User:SPQRobin/Page language

As part of Extension:Translate/Usability improvements 2014.


 * PCL = page content language

What
Backend basics:
 * Assumption 1: PCL should be defined in the database.
 * Assumption 2: PCL is a property of a page, not of a specific revision.
 * The value is obviously a language code.

Other backend:
 * How to handle the default value? Should we include a selector option "Use default language", which would be what getPageLanguage returns normally?
 * How does it interact with other PCL definitions, especially the hook (by which extensions, like Translate, can alter the PCL. Do they need to be able to disable setting the PCL through the selector?
 * A way to define the PCL as the user language ($wgLang)? E.g. value "user" in DB, instead of a language code.

Maybe a selector with options
 * Use default page content language
 * Use user interface language
 * (languages...)

Implementation
I have a basic idea currently:
 * Having a SQL entry for a page. I think it should be possible to change it in a particular revision.
 * The language if not set should be the default wiki language.
 * There should be an API method also for getting the page language.

Edge cases/doubts:
 * What to do if the page is a /fr subpage and user sets it as "de" language?
 * What to do if a PCL was already set e.g. by an extension like Translate?

GUI

 * Setting the value by using something similar to the Universal Language Selector. --User:Kunalgrover05

Progress

 * Discarded the idea of page_props- Aim is to build a system which is a fundamental property of the page similar to ID.
 * Understood the working of databases in core.
 * Set up a new field in the database in the pages table. Working only with MySQL currently.
 * Made a function to update the value of the page language for all the existing Wiki pages(which is currently set as the default wiki language) in the table.
 * Added code for getting the page language using API

Git repo
https://github.com/kunalgrover05/Mediawiki-pagelang

Further tasks

 * Build an interface to enter language while creating a page and store in database.
 * Trying to integrate the interface with Universal Language selector.
 * Add the same functions to Postgres|SQLite|Mssql|Oracle