Question

Is it possible to use java .properties files in a Rails project instead of YAML files? And if so, how do you set this up?

Answer 1

generally the i18n integration works with YAML files or plain ruby hashes. So you could simply parse the .properties files (I think https://github.com/flergl/java-properties-for-ruby would still do the job, works even still with 1.9.3 at first glance) and convert them to YAML or dynamically parse them in something like:

# config/locales/en.rb:
# Gemfile: gem 'java_properties'
# or require 'rubygems'; require 'java_properties';

props = JavaProperties::Properties.new("de.properties")
translations_hash = props.keys.inject({}) { |hash, key| hash[key] = props[key]; hash }
{ :en => translations_hash }

Of course you might still need to replace placeholder syntax “{0}” to a i18n compatible “#{0}”.

Cheers,
Fred

ps.: BTW check out our service PhraseApp.com we are working on easing the i18n pain!