This document provides PHP code examples to demonstrate number formatting and sorting strings using locale-specific rules for different languages. It formats numbers in Hindi, Farsi, Egyptian Arabic and other locales. It also shows sorting German names according to different German locales and using the Intl extension. Further examples demonstrate date formatting in Finnish, Japanese and French, and generating Korean numbers.

1. First play and test
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
//'hi' is Hindi, 'fa' is Farsi, 'ar_EG' is Egyptian Arabic
$locales = array('en', 'en_US', 'fr_FR', 'de_DE', 'hi', 'fa', 'ar_EG');
$number = 1234567890;
foreach($locales as $locale)
{
$formatter = new NumberFormatter($locale, NumberFormatter::DECIMAL);
echo $locale . ":t" . $formatter->format($number) . "n";
}
//Output:
//en: 1,234,567,890
//en_US: 1,234,567,890
//fr_FR: 1 234 567 890
//de_DE: 1.234.567.890
//hi: १,२३,४५,६७,८९०
//fa: ۱٬۲۳۴٬۵۶۷٬۸۹۰
//ar_EG: ١٬٢٣٤٬٥٦٧٬٨٩٠
?>
Sorting German
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
//some German surnames
$german_names = array('Weiß', 'Goldmann', 'Göbel', 'Weiss', 'Göthe',
'Goethe', 'Götz');
sort($german_names);
//gives Array ( [0] => Goethe [1] => Goldmann [2] => Göbel [3] => Göthe
//[4] => Götz [5] => Weiss [6] => Weiß )
//which COINCIDENTALLY is the Austrian sort order
print_r($german_names);
sort($german_names, SORT_STRING); //default is SORT_REGULAR
print_r($german_names); //gives same as above
//BTW, you're not going to get far with setlocale() if you don't
//have that particular locale supported on your OS!
//on *nixes, something like:

2. //> locale --all-locales
//will give you a list of all installed locales
//
//you can give setlocale() a *list* of locales to try if
//you're not sure how your OS is spelling it etc
//
//ICU (and therefore Intl) uses its own locales and is not dependent
//on the operating system for the locale data
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'de_DE');
sort($german_names, SORT_LOCALE_STRING);
print_r($german_names);
//above gives Array ( [0] => Göbel [1] => Göthe [2] => Götz [3] => Goethe
//[4] => Goldmann [5] => Weiß [6] => Weiss )
//which isn't dictionary, phonebook or Austrian sort order :(
//[it seems to be "umlauted vowel comes before plain vowel, eszett
//comes before double ess" order]
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'de_AT');
sort($german_names, SORT_LOCALE_STRING);
print_r($german_names);
//above gives same as for de_DE - ie. nothing good :(
//this is curious...
setlocale(LC_ALL, 'de_DE.utf8');
sort($german_names, SORT_LOCALE_STRING);
print_r($german_names);
//above gives Array ( [0] => Göbel [1] => Goethe [2] => Goldmann
//[3] => Göthe [4] => Götz [5] => Weiss [6] => Weiß )
//which is our dictionary sort order!
//----Let's try using Intl--------
$coll = new Collator('de_DE');
$coll->sort($german_names);
//gives Array ( [0] => Göbel [1] => Goethe [2] => Goldmann [3] => Göthe
//[4] => Götz [5] => Weiss [6] => Weiß )
//which is our dictionary sort order!
print_r($german_names);
//Collator constructor can accept UCA keywords
$coll = new Collator('de@collation=phonebook'); //see
http://userguide.icu-project.org/collation/architecture and
http://userguide.icu-project.org/locale
$coll->sort($german_names);
//gives Array ( [0] => Göbel [1] => Goethe [2] => Göthe [3] => Götz
//[4] => Goldmann [5] => Weiss [6] => Weiß )
//which is our phonebook sort order!
print_r($german_names);
?>

3. Japanese era
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
$timezones = array('en_GB' => 'Europe/London', 'ja_JP' => 'Asia/Tokyo',
'ja_JP@calendar=japanese' => 'Asia/Tokyo');
$now = new DateTime(); //DateTime is a core PHP class as of version 5.2.0
foreach($timezones as $locale => $timezone)
{
$calendar = IntlDateFormatter::GREGORIAN;
if(strpos($locale, 'calendar=') !== false)
{
//slightly presumptuous as @calendar=gregorian also exists
$calendar = IntlDateFormatter::TRADITIONAL;
}
$formatter = new IntlDateFormatter($locale, IntlDateFormatter::FULL,
IntlDateFormatter::FULL, $timezone, $calendar);
echo 'It is now: "' . $formatter->format($now) . '" in ' .
"{$timezone}n";
}
//Last line of output gives "平成 23 年" which is Heisei 23!
?>
Korean numbers
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
//See:
//http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_numerals
//http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/03/korean-language-series-sino-
korean.html
$number = 1234567890;
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ko_KR', NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
echo "Korean spellout ({$formatter->getLocale()}):t"
. $formatter->format($number) . "n";
//above gives [Korean spellout (en_GB): one thousand two hundred and
thirty-four

4. //million, five hundred and sixty-seven thousand, eight hundred and
ninety]
//ie. locale has fallen back to system default (in this case en_GB)
//but ko_KR is a valid ICU locale string, so let's check:
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ko_KR', NumberFormatter::CURRENCY);
echo "Korean currency ({$formatter->getLocale()}):t"
. $formatter->format($number) . "n";
//above gives [Korean currency (ko): ￦1,234,567,890] which is correct
//ok, so it looks like we don't have the rules for Korean spellout
//we'll have to supply the NumberFormatter with our own ruleset.
//the technical details of the ruleset format are at
//http://userguide.icu-project.org/formatparse/numbers/rbnf-examples
//BUT we *do* have a ruleset for Japanese spellout which we can modify and
use!
//(it's similar because it also counts in ten thousands and has non-Arabic
numerals)
//the Japanese spellout ruleset is this (construct a NumberFormatter for
Japanese
//spellout and then var_dump($formatter->getPattern())):
//
//
//pattern for japanese spellout
/*
string(1520) "%financial:
0: 零;
1: 壱;
2: 弐;
3: 参;
4: 四;
5: 伍;
6: 六;
7: 七;
8: 八;
9: 九;
10: 拾;
11: 拾>%financial>;
20: <%financial<拾;
21: <%financial<拾>%financial>;
100: <%financial<百;
101: <%financial<百>%financial>;
1000: <%financial<千;
1001: <%financial<千>%financial>;
10000: <%financial<萬;
10001: <%financial<萬>%financial>;
100000000: <%financial<億;
100000001: <%financial<億>%financial>;

5. 1000000000000: <%financial<兆;
1000000000001: <%financial<兆>%financial>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: マイナス>%financial>;
x.x: <%financial<点>%financial>;
%traditional:
0: 〇;
1: 一;
2: 二;
3: 三;
4: 四;
5: 五;
6: 六;
7: 七;
8: 八;
9: 九;
10: 十;
11: 十>%traditional>;
20: <%traditional<十;
21: <%traditional<十>%traditional>;
100: 百;
101: 百>%traditional>;
200: <%traditional<百;
201: <%traditional<百>%traditional>;
1000: 千;
1001: 千>%traditional>;
2000: <%traditional<千;
2001: <%traditional<千>%traditional>;
10000: <%traditional<万;
10001: <%traditional<万>%traditional>;
100000000: <%traditional<億;
100000001: <%traditional<億>%traditional>;
1000000000000: <%traditional<兆;
1000000000001: <%traditional<兆>%traditional>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: マイナス>%traditional>;
x.x: <%traditional<・>%traditional>;
"
*/
//basically, for Japanese we count in groups of ten thousands
//and we have a traditional set of characters
//and a financial (anti-forgery) set of characters.
//
//Korean also counts in groups of ten thousands

6. //so let's modify this pattern for Korean
//(note that we'll use only South Korean Sino-Korean numbers)
$korean_pattern = '%hangul:
0: 영; 1: 일; 2: 이; 3: 삼; 4: 사; 5: 오; 6: 육; 7: 칠; 8: 팔; 9:
구; 10: 십;
11: 십>%hangul>;
20: <%hangul<십;
21: <%hangul<십>%hangul>;
100: 백;
101: 백>%hangul>;
200: <%hangul<백;
201: <%hangul<백>%hangul>;
1000: 천;
1001: 천>%hangul>;
2000: <%hangul<천;
2001: <%hangul<천>%hangul>;
10000: <%hangul<만;
10001: <%hangul<만>%hangul>;
100000000: <%hangul<억;
100000001: <%hangul<억>%hangul>;
1000000000000: <%hangul<조;
1000000000001: <%hangul<조>%hangul>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: ->%hangul>;
x.x: <%hangul<・>%hangul>;
%hanja:
0: 〇;
1: 一;
2: 二;
3: 三;
4: 四;
5: 五;
6: 六;
7: 七;
8: 八;
9: 九;
10: 十;
11: 十>%hanja>;
20: <%hanja<十;
21: <%hanja<十>%hanja>;
100: 百;
101: 百>%hanja>;

7. 200: <%hanja<百;
201: <%hanja<百>%hanja>;
1000: 千;
1001: 千>%hanja>;
2000: <%hanja<千;
2001: <%hanja<千>%hanja>;
10000: <%hanja<萬;
10001: <%hanja<萬>%hanja>;
100000000: <%hanja<億;
100000001: <%hanja<億>%hanja>;
1000000000000: <%hanja<兆;
1000000000001: <%hanja<兆>%hanja>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: ->%hanja>;
x.x: <%hanja<・>%hanja>;';
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ko_KR',
NumberFormatter::PATTERN_RULEBASED,
$korean_pattern);
$formatter->setTextAttribute(NumberFormatter::DEFAULT_RULESET, "%hangul");
$numbers = array_merge(range(0, 20), range(30, 100, 10),
array(1000, 10000, 100000000, 1000000000000));
foreach($numbers as $number)
{
echo "{$number}: {$formatter->format($number)}n";
}
//outputs a correct list of Korean Hangul numbers
?>
strftime (not on presentation)
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
//out of curiosity, let's see how PHP's core strftime() handles
//some different locale date formats
//BTW, you're not going to get far with setlocale() if you don't
//have that particular locale supported on your OS!
//on *nixes, something like:
//> locale --all-locales
//will give you a list of all installed locales
//

8. //you can give setlocale() a *list* of locales to try if
//you're not sure how your OS is spelling it etc
//
//ICU (and therefore Intl) uses its own locales and is not dependent
//on the operating system for the locale data
$locales = array(array('fi_FI.utf8', 'fi_FI'), array('ja_JP.utf8',
'ja_JP'),
array('fr_FR.utf8', 'fr_FR'));
$format = "%A %d %B %Y"; //ie. "Wednesday 17 August 2011"
foreach($locales as $locale_array)
{
$locale = setlocale(LC_TIME, $locale_array);
echo "{$locale}:t" . strftime($format) . "n";
}
//Output:
//fi_FI.utf8: keskiviikko 17 elokuu 2011
//ja_JP.utf8: 水曜日 17 8 月 2011
//fr_FR.utf8: mercredi 17 août 2011
//Comment:
//Not bad at all. The Japanese date won't be very natural-looking for a
//native Japanese speaker as the day and year aren't quantified with the
//appropriate character.
//Also seem to be some implementation issues
(http://uk.php.net/manual/en/function.strftime.php)
//Intl extension is giving us more power and flexibility
?>
Japanese financial numbers (not on presentation)
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//UTF-8 CLI assumed, else you'll need this:
//header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
//SUPPORTED LOCALES FOR "SPELLOUT" IS A LOT MORE LIMITED
//THAN FOR DECIMAL OR CURRENCY ETC...
//
//from ICU website:
//"ICU provides number spellout rules for several locales,
//but not for all of the locales that ICU supports, and not all of the
predefined rule types.
//Also, as of release 2.6, some of the provided rules are known to be
incomplete."
$number = 1234567890;
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ja_JP', NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
echo "Default Japanese spellout:t" . $formatter->format($number) . "n";

9. //above gives [十二億三千四百五十六万七千八百九十] - the usual kanji numbers
//see "Key/Type Definitions" at http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr35
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ja_JP@numbers=jpanfin',
NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
echo "Modified locale spellout:t" . $formatter->format($number) . "n";
//above also gives [十二億三千四百五十六万七千八百九十] - not our financial kanji
numbers!
//Hmmmm, but if we now var_dump($formatter->getPattern()) we get:
//pattern for japanese spellout
//(interestingly, financial kanji here and at
http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/banknote-numbers.html differ)
/*
string(1520) "%financial:
0: 零;
1: 壱;
2: 弐;
3: 参;
4: 四;
5: 伍;
6: 六;
7: 七;
8: 八;
9: 九;
10: 拾;
11: 拾>%financial>;
20: <%financial<拾;
21: <%financial<拾>%financial>;
100: <%financial<百;
101: <%financial<百>%financial>;
1000: <%financial<千;
1001: <%financial<千>%financial>;
10000: <%financial<萬;
10001: <%financial<萬>%financial>;
100000000: <%financial<億;
100000001: <%financial<億>%financial>;
1000000000000: <%financial<兆;
1000000000001: <%financial<兆>%financial>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: マイナス>%financial>;
x.x: <%financial<点>%financial>;
%traditional:
0: 〇;

10. 1: 一;
2: 二;
3: 三;
4: 四;
5: 五;
6: 六;
7: 七;
8: 八;
9: 九;
10: 十;
11: 十>%traditional>;
20: <%traditional<十;
21: <%traditional<十>%traditional>;
100: 百;
101: 百>%traditional>;
200: <%traditional<百;
201: <%traditional<百>%traditional>;
1000: 千;
1001: 千>%traditional>;
2000: <%traditional<千;
2001: <%traditional<千>%traditional>;
10000: <%traditional<万;
10001: <%traditional<万>%traditional>;
100000000: <%traditional<億;
100000001: <%traditional<億>%traditional>;
1000000000000: <%traditional<兆;
1000000000001: <%traditional<兆>%traditional>;
10000000000000000: =#,##0=;
-x: マイナス>%traditional>;
x.x: <%traditional<・>%traditional>;
"
*/
//so the financial kanji are in there but how to wrangle them out??
$formatter = new NumberFormatter('ja_JP', NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
$formatter->setTextAttribute(NumberFormatter::DEFAULT_RULESET,
"%financial");
echo "setTextAttribute spellout:t" . $formatter->format($number) . "n";
//above gives [拾弐億参千四百伍拾六萬七千八百九拾] - bingo!
//now, out of curiosity
//same formatter as above

11. $formatter->setTextAttribute(NumberFormatter::DEFAULT_RULESET,
"%traditional");
echo "setTextAttribute spellout:t" . $formatter->format($number) . "n";
//yes, this gives [十二億三千四百五十六万七千八百九十]
//notice that the %traditional and $financial patterns
//differ in more than just the characters used
//(for example, look at each format for the value of 100).
//let's take a look
$numbers = array(100, 199, 200, 201, 1000, 1999, 2000, 2001);
$traditional_formatter = new NumberFormatter('ja_JP',
NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
$financial_formatter = new NumberFormatter('ja_JP',
NumberFormatter::SPELLOUT);
$financial_formatter->setTextAttribute(NumberFormatter::DEFAULT_RULESET,
"%financial");
foreach($numbers as $number)
{
echo "{$number} as traditional:t" . $traditional_formatter-
>format($number) . "n";
echo "{$number} as financial:t" . $financial_formatter-
>format($number) . "n";
echo "----------------n";
}
//outputs:
/*
100 as traditional: 百
100 as financial: 壱百
----------------
199 as traditional: 百九十九
199 as financial: 壱百九拾九
----------------
200 as traditional: 二百
200 as financial: 弐百
----------------
201 as traditional: 二百一
201 as financial: 弐百壱
----------------
1000 as traditional: 千
1000 as financial: 壱千
----------------
1999 as traditional: 千九百九十九
1999 as financial: 壱千九百九拾九
----------------
2000 as traditional: 二千
2000 as financial: 弐千
----------------

12. 2001 as traditional: 二千一
2001 as financial: 弐千壱
----------------
*/
//We see that the different rules enable the financial spellout to write,
say, "one thousand" instead of
//the traditional "thousand". This clearly makes sense in an anti-forgery
context.
//User exercise: compare and contrast with PHPs' core localeconv()
?>
Locale::acceptFromHttp (not on presentation)
<?php
//note that this script file is UTF-8
//We can set Intl's locale based on the browser's HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE
header.
//Browser's send this header based on their "prefered language" setting.
//Only power users would tinker with this setting directly, but we can
assume
//that it is *usually* correct.
//Google sites are quite good at using this header, try changing your
//browser's prefered language setting and then visit your favourite
//Google site!
header("Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8;");
echo 'Browser's Accept-Language header: ' .
$_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE'] . '<br>';
$browser_locale =
Locale::acceptFromHttp($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE']);
echo 'Decided browser locale: ' . $browser_locale . '<br>';
Locale::setDefault($browser_locale);
echo 'Intl default locale now: ' . Locale::getDefault() . '<br>'; //a
check
$all_variants = Locale::getAllVariants(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'All variants: ';
print_r($all_variants);
echo '<br>';
$language_name = Locale::getDisplayLanguage(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'Language display name: ' . $language_name . '<br>';
$region_name = Locale::getDisplayRegion(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'Region display name: ' . $region_name . '<br>';
$script_name = Locale::getDisplayScript(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'Script display name: ' . $script_name . '<br>';

13. $variant_name = Locale::getDisplayVariant(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'Variant display name: ' . $variant_name . '<br>';
$keywords = Locale::getKeywords(Locale::getDefault());
echo 'Keywords: ';
print_r($keywords);
echo '<br>';
?>