This section provides a tutorial example on how to use java.util.Locale class to verify the default locale and list all supported locales. A locale is an identification of a combination of human language and country.
Internationalization: A process that tailors information for the user
based on his/her specific geographical, political, or cultural preference.
For example, each time when I insert my Fleet Bank client card into a Fleet Bank
ATM machine, it will greet me and display instructions in Chinese. This process
of check my language preference setting and tailoring the display information
my preferred language is called internationalization.
The Locale class, java.util.Locale, is class presenting a specific geographical,
political, or cultural region, where information is displayed in a way different than
other regions. For example, French speaking areas in Canada is a locale, and English
speaking areas in Canada is another locale.
Major methods offered on Locale class:
getDefault(): Returns the default locale of the JVM.
getLanguage(): Returns the language code of this locale. Language codes are the
lower-case two-letter codes as defined by ISO-639.
getCountry(): Returns the country code of this locale. Country codes are the
upper-case two-letter codes as defined by ISO-3166.
Locale(l,c): Constructs a new locale with a given language and a given country.
The following program shows some interesting features of the Locale class:
/**
* LocaleTest.java
* Copyright (c) 2002 by Dr. Herong Yang
*/
import java.util.*;
class LocaleTest {
public static void main(String[] a) {
// get the default locale
Locale l = Locale.getDefault();
System.out.println(" Language, Country, Variant, Name");
System.out.println("");
System.out.println("Default locale: ");
System.out.println(" "+l.getLanguage()+", "+l.getCountry()+", "
+", "+l.getVariant()+", "+l.getDisplayName());
// get a predefined locale
l = Locale.CANADA_FRENCH;
System.out.println("A predefined locale - Locale.CANADA_FRENCH:");
System.out.println(" "+l.getLanguage()+", "+l.getCountry()+", "
+", "+l.getVariant()+", "+l.getDisplayName());
// define a new locale
l = new Locale("en", "CN");
System.out.println("User defined locale -Locale(\"en\",\"CN\"):");
System.out.println(" "+l.getLanguage()+", "+l.getCountry()+", "
+", "+l.getVariant()+", "+l.getDisplayName());
// define another new locale
l = new Locale("ll", "CC");
System.out.println("User defined locale -Locale(\"ll\",\"CC\"):");
System.out.println(" "+l.getLanguage()+", "+l.getCountry()+", "
+", "+l.getVariant()+", "+l.getDisplayName());
// get the supported locales
Locale[] s = Locale.getAvailableLocales();
System.out.println("Supported locales: ");
for (int i=0; i<s.length; i++) {
System.out.println(" "+s[i].getLanguage()+", "
+s[i].getCountry()+", "+s[i].getVariant()+", "
+s[i].getDisplayName());
}
}
}
Output:
Language, Country, Variant, Name
Default locale:
en, US, , , English (United States)
A predefined locale - Locale.CANADA_FRENCH:
fr, CA, , , French (Canada)
User defined locale - Locale("en","CN"):
en, CN, , , English (China)
User defined locale - Locale("ll","CC"):
ll, CC, , , ll (CC)
Supported locales:
ar, , , Arabic
ar, AE, , Arabic (United Arab Emirates)
ar, BH, , Arabic (Bahrain)
ar, DZ, , Arabic (Algeria)
ar, EG, , Arabic (Egypt)
ar, IQ, , Arabic (Iraq)
ar, JO, , Arabic (Jordan)
ar, KW, , Arabic (Kuwait)
ar, LB, , Arabic (Lebanon)
ar, LY, , Arabic (Libya)
ar, MA, , Arabic (Morocco)
ar, OM, , Arabic (Oman)
ar, QA, , Arabic (Qatar)
ar, SA, , Arabic (Saudi Arabia)
ar, SD, , Arabic (Sudan)
ar, SY, , Arabic (Syria)
ar, TN, , Arabic (Tunisia)
ar, YE, , Arabic (Yemen)
be, , , Byelorussian
be, BY, , Byelorussian (Belarus)
bg, , , Bulgarian
bg, BG, , Bulgarian (Bulgaria)
ca, , , Catalan
ca, ES, , Catalan (Spain)
cs, , , Czech
cs, CZ, , Czech (Czech Republic)
da, , , Danish
da, DK, , Danish (Denmark)
de, , , German
de, AT, , German (Austria)
de, CH, , German (Switzerland)
de, DE, , German (Germany)
de, LU, , German (Luxembourg)
el, , , Greek
el, GR, , Greek (Greece)
en, AU, , English (Australia)
en, CA, , English (Canada)
en, GB, , English (United Kingdom)
en, IE, , English (Ireland)
en, IN, , English (India)
en, NZ, , English (New Zealand)
en, ZA, , English (South Africa)
es, , , Spanish
es, AR, , Spanish (Argentina)
es, BO, , Spanish (Bolivia)
es, CL, , Spanish (Chile)
es, CO, , Spanish (Colombia)
es, CR, , Spanish (Costa Rica)
es, DO, , Spanish (Dominican Republic)
es, EC, , Spanish (Ecuador)
es, ES, , Spanish (Spain)
es, GT, , Spanish (Guatemala)
es, HN, , Spanish (Honduras)
es, MX, , Spanish (Mexico)
es, NI, , Spanish (Nicaragua)
es, PA, , Spanish (Panama)
es, PE, , Spanish (Peru)
es, PR, , Spanish (Puerto Rico)
es, PY, , Spanish (Paraguay)
es, SV, , Spanish (El Salvador)
es, UY, , Spanish (Uruguay)
es, VE, , Spanish (Venezuela)
et, , , Estonian
et, EE, , Estonian (Estonia)
fi, , , Finnish
fi, FI, , Finnish (Finland)
fr, , , French
fr, BE, , French (Belgium)
fr, CA, , French (Canada)
fr, CH, , French (Switzerland)
fr, FR, , French (France)
fr, LU, , French (Luxembourg)
hi, IN, , Hindi (India)
hr, , , Croatian
hr, HR, , Croatian (Croatia)
hu, , , Hungarian
hu, HU, , Hungarian (Hungary)
is, , , Icelandic
is, IS, , Icelandic (Iceland)
it, , , Italian
it, CH, , Italian (Switzerland)
it, IT, , Italian (Italy)
iw, , , Hebrew
iw, IL, , Hebrew (Israel)
ja, , , Japanese
ja, JP, , Japanese (Japan)
ko, , , Korean
ko, KR, , Korean (South Korea)
lt, , , Lithuanian
lt, LT, , Lithuanian (Lithuania)
lv, , , Latvian (Lettish)
lv, LV, , Latvian (Lettish) (Latvia)
mk, , , Macedonian
mk, MK, , Macedonian (Macedonia)
nl, , , Dutch
nl, BE, , Dutch (Belgium)
nl, NL, , Dutch (Netherlands)
no, , , Norwegian
no, NO, , Norwegian (Norway)
no, NO, NY, Norwegian (Norway,Nynorsk)
pl, , , Polish
pl, PL, , Polish (Poland)
pt, , , Portuguese
pt, BR, , Portuguese (Brazil)
pt, PT, , Portuguese (Portugal)
ro, , , Romanian
ro, RO, , Romanian (Romania)
ru, , , Russian
ru, RU, , Russian (Russia)
sh, , , Serbo-Croatian
sh, YU, , Serbo-Croatian (Yugoslavia)
sk, , , Slovak
sk, SK, , Slovak (Slovakia)
sl, , , Slovenian
sl, SI, , Slovenian (Slovenia)
sq, , , Albanian
sq, AL, , Albanian (Albania)
sr, , , Serbian
sr, YU, , Serbian (Yugoslavia)
sv, , , Swedish
sv, SE, , Swedish (Sweden)
th, , , Thai
th, TH, , Thai (Thailand)
th, TH, TH, Thai (Thailand,TH)
tr, , , Turkish
tr, TR, , Turkish (Turkey)
uk, , , Ukrainian
uk, UA, , Ukrainian (Ukraine)
zh, , , Chinese
zh, CN, , Chinese (China)
zh, HK, , Chinese (Hong Kong)
zh, TW, , Chinese (Taiwan)
en, , , English
en, US, , English (United States)
Sorry about the length of the output. But it might be useful as a reference source.
The output shows that I can make up a new locale with any combination of language
and country, like "en, CN, , , English (China)", or "ll, CC, , , ll (CC)".
