> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cherrycake.tin.cat/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cherrycake.tin.cat/version-1.x-beta/guide/locale-guide.md).

# Locale guide

The Locale module provides a mechanism to build apps that adapt to users using different languages, timezones, currencies and other local unit standards.

To allow your app to work with different languages and localization settings, you must at least set up the `availableLocales`, `defaultLocale`, `canonicalLocale` and `availableLanguages` [configuration keys](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale.md#configuration) in the `config/Locale.config.php` file like this:

```php
<?php

namespace Cherrycake;

$LocaleConfig = [
	"availableLocales" => [
		"main" => [
			"language" => LANGUAGE_ENGLISH,
			"dateFormat" => DATE_FORMAT_MIDDLE_ENDIAN,
			"temperatureUnits" => TEMPERATURE_UNITS_FAHRENHEIT,
			"currency" => CURRENCY_USD,
			"decimalMark" => DECIMAL_MARK_POINT,
			"measurementSystem" => MEASUREMENT_SYSTEM_IMPERIAL,
			"timeZone" => TIMEZONE_ID_ETC_UTC
		]
	],
	"defaultLocale" => "main",
	"canonicalLocale" => "main",
	"availableLanguages" => [LANGUAGE_ENGLISH]
];
```

* **`availableLocales`** The different localizations your app will support. See the [Locale configuration](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale.md#configuration) for an explanation of the available options.
* **`defaultLocale`** The name of the locale to use as default.
* **`canonicalLocale`** The name of the locale to be considered the main locale of the app.
* **`availableLanguages`** An array of the languages that will be available in the app, from the available [`LANGUAGE_?`](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale.md#constants) constants.

> If you don't setup your own `availableLocales`, or if you don't create a [Locale](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale.md) configuration file at all,  a default locale named `main` will be used with the [default configuration values](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale.md#configuration).

Once your `availableLocales` are in place, you can choose the locale to use by calling the [Locale::setLocale](/version-1.x-beta/reference/core-modules/locale/locale-methods.md#setlocale-localename) method. From that point on, all the texts, dates, timezones and other localized data will be retrieved using that locale's setup. For example:

```php
echo $e->Locale->formatTimestamp(time());
echo $e->Locale->formatCurrency(19.5);
echo $e->Locale->getTimeZoneName();
```

```
5/18/20
USD19.50
Etc/UTC
```

## Multiple locales

If your app supports multiple localized versions with different languages or localization configurations, you just add more locales to your `Locale.config.php` file. Imagine we have a web site with a global version in english, and a local version for Spain:

```php
<?php

namespace Cherrycake;

$LocaleConfig = [
	"availableLocales" => [
		"global" => [
			"language" => LANGUAGE_ENGLISH,
			"dateFormat" => DATE_FORMAT_MIDDLE_ENDIAN,
			"temperatureUnits" => TEMPERATURE_UNITS_FAHRENHEIT,
			"currency" => CURRENCY_USD,
			"decimalMark" => DECIMAL_MARK_POINT,
			"measurementSystem" => MEASUREMENT_SYSTEM_IMPERIAL,
			"timeZone" => TIMEZONE_ID_ETC_UTC
		],
		"spain" => [
			"language" => LANGUAGE_SPANISH,
			"dateFormat" => DATE_FORMAT_LITTLE_ENDIAN,
			"temperatureUnits" => TEMPERATURE_UNITS_CELSIUS,
			"currency" => CURRENCY_EURO,
			"decimalMark" => DECIMAL_MARK_COMMA,
			"measurementSystem" => MEASUREMENT_SYSTEM_METRIC,
			"timeZone" => TIMEZONE_ID_EUROPE_MADRID
		]
	],
	"defaultLocale" => "global",
	"canonicalLocale" => "global",
	"availableLanguages" => [LANGUAGE_ENGLISH, LANGUAGE_SPANISH]
];
```

Now, we can switch the working locale whenever we need, and Locale will act accordingly:

```php
echo $e->Locale->formatTimestamp(time());
echo $e->Locale->formatCurrency(19.5);
echo $e->Locale->getTimeZoneName();

$e->Locale->setLocale("spain");

echo $e->Locale->formatTimestamp(time());
echo $e->Locale->formatCurrency(19.5);
echo $e->Locale->getTimeZoneName();
```

```
5/18/20
USD19.50
Etc/UTC

18/5/20
19,50€
Europe/Madrid
```

{% hint style="success" %}
See this example working in the [Cherrycake documentation examples](https://documentation-examples.cherrycake.io/example/localeGuideBasic) site.
{% endhint %}