Using the internationalization (intl) extension in PHP

The internationalization (intl) extension in PHP provides tools for formatting and processing locale‑specific information. On ruachost.com, the intl extension is enabled by default, allowing developers to build applications that support multiple languages, regions, and cultural conventions.

Why Use intl?

Format dates, times, numbers, and currencies according to locale.
Handle text collation (alphabetical sorting rules differ by language).
Convert between uppercase and lowercase letters in different scripts.
Support multilingual applications with consistent formatting.

Checking Available Locales

To view a list of locales supported on your server:

locale -a

Output will include codes like en_US (English, United States) or zh_TW.big5 (Chinese, Taiwan using Big5 encoding).
Format: xx_YY where xx = language code, YY = country/region code.

Example: Setting Locales in PHP

<?php
// Set locale to French (France)
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'fr_FR');
printRow();

// Set locale to English (United States)
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'en_US');
printRow();

// Function to display formatted output
function printRow() {
    $number = 133.52;
    echo "<tr>";
    echo "<td>" . setlocale(LC_ALL, 0) . "</td>";
    echo "<td>" . strftime('%c') . "</td>";
    echo "<td>" . $number . "</td>";
    echo "</tr>";
}
?>

Output

In French: 133,52 (comma as decimal separator).
In English: 133.52 (period as decimal separator).
Date and time formats also differ by locale.

Handling Character Encoding

Some locales require specific character sets. For example, Cyrillic characters may not display correctly unless you specify encoding:

<?php
header('Content-Type: text/html;charset=iso-8859-5');
?>