Laravel Translatable DB

Database-backed translated Eloquent attributes, resolved by a language id instead of a locale string.

This package started as a fork of dimsav/laravel-translatable. It only reads translated attributes. It does not manage CRUD forms or translation persistence.

Compatibility

Laravel 10 support means the package requires PHP ^8.1. Laravel itself may require a higher PHP version for newer framework releases.

Installation

composer require flobbos/laravel-translatable-db:^2.0

Laravel auto-discovery registers the service provider. Publish the config only when you need to override defaults:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Flobbos\TranslatableDB\TranslatableDBServiceProvider"

Tables

Example for a translated Country model:

Schema::create('languages', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('locale')->unique();
    $table->string('name');
});

Schema::create('countries', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('code')->unique();
    $table->timestamps();
});

Schema::create('country_translations', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->foreignId('country_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
    $table->foreignId('language_id')->constrained()->cascadeOnDelete();
    $table->string('name');

    $table->unique(['country_id', 'language_id']);
});

If your default language lives on the main model table, add the translated column there and enable native fallback on the model:

public $fallbackAttributes = ['name'];

Then set:

'native_mode' => true,

Models

namespace App\Models;

use Flobbos\TranslatableDB\TranslatableDB;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Country extends Model
{
    use TranslatableDB;

    public $translatedAttributes = ['name'];
    public $fallbackAttributes = ['name'];

    protected $fillable = ['code'];
}

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class CountryTranslation extends Model
{
    public $timestamps = false;

    protected $fillable = ['language_id', 'name'];
}

By convention, Country uses CountryTranslation. Override it when needed:

public $translationModel = CountryText::class;

Usage

$country = Country::where('code', 'gr')->first();

app()->setLocale('en');
echo $country->name; // Greece

app()->setLocale('de');
echo $country->name; // Griechenland

echo $country->getAttribute('name:2'); // Explicit language id

Configuration

Important defaults:

'use_db' => true,
'language_model' => App\Models\Language::class,
'locale_key' => 'language_id',
'locale_column' => 'locale',
'use_fallback' => true,
'fallback_locale_id' => 1,
'middleware_default' => false,
'to_array_always_loads_translations' => false,

With database mode enabled, the middleware resolves app()->getLocale() through your language model and stores the matching id on the request.

With database mode disabled, configure languages directly:

'use_db' => false,
'language_array' => [
    'de' => ['name' => 'Deutsch', 'language_id' => 1],
    'en' => ['name' => 'English', 'language_id' => 2],
],

Middleware

The middleware is no longer pushed globally by default in 2.x.

Register it where translated route content needs automatic language id resolution:

use Flobbos\TranslatableDB\Middleware\LanguageIdentification;

Route::middleware(LanguageIdentification::class)->group(function () {
    // translated routes
});

If you really want the old global behavior:

'middleware_default' => true,

Polymorphic Translations

Implement PolyTrans and set the morph name:

namespace App\Models;

use Flobbos\TranslatableDB\Contracts\PolyTrans;
use Flobbos\TranslatableDB\TranslatableDB;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Country extends Model implements PolyTrans
{
    use TranslatableDB;

    public $translationModel = Translation::class;

    protected $translationForeignKey = 'translatable';
}

Testing

composer test