Localization Skill

This skill guides you through localizing B2C Commerce storefronts for multiple languages and regions.

Overview

B2C Commerce supports localization through:

Component Approach

Templates Single template set + resource bundles

Forms Shared definitions + locale-specific labels

Static content Locale-specific folders

Product data Localizable attributes

Locale Format

Locales follow ISO standards: {language}_{country}

Format Example Description

en

English Language only

en_US

English/USA Language + country

fr_CA

French/Canada Language + country

de_DE

German/Germany Language + country

Resource Bundles

Directory Structure

/cartridge /templates /resources account.properties # Default (English) checkout.properties /fr account.properties # French checkout.properties /de account.properties # German checkout.properties /fr_CA account.properties # French Canadian

Property File Format

account.properties (default):

##############################################

Account Pages

############################################## account.title=My Account account.greeting=Welcome back account.logout=Sign Out

Account Dashboard

dashboard.title=Dashboard dashboard.orders=Order History dashboard.addresses=Address Book dashboard.wishlist=Wishlist

Profile

profile.title=Profile profile.firstName=First Name profile.lastName=Last Name profile.email=Email Address profile.save=Save Changes

account_fr.properties (French):

account.title=Mon compte account.greeting=Bon retour account.logout=Se déconnecter

dashboard.title=Tableau de bord dashboard.orders=Historique des commandes dashboard.addresses=Carnet d'adresses dashboard.wishlist=Liste de souhaits

profile.title=Profil profile.firstName=Prénom profile.lastName=Nom profile.email=Adresse e-mail profile.save=Enregistrer les modifications

Using Resources in Templates

<!-- Simple message --> <h1>${Resource.msg('account.title', 'account', null)}</h1>

<!-- With fallback --> <p>${Resource.msg('account.greeting', 'account', 'Welcome')}</p>

<!-- With parameters --> <p>${Resource.msgf('cart.items', 'cart', null, cartCount)}</p>

Resource.msg() parameters:

• Key name

• Bundle name (filename without extension)

• Default value (null = use key if not found)

Parameterized Messages

Property:

cart.itemCount=You have {0} items in your cart greeting.personalized=Hello, {0} {1}! order.confirmation=Order #{0} placed on {1}

Template:

${Resource.msgf('cart.itemCount', 'cart', null, itemCount)} ${Resource.msgf('greeting.personalized', 'common', null, firstName, lastName)}

Locale Fallback

B2C Commerce uses a fallback chain: fr_CA → fr → default

Example: Requesting fr_CA :

• Look in /resources/fr_CA/account.properties

• If not found, look in /resources/fr/account.properties

• If not found, look in /resources/account.properties

Static Files

Directory Structure

/cartridge /static /default /css style.css /images logo.png buttons/ submit.png /js main.js /fr /images buttons/ submit.png # French text on button /de /images buttons/ submit.png # German text on button

Referencing Static Files

<!-- Uses locale-specific version if available --> <img src="${URLUtils.staticURL('/images/buttons/submit.png')}" alt="Submit"/>

<!-- CSS (usually not localized) --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="${URLUtils.staticURL('/css/style.css')}"/>

Forms Localization

Form Definition

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <form xmlns="http://www.demandware.com/xml/form/2008-04-19"> <field formid="email" label="form.email.label" type="string" mandatory="true" missing-error="form.email.required" parse-error="form.email.invalid"/> </form>

Resource Bundle

forms.properties:

form.email.label=Email Address form.email.required=Email is required form.email.invalid=Please enter a valid email address

forms_fr.properties:

form.email.label=Adresse e-mail form.email.required=L'email est requis form.email.invalid=Veuillez entrer une adresse e-mail valide

URL Localization

Locale-Aware URLs

<!-- Current locale URL --> <a href="${URLUtils.url('Product-Show', 'pid', 'ABC123')}">View Product</a>

<!-- Specific locale URL --> <a href="${URLUtils.url(new URLAction('Product-Show', 'MySite', 'fr'))}"> Voir le produit </a>

Language Switcher

<isscript> var Site = require('dw/system/Site'); var URLAction = require('dw/web/URLAction'); var URLUtils = require('dw/web/URLUtils'); var Locale = require('dw/util/Locale'); </isscript>

<ul class="language-switcher"> <isloop items="${Site.current.allowedLocales}" var="localeId"> <isscript> var locale = new Locale(localeId); var url = URLUtils.url(new URLAction('Home-Show', Site.current.ID, localeId)); </isscript> <li class="${request.locale == localeId ? 'active' : ''}"> <a href="${url}">${locale.displayLanguage}</a> </li> </isloop> </ul>

Controller Localization

Accessing Current Locale

var Locale = require('dw/util/Locale');

server.get('Show', function (req, res, next) { var currentLocale = Locale.getLocale(req.locale.id);

res.render('mytemplate', {
    locale: req.locale.id,
    language: currentLocale.language,
    country: currentLocale.country,
    displayLanguage: currentLocale.displayLanguage,
    displayCountry: currentLocale.displayCountry
});
next();

});

Locale-Specific Logic

server.get('Checkout', function (req, res, next) { var locale = req.locale.id;

// Locale-specific date format
var dateFormat = locale.startsWith('en_US') ? 'MM/dd/yyyy' : 'dd/MM/yyyy';

// Locale-specific content
var termsContentId = 'terms-' + locale.replace('_', '-').toLowerCase();

res.render('checkout', {
    dateFormat: dateFormat,
    termsContentId: termsContentId
});
next();

});

Email Templates

Setting Locale

var Template = require('dw/util/Template'); var HashMap = require('dw/util/HashMap'); var Mail = require('dw/net/Mail');

function sendOrderConfirmation(order, locale) { var template = new Template('mail/orderconfirmation', locale); var model = new HashMap(); model.put('order', order);

var content = template.render(model).text;

var mail = new Mail();
mail.addTo(order.customerEmail);
mail.setFrom('orders@example.com');
mail.setSubject(Resource.msg('email.order.subject', 'email', null));
mail.setContent(content, 'text/html', 'UTF-8');
mail.send();

}

Currency Formatting

Currency is tied to locale:

var Money = require('dw/value/Money'); var StringUtils = require('dw/util/StringUtils');

// Format with locale var price = new Money(99.99, 'USD'); var formatted = StringUtils.formatMoney(price); // Uses current locale

// In template <isprint value="${product.priceModel.price}" style="CURRENCY"/>

Date Formatting

var StringUtils = require('dw/util/StringUtils'); var Calendar = require('dw/util/Calendar');

var date = new Calendar(); var formatted = StringUtils.formatCalendar(date, 'yyyy-MM-dd'); // ISO format var localized = StringUtils.formatCalendar(date, 'MMMM d, yyyy'); // Locale-aware

Best Practices

• Use UTF-8 for all property files (required for non-ASCII characters)

• Organize bundles by page/feature not by language

• Keep keys descriptive - account.profile.firstName not label1

• Use parameters for dynamic values - don't concatenate strings

• Test all locales - ensure fallback works correctly

• Don't hardcode text in templates or scripts

Detailed Reference

• Localization Patterns - Complete patterns and examples