Vdom awareness - fixes #19

README.md

@@ -163,7 +163,24 @@ var t = translate( messages_IS, { pluralize:pluralize_IS  })
 
 Here's a large list of [pluralization algorithms by language](http://docs.translatehouse.org/projects/localization-guide/en/latest/l10n/pluralforms.html?id=l10n/pluralforms).
 
+## Working with VDOM libs
 
+If you work with VDOM-libs such as [mithril.js](http://mithril.js.org/) you
+sometimes want to include VDOM nodes into the translation. This is possible
+by using the `arr`-helper. It does not convert the translation result to a
+string but rather returns an array with all the replacements left intact.
+
+```js
+  var t = translate({
+    test: 'abc {fancyImage} def'
+  })
+
+  t.arr('test', {
+    fancyImage: m('img', { src: 'image.jpg' })
+  })
+  // results in ['abc ', { tag: 'img', ... }, ' def']
+})
+```
 
 ## Namespace-Support
 

index.js

@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
  * v0.3.0
  *
  * Usage:
- * 
+ *
  * var translate = require('translate.js')
- * 
+ *
  * var messages = {
  *  translationKey: 'translationValue'
  * }
@@ -38,11 +38,10 @@
     return obj && typeof obj === 'object'
   }
 
-  function assemble(parts, replacements, count, debug) {
-    var result = parts[0]
-    var i = 1
+  function assemble (parts, replacements, count, debug) {
+    var result = [].concat(parts)
     var len = parts.length
-    while (i < len) {
+    for (var i = 1; i < len; i += 2) {
       var part = parts[i]
       var val = replacements[part]
       if (val == null) {
@@ -53,8 +52,7 @@
           val = '{' + part + '}'
         }
       }
-      result += val + parts[i+1]
-      i += 2
+      result[i] = val
     }
     return result
   }
@@ -105,7 +103,7 @@
       return result
     }
 
-    var tFunc = function (translationKey, count, replacements) {
+    function runTranslation (joinResult, translationKey, count, replacements) {
       var translation = tFunc.keys[translationKey]
       var complex = count != null || replacements != null
 
@@ -134,9 +132,14 @@
         translation = replacePlaceholders(translation, replacements, count)
       }
 
+      if (joinResult && translation && translation.join) {
+        return translation.join('')
+      }
       return translation
     }
 
+    var tFunc = runTranslation.bind(null, true)
+    tFunc.arr = runTranslation.bind(null, false)
     tFunc.keys = messageObject || {}
     tFunc.opts = options || {}
 

test.js

@@ -258,3 +258,12 @@ describe('translate.js', function () {
     expect(t('test', { x: 'HelloWorld' })).to.equal('HelloWorld')
   })
 })
+
+describe('vdom awareness', function () {
+  it('should not kill any objects and return arrays as translations', function () {
+    var t = translate({
+      test: 'abc {xyz} def'
+    })
+    expect(t.arr('test', { xyz: { foo: 'bar' } })).to.eql(['abc ', { foo: 'bar' }, ' def'])
+  })
+})