Translate Helper

Translation utility with caching and nested translation pattern resolution.

Overview

translateHelper wraps the engine's translateLanguage function with a cache layer and handles nested translation patterns commonly found in BeamNG content strings.

Module path: lua/ge/extensions/ui/gridSelectorUtils/translateHelper.lua (loaded via require)

Exports (M)

Internals

Basic Translation

local function translate(key)
  if not key or type(key) ~= "string" then
    return key or "Missing Translation Key!"
  end
  if translateCache[key] then return translateCache[key] end
  local translated = translateLanguage(key, key, true)
  translated = processNestedTranslations(translated)
  translateCache[key] = translated
  return translated
end

Nested Translation Patterns

Handles Angular-style patterns found in BeamNG translation strings:

Recursive Resolution

Nested patterns are resolved iteratively (up to 10 iterations) to handle translations that contain further translation keys:

local changed = true
local iterations = 0
while changed and iterations < maxIterations do
  changed = false
  iterations = iterations + 1
  -- Process each pattern type...
end

Caching

Results are cached in translateCache keyed by the original input string. The cache persists for the module's lifetime.

Usage in Grid Selectors

local translate = require("ge/extensions/ui/gridSelectorUtils/translateHelper").translate

-- Translate item names
item.name = translate(campaign.title)
item.level = translate(core_levels.getLevelTitle(item.level))

-- Translate specification labels
{label = translate("ui.common.property.difficulty"), value = translate(difficultyValue)}

How It Works

1. Caller passes a translation key (e.g., "ui.menu.start")
2. Cache is checked first for instant return
3. translateLanguage(key, key, true) queries the engine's localization system
4. Result is scanned for nested {{ ... | translate}} patterns
5. Each nested pattern is recursively translated (up to 10 iterations)
6. Final result is cached and returned

Additional Exports

The following exports are available but not yet documented in detail:

• M.translate