There should be an effort to externalize all english text into default variables. It makes a great step towards true internatiolization. Does not cost anything in terms of performance or matainance. What it does do is make the code that uses hard coded strings open and more resuable. It adds the flexibility in phrasology that is necessary in internationalizing Drupal. It creates more usability in that better text instructions can be delivered to the user based on the situation of the process. I have made this slight change in my install which allows me to give a descriptive message based on the url tried. This can be done in both english and swedish without me having to use gettext and the like.


--- common_1.inc	2005-02-19 17:33:21.451910400 +0100
+++ common_2.inc	2005-02-19 17:34:40.876116800 +0100
@@ -427,8 +427,8 @@ function object2array($object) {
  * Always consider whether to use drupal_access_denied() instead to return a
  * proper (and customizable) 403 error.
  */
-function message_access() {
-  return t('You are not authorized to access this page.');
+function message_access($message = 'You are not authorized to access this page.') {
+  return t($message);
 }
 
 /**

Comments

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

Assigned: Unassigned » killes@www.drop.org
Category: task » bug
StatusFileSize
new2.99 KB

The original description is a bit unclear, but the underlying concern seems to be that the error messages are not specific to the situation they occur in. I share this concern. The attached patch removes the function message_access() (which hails from 2001) and replaces the six calls to it by hopefully better chosen strings. Since I do not use blogapi.module I welcome suggestions for better phrases. Since this is actually a usability bug fix i hope this can get into 4.6.

chx’s picture

StatusFileSize
new3.2 KB

While we are at it, we could open up drupal_access_denied so that the title can be changed per call. It costs almost nothing, breaks nothing, so why not?

Steven’s picture

Can someone point out to me how this is related to i18n, at all?

chx’s picture

Title: Internationalization: Create user-defined string variable whenever possible » Use arbitrary strings instead of message_access
Component: base system » other
dries’s picture

As discussued, this is not going to work as is.

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

Title: Use arbitrary strings instead of message_access » Remove message_access function and introduce better worded situation aware messages

My patch still applies just fine and I am not aware of any discussion.

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

Dries said, he will look at it again after 4.6 got released.

Stefan Nagtegaal’s picture

While the patch does not apply anymore, I like the idea very much.. Not every '404' or '403' error page is the same, and a nice message saying what is really wrong improves userfriendlyness..

I am all for such a patch.. :-)

Stefan

moshe weitzman’s picture

killes@www.drop.org’s picture

Status: Active » Needs review
StatusFileSize
new2.98 KB

Updated the patch.

dries’s picture

Status: Needs review » Fixed

Committed to HEAD.

curry’s picture

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous’s picture

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)