Re: internationalizing text - Mailing list pgsql-general

You can use a where clause when selecting from a veiew, so the following
should work for you:

  CREATE VIEW my_view AS SELECT  o.*, n.descr, n.lang
       FROM   nation n, org o
       WHERE  o.nation = n.code

  SELECT * FROM my_view WHERE n.lang = someKnownQuantity

Michael Fork - CCNA - MCP - A+
Network Support - Toledo Internet Access - Toledo Ohio

On Fri, 23 Mar 2001, will trillich wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 23, 2001 at 09:29:17AM -0000, Michael Ansley wrote:
> > I think that the standard way to do this is to use a resource identifier,
> > and then have a separate table with all strings.  That's the way that most
> > internationalisation is done in programs, and it's probably not bad for
> > databases either.
> >
> > So maybe:
> >
> >      create table something (
> >         id serial,
> >         yadayada int4,
> >         whatever date,
> >         mumble float8,
> >         ...
> >                 id_resource int4 references something_text(id)
> >     );
> >     create table something_text (
> >         id int4,
> >         lang varchar(5), -- language code 'en-us','it','jp'...
> >         descr varchar(50)
> >     );
>
> i was thinking that it was probably the normalization-friendly
> version that would be most flexible.
>
> but here's where i run into snags:
>
>     create table nation (
>         code char(2),
>         lang varchar(5),
>         descr varchar(50),
>     primary key (code)
>     );
>     insert into nation values ('us','en','United States');
>     insert into nation values ('us','fr','Etats Unis');
>
>     create table org (
>         ...
>         postcode varchar(12),
>         nation char(2) references nation(code),
>         ...
>     );
>
> how do i get the proper "descr" field from table "nation" that's
> in language "lang=xyz" using a view, when i don't know which
> language will be used at 'compile time'? a straight select/view
> will show ALL languages for EACH 'record' sought:
>
>     select o.*,n.descr
>     from   nation n, org o
>     where  o.nation = n.code
>     -- and n.lang = someUnknownQuantityToBeDeterminedLater
>     -- /* simple global variables would solve this, ahem... :) */
>     ;
>
> right now i've got all the data-driven stuff built into the
> sql/plpgsql; the perl code does only the presenting of the
> data... i'd like to keep the functions separated, but it doesn't
> look possible here.  ideas?
>
> --
> It is always hazardous to ask "Why?" in science, but it is often
> interesting to do so just the same.
>         -- Isaac Asimov, 'The Genetic Code'
>
> will@serensoft.com
> http://newbieDoc.sourceforge.net/ -- we need your brain!
> http://www.dontUthink.com/ -- your brain needs us!
>