Globalization in EJ2 JavaScript DatePicker

4 Sep 202615 minutes to read

Globalization is the combination of adapting the component to various languages by means of parsing and formatting the date or number, known as Internationalization, and also by adding cultural specific customizations and translating the text, known as Localization.

By default, the DatePicker date format, week and month names are specific to the English culture. It utilizes the Essential® JavaScript 2 Internationalization package to parse and format the date object based on the culture by using the official UNICODE CLDR JSON data and it allows loading the culture specific CLDR JSON data by using the loadCldr method.

The DatePicker component supports only the Gregorian type of calendar. All the Essential® JS 2 components are specific to the English culture (‘en-US’). To work with a different culture other than English, follow the below steps.

  • Install the CLDR-Data package by using the below command (it installs the CLDR JSON data). To know more about CLDR-Data, refer to the
    CLDR-Data link.
npm install cldr-data --save

Once the package is installed, the culture specific JSON data can be found under the location /node_modules/cldr-data.

  • Now import the installed CLDR JSON data into the app.ts file. To import JSON data, the JSON plugin loader needs to be installed. Here, the SystemJS JSON plugin loader is used.
npm install systemjs-plugin-json --save-dev
  • Once installed, configure the system.config.js configuration settings as given below to map the systemjs-plugin-json loader.
System.config({
    paths: {
        'npm:': './node_modules/',
        'syncfusion:': 'npm:@syncfusion/'

    },
    map: {
        app: 'app',

        //Syncfusion packages mapping
        "@syncfusion/ej2-base": "syncfusion:ej2-base/dist/ej2-base.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-data": "syncfusion:ej2-data/dist/ej2-data.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-inputs": "syncfusion:ej2-inputs/dist/ej2-inputs.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-popups": "syncfusion:ej2-popups/dist/ej2-popups.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-buttons": "syncfusion:ej2-buttons/dist/ej2-buttons.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-splitbuttons": "syncfusion:ej2-splitbuttons/dist/ej2-splitbuttons.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-lists": "syncfusion:ej2-lists/dist/ej2-lists.umd.min.js",
        "@syncfusion/ej2-calendars": "syncfusion:ej2-calendars/dist/ej2-calendars.umd.min.js",
        "cldr-data": 'npm:cldr-data',
        "plugin-json": "npm:systemjs-plugin-json/json.js"
    },
    meta: {
        '*.json': { loader: 'plugin-json' }
    },
    packages: {
        'app': { main: 'app', defaultExtension: 'js' },
        'cldr-data': { main: 'index.js', defaultExtension: 'js' }
    }
});

System.import('app');

  • Now use the loadCldr method to load the culture specific CLDR JSON data from the installed location to app.ts file.

  • The DatePicker displays Sunday as the first day of the week based on the default culture (“en-US”). To display the DatePicker with the loaded culture’s first day of the week, import the weekdata.json file from cldr-data/supplemental as given in the code example.

//Load the loadCldr from ej2-base
import { loadCldr } from '@syncfusion/ej2-base';

declare var require: any;

loadCldr(
    require('cldr-data/main/de/ca-gregorian.json'),
    require('cldr-data/main/de/numbers.json'),
    require('cldr-data/main/de/timeZoneNames.json'),
    require('cldr-data/supplemental/weekdata.json') // To load the culture based first day of week
    );

The Localization library allows you to localize default text content of the DatePicker. The DatePicker component has static text for today feature that can be changed to other cultures (Arabic, Deutsch, French, etc.) by defining the locale value and translation object.

Locale keywords Text
today Name of the button to choose Today date.
placeholder Hint to describe expected value in input element.
  • Before changing the culture other than English, ensure that locale text for the concerned culture is loaded through load method of
    L10n class.
//Load the L10n from ej2-base
import { L10n } from '@syncfusion/ej2-base';

//load the locale object to set the localized placeholder value
L10n.load({
    'de': {
        'datepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie ein Datum aus',
         today:'heute'  }
    }
});
  • Set the culture by using the locale property. The below code example initializes the DatePicker component in German culture with corresponding localized text.
//Load the L10n from ej2-base
import { L10n } from '@syncfusion/ej2-base';
import { DatePicker } from '@syncfusion/ej2-calendars';

//load the locale object to set the localized placeholder value
L10n.load({
    'de': {
        'datepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie ein Datum aus',
         today:'heute' }
    }
});

let datepickerObject: DatePicker = new DatePicker({
    //sets the locale.
    locale: 'de'
});

datepickerObject.appendTo('#element');

The following example demonstrates the DatePicker in German culture.

ej.base.enableRipple(true);
  
  var L10n = ej.base.L10n;

   L10n.load({
    'de': {
        'datepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie ein Datum aus',
         today:'heute'}
    }
});

     loadCultureFiles('de');
   var datepicker = new ej.calendars.DatePicker({
       locale: 'de'
    });
    datepicker.appendTo('#element');

  function loadCultureFiles(name) {
        var files = ['ca-gregorian.json', 'numbers.json', 'timeZoneNames.json'];
        var loader = ej.base.loadCldr;
        var loadCulture = function (prop) {
            var val, ajax;
            ajax = new ej.base.Ajax('https://ej2.syncfusion.com/javascript/demos/' + 'src/common/cldr-data/main/' + name + '/' + files[prop], 'GET', false);
            ajax.onSuccess = function (value) {
                val = value;
            };
            ajax.send();
            loader(JSON.parse(val));
        };
        for (var prop = 0; prop < files.length; prop++) {
            loadCulture(prop);
        }
    }
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 DatePicker control</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <!--style reference from the DatePicker component-->
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <input id="element">
    </div>


<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>

Right-To-Left

The DatePicker supports right-to-left functionality for languages like Arabic, Hebrew to display the text in the right-to-left direction. Use the
enableRtl property to set the RTL direction.

import { DatePicker } from '@syncfusion/ej2-calendars';
//Load the L10n from ej2-base
import { L10n, loadCldr } from '@syncfusion/ej2-base';

declare var require: any;

loadCldr(
    require('cldr-data/supplemental/numberingSystems.json'),
    require('cldr-data/main/he/ca-gregorian.json'),
    require('cldr-data/main/he/numbers.json'),
    require('cldr-data/main/he/timeZoneNames.json')
);

//load the locale object to set the localized placeholder value
L10n.load({
    'he': {
            'datepicker': { placeholder: 'הזן תאריך',
            today:'היום' }
          }
    });

// creates the datepicker with Hebrew culture.
let datepickerobject: DatePicker = new DatePicker({
    //sets the locale
    locale: 'he',
    value: new Date(),
    //sets the enableRtl
    enableRtl: true
});
datepickerobject.appendTo('#element');

The below code example demonstrates the DatePicker component in Hebrew culture and also explains how to set the localized text to
the placeholder using load method of L10n class.

ej.base.enableRipple(true);        
     loadCultureFiles('he');
     var L10n=ej.base.L10n;
     L10n.load({
    'he': {
        'datepicker': {
            placeholder: 'הזן תאריך',
             today:'היום'
        }
    }
    });
   var datepicker = new ej.calendars.DatePicker({
       locale: 'he',enableRtl:true
    });
    datepicker.appendTo('#element');
 
function loadCultureFiles(name) {
        var files = ['ca-gregorian.json', 'numbers.json', 'timeZoneNames.json'];
        if (name === 'ar') {
            files.push('numberingSystems.json');
        }
        var loader = ej.base.loadCldr;
        var loadCulture = function (prop) {
            var val, ajax;
            if (name === 'ar' && prop === files.length - 1) {
                ajax = new ej.base.Ajax('https://ej2.syncfusion.com/javascript/demos/src/common/cldr-data/supplemental/' + files[prop], 'GET', false);
            } else {
                ajax = new ej.base.Ajax('https://ej2.syncfusion.com/javascript/demos/src/common/cldr-data/main/' + name + '/' + files[prop], 'GET', false);
            }
            ajax.onSuccess = function (value) {
                val = value;
            };
            ajax.send();
            loader(JSON.parse(val));
        };
        for (var prop = 0; prop < files.length; prop++) {
            loadCulture(prop);
        }
    }
<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head>
    <title>Essential JS 2 DatePicker control</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <meta name="description" content="Typescript UI Controls">
    <meta name="author" content="Syncfusion">
    <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <!--style reference from the DatePicker component-->
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-buttons/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/34.2.2/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <input id="element">
    </div>


<script>
var ele = document.getElementById('container');
if(ele) {
  ele.style.visibility = "visible";
}   
      </script>
<script src="index.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</body></html>