CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosobjective-clocalization
Red
Red

Reputation: 1469

how to localize a global string?

I have a NSString as a global constant. This constant is defined by using 

extern NSString *const kConstant;

in the .h file.

The value is set in the .m file (before @implementation):

NSString *const kConstant = @"myValue";

So far so good. As soon as I want to use the NSLocalizedString macro

NSString *const kConstant = NSLocalizedString(@"myValue",@"the value");

I get the error: initializer element is not a compile-time constant.

Any idea how to get a global string value localized?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 454

Answers (2)

Avi
Avi

Reputation: 7552

What I do is make the constant the key used in your localization. You have to use NSLocalizedString() at the point where you need the string, because that expands into a macro/function that looks up the files in your app bundle and figures out which string to use (fallback for missing translations, etc.). I'm afraid there's no way around it; the localization has to happen at runtime.

Upvotes: 0

trojanfoe
trojanfoe

Reputation: 122468

You should make it a class method of a class, and call NSLocalizedString() if it's not been allocated. This is similar to the Singleton Pattern:

MyStatics.h:

@interface MyStatics : NSObject

+ (NSString *)globalString

@end

MyStatics.m:

#import "MyStatics.h"

static NSString *_globalString = nul;

@implemenetation MyStatics

+ (NSString *)globalString
{
    if (!_globalString)
        _globalString = NSLocalizedString(@"myValue",@"the value");
    return _globalString;
}

@end

Upvotes: 3

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