Globalization in JavaScript (ES5) TimePicker control

06 Jun 2023 / 5 minutes to read

Globalization is the combination of internalization and localization. You can adapt the component to various languages by parsing and formatting the date or number internationalization, and also add culture specific customization and translation to the text localization.

By default, the time format and meridian names are specific to the American 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. It provides the loadCldr method to load culture specific CLDR JSON data. To use a different culture other than English, follow the steps below:

Install the CLDR-Data package by using the following command (installs all 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, you can find the culture specific JSON data under the location /node_modules/cldr-data.

Import the installed CLDR JSON data into the app.ts file. To import JSON data, install the JSON plugin loader. Here, The systemJS JSON plugin loader is used.

npm install systemjs-plugin-json --save-dev

After installation, 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-splitbuttons": "syncfusion:ej2-splitbuttons/dist/ej2-splitbuttons.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-buttons": "syncfusion:ej2-buttons/dist/ej2-buttons.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-lists": "syncfusion:ej2-lists/dist/ej2-lists.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-navigations": "syncfusion:ej2-navigations/dist/ej2-navigations.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-popups": "syncfusion:ej2-popups/dist/ej2-popups.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-charts": "syncfusion:ej2-charts/dist/ej2-charts.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-calendars": "syncfusion:ej2-calendars/dist/ej2-calendars.umd.min.js",
    "@syncfusion/ej2-grids": "syncfusion:ej2-grids/dist/ej2-grids.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');

Use the loadCldr method to load the culture specific CLDR JSON data from the installed location to app.ts file.
TimePicker displayed Sunday as the first day of week based on default culture (“en-US”). If you want to display the TimePicker with loaded culture’s first day of week, you need to import weekdata.json file from the cldr-data/suppemental as given in the code example.

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

declare var require: any;

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

Before changing to a culture other than English, ensure that the locale text for the concerned culture is loaded through L10n.load method.

//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': {
    'timepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie Zeit' }
}
});

Set the culture by using the locale property. In the following code example, the TimePicker component is initialized in German culture with corresponding localized text.

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

//enable ripple style
enableRipple(true);

declare var require: any;

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

//load the locale object to set the localized placeholder value
L10n.load({
'de': {
    'timepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie Zeit' }
}
});

// creates the timepicker with German culture.
let timeObject: TimePicker = new TimePicker({
locale:'de',
value: new Date()
});
timeObject.appendTo('#element');

The following example demonstrates the TimePicker in German culture.

Source

Preview

index.js

index.html

ej.base.enableRipple(true);
  
  var L10n = ej.base.L10n;
  
L10n.load({
    'de': {
        'timepicker': { placeholder: 'Wählen Sie Zeit' }
    }
});

     loadCultureFiles('de');
       var timepicker = new ej.calendars.TimePicker({
       locale: 'de'
    });
    timepicker.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 TimePicker 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">
    <!--style reference from the TimePicker component-->
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

<body>
    
    <div id="container">
        <input id="element" type="text">
    </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 TimePicker supports RTL (right-to-left) functionality for languages like Arabic and Hebrew to displays the text in the right-to-left direction. Use enableRtl property to set the RTL direction.

The code example demonstrates the TimePicker component in Arabic culture. It also explains how to set localized text to the placeholder using L10n.load method.

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

//enable ripple style
enableRipple(true);

declare var require: any;

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

//load the locale object to set the localized placeholder value
L10n.load({
'ar': {
   'timepicker': { placeholder: 'حدد الوقت' }
}
});

// creates the timepicker with Arabic culture.
let timeObject: TimePicker = new TimePicker({
//sets the locale
locale: 'ar',
value: new Date(),
//sets the enableRtl
enableRtl: true
});
timeObject.appendTo('#element');

The following example demonstrates TimePicker in Arabic culture with right-to-left direction.

Source

Preview

index.js

index.html

ej.base.enableRipple(true);        
     loadCultureFiles('ar');
     var L10n=ej.base.L10n;
   
     L10n.load({
    'ar': {
        'timepicker': { placeholder: 'حدد الوقت' }
    }
});
   var timepicker = new ej.calendars.TimePicker({
       locale: 'ar',enableRtl:true
    });
    timepicker.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 TimePicker 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">
    <!--style reference from the TimePicker component-->
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-base/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-inputs/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-popups/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-lists/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="//cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/ej2-calendars/styles/material.css" rel="stylesheet">
    <link href="style.css" rel="stylesheet">
    
    
<script src="https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/21.2.3/dist/ej2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>

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


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

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