Question

I need to use XML file to store each key/value pair used by my app (instead of the usual properties file).

Grails is using properties file by default to handle internationalization.

What can I do to configure grails to read internationalization information in XML file?

Thanks

Answer 1

Actually, there is a bug in Grails scripts. When packaging, Grails will copy only .properties files located under the folder /grails-app/i18n. Your XML files will be ignored.

To fix it, you can manually edit the file {grails-sources}/scripts/_GrailsPackage.groovy.

Look for:

if(config.grails.enable.native2ascii) {
    profile("converting native message bundles to ascii") {
        ant.native2ascii(src:"${basedir}/grails-app/i18n",
                         dest:i18nDir,
                         includes:"*.properties",
                         encoding:"UTF-8")
    }
}
else {
    ant.copy(todir:i18nDir) {
        fileset(dir:"${basedir}/grails-app/i18n", includes:"*.properties")
    }
}

And replace by:

if(config.grails.enable.native2ascii) {
    profile("converting native message bundles to ascii") {
        ant.native2ascii(src:"${basedir}/grails-app/i18n",
                         dest:i18nDir,
                         includes:"*.properties, *.xml",
                         encoding:"UTF-8")
    }
}
else {
    ant.copy(todir:i18nDir) {
        fileset(dir:"${basedir}/grails-app/i18n", includes:"*.properties, *.xml")
    }
}

It will copy your messages*.xml in the resources path of your Grails app next time you run it.
You can use messages.xml as a starting point – it has to respect the Java DTD.

Using in your views will work as it worked with messages.properties files.