyword in order to act upon the state of the variable.

←→
  1. Set the type of the pendingTaskCount variable

…to Static Value and choose the Number.

  1. Give it a test drive

Change the value of pendingTaskCount and see how HELIO reacts to it:

Consult Further Documentation​

There is a nice overview of the format's features in the documentation of format.js which is the wonderful library that HELIO uses to handle internationalization.