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Version: 4.xx.xx

i18n Provider

refine can work with any i18n framework, but an i18nProvider must be created, based on the chosen library.

The default language of refine is currently English. If you want to use other languages, follow the instructions in the next sections. If your application is in English, you don't need to create an i18nProvider.

Usage​

If you want to add i18n support in the app, refine expects the i18nProvider type as follows.

import { I18nProvider } from "@refinedev/core";

const i18nProvider: I18nProvider = {
    translate: (key: string, options?: any, defaultMessage?: string) => string,
    changeLocale: (lang: string, options?: any) => Promise,
    getLocale: () => string,
};

After creating a i18nProvider, you can pass it to the <Refine> component.

src/App.tsx
import { Refine } from "@refinedev/core";

import i18nProvider from "./i18nProvider";

const App: React.FC = () => {
    return (
        <Refine
            i18nProvider={i18nProvider}
            /* ... */
        >
            {/* ... */}
        </Refine>
    );
};

i18nProvider allows us to put translation features to the followings hooks:

Example​

tip

We recommend using create refine-app to initialize your refine projects. It configures the project according to your needs including the i18n provider.

caution

This example is for SPA react apps, for Next.js refer to i18n Nextjs example

Let's add multi-language support using the react-i18next framework. At the end of our example, our application will support both German and English.

Refer to the react-i18next docs for detailed information &#8594

Installation​

Run the following command within your project directory to install both react-i18next and i18next packages :

npm install react-i18next i18next

Creating i18n Instance​

First, we will create an i18n instance using react-i18next.

src/i18n.ts
import i18n from "i18next";
import { initReactI18next } from "react-i18next"; // https://react.i18next.com/latest/using-with-hooks
import Backend from "i18next-http-backend"; // adding lazy loading for translations, more information here: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-http-backend
import detector from "i18next-browser-languagedetector"; // auto detect the user language, more information here: https://github.com/i18next/i18next-browser-languageDetector

i18n.use(Backend)
    .use(detector)
    .use(initReactI18next)
    .init({
        supportedLngs: ["en", "de"],
        backend: {
            loadPath: "/locales/{{lng}}/{{ns}}.json", // locale files path
        },
        defaultNS: "common",
        fallbackLng: ["en", "de"],
    });

export default i18n;

Wraping app with React.Suspense​

Then we will import the i18n instance we created and wrap the application with React.Suspense.

src/index.tsx
import React from "react";
import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
import App from "./App";

import "./i18n";

const container = document.getElementById("root");
const root = createRoot(container!);
root.render(
    <React.StrictMode>
        <React.Suspense fallback="loading">
            <App />
        </React.Suspense>
    </React.StrictMode>,
);
tip

We use React.Suspense because it improves performance by preventing the app from rendering unnecessarily.

Creating i18n Provider​

Next, we will include the i18n instance and create the i18nProvider using react-i18next.

src/App.tsx
import { Refine } from "@refinedev/core";
import type { I18nProvider } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";

const App: React.FC = () => {
    const { t, i18n } = useTranslation();

    const i18nProvider: I18nProvider = {
        translate: (key: string, options?: any) => t(key, options),
        changeLocale: (lang: string) => i18n.changeLanguage(lang),
        getLocale: () => i18n.language,
    };

    return (
        <Refine
            i18nProvider={i18nProvider}
            /* ... */
        >
            {/* ... */}
        </Refine>
    );
};

After we pass the i18nProvider to the <Refine> component, translation hooks(useTranslate, useSetLocale, useGetLocale) are fully ready to use.

Adding Translations Files​

Before we get started, let's look at the translations that refine uses in components.

Show translation file
{
    "pages": {
        "login": {
            "title": "Sign in to your account",
            "signin": "Sign in",
            "signup": "Sign up",
            "divider": "or",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email",
                "password": "Password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Login",
                "forgotPassword": "Forgot password?",
                "noAccount": "Don’t have an account?",
                "rememberMe": "Remember me"
            }
        },
        "forgotPassword": {
            "title": "Forgot your password?",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Send reset instructions"
            }
        },
        "register": {
            "title": "Sign up for your account",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email",
                "password": "Password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Register",
                "haveAccount": "Have an account?"
            }
        },
        "updatePassword": {
            "title": "Update password",
            "fields": {
                "password": "New Password",
                "confirmPassword": "Confirm new password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "confirmPasswordNotMatch": "Passwords do not match"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Update"
            }
        },
        "error": {
            "info": "You may have forgotten to add the {{action}} component to {{resource}} resource.",
            "404": "Sorry, the page you visited does not exist.",
            "resource404": "Are you sure you have created the {{resource}} resource.",
            "backHome": "Back Home"
        }
    },
    "actions": {
        "list": "List",
        "create": "Create",
        "edit": "Edit",
        "show": "Show"
    },
    "buttons": {
        "create": "Create",
        "save": "Save",
        "logout": "Logout",
        "delete": "Delete",
        "edit": "Edit",
        "cancel": "Cancel",
        "confirm": "Are you sure?",
        "filter": "Filter",
        "clear": "Clear",
        "refresh": "Refresh",
        "show": "Show",
        "undo": "Undo",
        "import": "Import",
        "clone": "Clone",
        "notAccessTitle": "You don't have permission to access"
    },
    "warnWhenUnsavedChanges": "Are you sure you want to leave? You have unsaved changes.",
    "notifications": {
        "success": "Successful",
        "error": "Error (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "undoable": "You have {{seconds}} seconds to undo",
        "createSuccess": "Successfully created {{resource}}",
        "createError": "There was an error creating {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "deleteSuccess": "Successfully deleted {{resource}}",
        "deleteError": "Error when deleting {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "editSuccess": "Successfully edited {{resource}}",
        "editError": "Error when editing {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "importProgress": "Importing: {{processed}}/{{total}}"
    },
    "loading": "Loading",
    "tags": {
        "clone": "Clone"
    },
    "dashboard": {
        "title": "Dashboard"
    }
}

All components of refine supports i18n. If you want to change the refine component texts, you can create your own translation file with reference to the keys above.

Now, let's add the language files:

|-- public
|   |-- locales
|       |-- en
|       |   |-- common.json
|       |-- de
|           |-- common.json
|-- src
|-- package.json
|-- tsconfig.json
Show translation file
/locales/en/common.json
{
    "pages": {
        "login": {
            "title": "Sign in to your account",
            "signin": "Sign in",
            "signup": "Sign up",
            "divider": "or",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email",
                "password": "Password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Login",
                "forgotPassword": "Forgot password?",
                "noAccount": "Don’t have an account?",
                "rememberMe": "Remember me"
            }
        },
        "forgotPassword": {
            "title": "Forgot your password?",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Send reset instructions"
            }
        },
        "register": {
            "title": "Sign up for your account",
            "fields": {
                "email": "Email",
                "password": "Password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "validEmail": "Invalid email address"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Register",
                "haveAccount": "Have an account?"
            }
        },
        "updatePassword": {
            "title": "Update password",
            "fields": {
                "password": "New Password",
                "confirmPassword": "Confirm new password"
            },
            "errors": {
                "confirmPasswordNotMatch": "Passwords do not match"
            },
            "buttons": {
                "submit": "Update"
            }
        },
        "error": {
            "info": "You may have forgotten to add the {{action}} component to {{resource}} resource.",
            "404": "Sorry, the page you visited does not exist.",
            "resource404": "Are you sure you have created the {{resource}} resource.",
            "backHome": "Back Home"
        }
    },
    "actions": {
        "list": "List",
        "create": "Create",
        "edit": "Edit",
        "show": "Show"
    },
    "buttons": {
        "create": "Create",
        "save": "Save",
        "logout": "Logout",
        "delete": "Delete",
        "edit": "Edit",
        "cancel": "Cancel",
        "confirm": "Are you sure?",
        "filter": "Filter",
        "clear": "Clear",
        "refresh": "Refresh",
        "show": "Show",
        "undo": "Undo",
        "import": "Import",
        "clone": "Clone",
        "notAccessTitle": "You don't have permission to access"
    },
    "warnWhenUnsavedChanges": "Are you sure you want to leave? You have unsaved changes.",
    "notifications": {
        "success": "Successful",
        "error": "Error (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "undoable": "You have {{seconds}} seconds to undo",
        "createSuccess": "Successfully created {{resource}}",
        "createError": "There was an error creating {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "deleteSuccess": "Successfully deleted {{resource}}",
        "deleteError": "Error when deleting {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "editSuccess": "Successfully edited {{resource}}",
        "editError": "Error when editing {{resource}} (status code: {{statusCode}})",
        "importProgress": "Importing: {{processed}}/{{total}}"
    },
    "loading": "Loading",
    "tags": {
        "clone": "Clone"
    },
    "dashboard": {
        "title": "Dashboard"
    },
    "posts": {
        "posts": "Posts",
        "fields": {
            "id": "Id",
            "title": "Title",
            "category": "Category",
            "status": {
                "title": "Status",
                "published": "Published",
                "draft": "Draft",
                "rejected": "Rejected"
            },
            "content": "Content",
            "createdAt": "Created At"
        },
        "titles": {
            "create": "Create Post",
            "edit": "Edit Post",
            "list": "Posts",
            "show": "Show Post"
        }
    },
    "table": {
        "actions": "Actions"
    }
}
tip

We can override refine's default texts by changing the common.json files in the example above.

Changing The Locale​

Next, we will create a <Header> component. This component will allow us to change the language.

src/components/header.tsx
import { useGetLocale, useSetLocale } from "@refinedev/core";
import { Layout, Space, Menu, Button, Dropdown, Avatar } from "antd";
import { DownOutlined } from "@ant-design/icons";
import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";

export const Header: React.FC = () => {
    const { i18n } = useTranslation();
    const locale = useGetLocale();
    const changeLanguage = useSetLocale();

    const currentLocale = locale();

    const menu = (
        <Menu selectedKeys={currentLocale ? [currentLocale] : []}>
            {[...(i18n.languages || [])].sort().map((lang: string) => (
                <Menu.Item
                    key={lang}
                    onClick={() => changeLanguage(lang)}
                    icon={
                        <span style={{ marginRight: 8 }}>
                            <Avatar
                                size={16}
                                src={`/images/flags/${lang}.svg`}
                            />
                        </span>
                    }
                >
                    {lang === "en" ? "English" : "German"}
                </Menu.Item>
            ))}
        </Menu>
    );

    return (
        <Layout.Header
            style={{
                display: "flex",
                justifyContent: "flex-end",
                alignItems: "center",
                padding: "0px 24px",
                height: "48px",
                backgroundColor: "#FFF",
            }}
        >
            <Dropdown overlay={menu}>
                <Button type="link">
                    <Space>
                        <Avatar
                            size={16}
                            src={`/images/flags/${currentLocale}.svg`}
                        />
                        {currentLocale === "en" ? "English" : "German"}
                        <DownOutlined />
                    </Space>
                </Button>
            </Dropdown>
        </Layout.Header>
    );
};

Then, we will pass <Header> to our <Layout> component.

src/App.tsx
import { Refine, Resource } from "@refinedev/core";
import { ThemedLayout } from "@refinedev/antd";

import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";

import "./i18n";

import { Header } from "components";

const App: React.FC = () => {
    const { t, i18n } = useTranslation();

    const i18nProvider = {
        translate: (key: string, options?: any) => t(key, options),
        changeLocale: (lang: string) => i18n.changeLanguage(lang),
        getLocale: () => i18n.language,
    };

    return (
        <Refine
            i18nProvider={i18nProvider}
            /* ... */
        >
            <ThemedLayout
                header={<Header />}
            >
                {/* ... */}
            </Layout>
        </Refine>
    );
};

Finally, we will create the <PostList> page and then we will translate texts using useTranslate.

src/App.tsx
import {
    useTranslate,
    useMany,
} from "@refinedev/core";
import {
    List,
    useTable,
    TextField,
    EditButton,
    ShowButton,
} from "@refinedev/antd";
import { Table, Space } from "antd";

import { IPost, ICategory } from "interfaces";

export const PostList: React.FC = () => {
    const translate = useTranslate();
    const { tableProps } = useTable<IPost>();

    const categoryIds =
        tableProps?.dataSource?.map((item) => item.category.id) ?? [];
    const { data, isLoading } = useMany<ICategory>({
        resource: "categories",
        ids: categoryIds,
        queryOptions: {
            enabled: categoryIds.length > 0,
        },
    });

    return (
        <List>
            <Table {...tableProps} rowKey="id">
                <Table.Column dataIndex="id" title="ID" />
                <Table.Column
                    dataIndex="title"
                    title={translate("posts.fields.title")}
                />
                <Table.Column
                    dataIndex={["category", "id"]}
                    title={translate("posts.fields.category")}
                    render={(value) => {
                        if (isLoading) {
                            return <TextField value="Loading..." />;
                        }

                        return (
                            <TextField
                                value={
                                    data?.data.find((item) => item.id === value)
                                        ?.title
                                }
                            />
                        );
                    }}
                />
                <Table.Column<IPost>
                    title={translate("table.actions")}
                    dataIndex="actions"
                    key="actions"
                    render={(_value, record) => (
                        <Space>
                            <EditButton size="small" recordItemId={record.id} />
                            <ShowButton size="small" recordItemId={record.id} />
                        </Space>
                    )}
                />
            </Table>
        </List>
    );
};
interfaces/index.d.ts
export interface ICategory {
    id: number;
    title: string;
}

export interface IPost {
    id: number;
    title: string;
    content: string;
    status: "published" | "draft" | "rejected";
    category: { id: number };
}

Language change action

Methods​

translate​

translate takes parameters and passes them to the provided i18nProvider and expects a string as a return value.

It has two function signatures with different parameters, which is known as function overloading.

function translate(key: string, options?: any, defaultMessage?: string): string;
function translate(key: string, defaultMessage?: string): string;

It means that you can use it in two different ways. The first one is to pass the key, options, and, defaultMessage as parameters. The second one is to pass the key and defaultMessage parameters. The options parameter is optional.

  • Example of the key and defaultMessage function signature
import { I18nProvider } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";

// ...

const { t } = useTranslation();

const i18nProvider: I18nProvider = {
    translate: (key: string, defaultMessage?: string) => t(key, defaultMessage),
    // ...
};

// ...
import { useTranslate } from "@refinedev/core";

// ...

const translate = useTranslate();

// ...

translate("posts.fields.title", "Title");

// ...
  • Example of the key, options and, defaultMessage function signature
import { I18nProvider } from "@refinedev/core";
import { useTranslation } from "react-i18next";

// ...

const { t } = useTranslation();

const i18nProvider: I18nProvider = {
    translate: (key: string, options?: any, defaultMessage?: string) =>
        t(key, defaultMessage, options),
    // ...
};

// ...
import { useTranslate } from "@refinedev/core";

// ...

const translate = useTranslate();

// ...

const title = translate("posts.fields.title", { ns: "resources" }, "Title");

// ...

You can use the useTranslate hook to call translate method.

changeLocale​

translate takes parameters and passes them to the provided i18nProvider and expects a Promise as a return value.

changeLocale: (locale: string, options?: any) => Promise<any>;

You can use the useSetLocale hook to call changeLocale method.

getLocale​

getLocale expects a string as a return value. It should return the current locale from your i18nProvider.

getLocale: () => string;

You can use the useGetLocale hook to call getLocale method.

Example​

VIEW SOURCE CODE →
RUN IN YOUR LOCAL
npm create refine-app@latest -- --example i18n-react