# gt-react: General Translation React SDK: Shared Strings
URL: https://generaltranslation.com/en-US/docs/react/guides/shared-strings.mdx
---
title: Shared Strings
description: How to internationalize strings used across multiple components and files
---
{/* AUTO-GENERATED: Do not edit directly. Edit the template in content/docs-templates/ instead. */}


Shared strings are text values used in multiple places throughout your application - like navigation labels, form messages, or configuration data. Instead of duplicating translation logic everywhere, use [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) to mark strings for translation and [`useMessages`](/docs/react/api/strings/use-messages) to decode them.

## The problem with shared content

Consider this navigation configuration used across your app:

```tsx
// navData.ts
export const navData = [
  {
    label: 'Home',
    description: 'The home page',
    href: '/'
  },
  {
    label: 'About', 
    description: 'Information about the company',
    href: '/about'
  }
];
```

To internationalize this, you'd typically need to:
1. Convert it to a function that accepts a translation function
2. Update every usage to call the function with `t`
3. Manage the complexity across your codebase

This creates maintenance overhead and makes your code harder to read. The [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) function solves this by letting you mark strings for translation in-place, then decode them when needed.

## Quickstart

Use [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) to mark strings and [`useMessages`](/docs/react/api/strings/use-messages) to decode them:

```tsx
// navData.ts - Mark strings for translation
import { msg } from 'gt-react';

export const navData = [
  {
    label: msg('Home'),
    description: msg('The home page'), 
    href: '/'
  },
  {
    label: msg('About'),
    description: msg('Information about the company'),
    href: '/about'
  }
];
```

```tsx
// Component usage - Decode marked strings
import { useMessages } from 'gt-react';
import { navData } from './navData';

function Navigation() {
  const m = useMessages();
  
  return (
    <nav>
      {navData.map((item) => (
        <a key={item.href} href={item.href} title={m(item.description)}>
          {m(item.label)}
        </a>
      ))}
    </nav>
  );
}
```

## How shared strings work

The shared string system works in two phases:

1. **Mark Phase**: [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) encodes strings with translation metadata
2. **Decode Phase**: [`useMessages`](/docs/react/api/strings/use-messages) decodes and translates the strings

```tsx
// msg() encodes the string with metadata
const encoded = msg('Hello, world!');
console.log(encoded); // "Hello, world!:eyIkX2hhc2giOiJkMjA3MDliZGExNjNlZmM2In0="

// useMessages() decodes and translates
const m = useMessages();
const translated = m(encoded); // "Hello, world!" in user's language
```

<Callout type="warn">
  Encoded strings from [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) cannot be used directly - they must be decoded with [`useMessages`](/docs/react/api/strings/use-messages).
</Callout>

## Components

Use [`useMessages`](/docs/react/api/strings/use-messages) hook:

```tsx
import { useMessages } from 'gt-react';

const encodedString = msg('Hello, world!');

function MyComponent() {
  const m = useMessages();
  return <div>{m(encodedString)}</div>;
}
```

## Getting original strings with decodeMsg

Sometimes you need to access the original string without translation, such as for logging, debugging, or comparisons. Use [`decodeMsg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg#decodemsg) to extract the original text:

```tsx
import { decodeMsg } from 'gt-react';

const encoded = msg('Hello, world!');
const original = decodeMsg(encoded); // "Hello, world!" (original)
const translated = m(encoded); // "Hello, world!" (in user's language)

// Useful for logging or debugging
console.log('Original string:', decodeMsg(encoded));
console.log('Translated string:', m(encoded));
```

### Use cases for decodeMsg

- **Development & Debugging**: Log original strings for troubleshooting
- **Fallback Handling**: Use original text when translations fail
- **String Comparisons**: Compare against known original values
- **Analytics**: Track original string usage

```tsx
// Example: Fallback handling
function getDisplayText(encodedStr) {
  const m = useMessages();
  try {
    return m(encodedStr);
  } catch (error) {
    console.warn('Translation failed, using original:', decodeMsg(encodedStr));
    return decodeMsg(encodedStr);
  }
}
```

## Using variables

For strings with dynamic content, use placeholders and pass variables:

```tsx
// Mark string with variables
const items = 100;
export const pricing = [
  {
    name: 'Basic',
    price: 100,
    description: msg('The basic plan includes {items} items', { items })
  }
];
```

```tsx
// Use in component
function PricingCard() {
  const m = useMessages();
  
  return (
    <div>
      <h3>{pricing[0].name}</h3>
      <p>{m(pricing[0].description)}</p>
    </div>
  );
}
```

### ICU message format
For advanced formatting, use ICU syntax:

```tsx
const count = 10;
const message = msg('There are {count, plural, =0 {no items} =1 {one item} other {{count} items}} in the cart', { count });
```

<Callout>
  Learn more about ICU Message Format in the [Unicode documentation](https://unicode-org.github.io/icu/userguide/format_parse/messages/).
</Callout>

## Examples

### Navigation configuration
```tsx
// config/navigation.ts
import { msg } from 'gt-react';

export const mainNav = [
  {
    label: msg('Home'),
    href: '/',
    icon: 'home'
  },
  {
    label: msg('Products'),
    href: '/products', 
    icon: 'package'
  },
  {
    label: msg('About Us'),
    href: '/about',
    icon: 'info'
  }
];

export const footerLinks = [
  {
    title: msg('Company'),
    links: [
      { label: msg('About'), href: '/about' },
      { label: msg('Careers'), href: '/careers' },
      { label: msg('Contact'), href: '/contact' }
    ]
  },
  {
    title: msg('Support'), 
    links: [
      { label: msg('Help Center'), href: '/help' },
      { label: msg('Documentation'), href: '/docs' },
      { label: msg('API Reference'), href: '/api' }
    ]
  }
];
```

```tsx
// components/Navigation.tsx
import { useMessages } from 'gt-react';
import { mainNav } from '../config/navigation';

function Navigation() {
  const m = useMessages();
  
  return (
    <nav>
      {mainNav.map((item) => (
        <a key={item.href} href={item.href}>
          <Icon name={item.icon} />
          {m(item.label)}
        </a>
      ))}
    </nav>
  );
}
```

### Form configuration
```tsx
// config/forms.ts
import { msg } from 'gt-react';

export const formMessages = {
  placeholders: {
    email: msg('Enter your email address'),
    password: msg('Enter your password'),
    message: msg('Type your message here...')
  },
  actions: {
    send: msg('Send Message'),
    save: msg('Save Changes'),
    cancel: msg('Cancel')
  },
  validation: {
    required: msg('This field is required'),
    email: msg('Please enter a valid email address'),
    minLength: msg('Must be at least {min} characters', { min: 8 }),
    maxLength: msg('Cannot exceed {max} characters', { max: 100 })
  },
  success: {
    saved: msg('Changes saved successfully'),
    sent: msg('Message sent successfully'),
    updated: msg('Profile updated')
  },
  errors: {
    network: msg('Network error - please try again'),
    server: msg('Server error - please contact support'),
    timeout: msg('Request timed out - please try again')
  }
};
```

```tsx
// components/ContactForm.tsx
import { useMessages } from 'gt-react';
import { formMessages } from '../config/forms';

function ContactForm() {
  const m = useMessages();
  const [errors, setErrors] = useState({});
  
  return (
    <form>
      <input 
        type="email"
        placeholder={m(formMessages.placeholders.email)}
        required
      />
      {errors.email && <span>{m(formMessages.validation.email)}</span>}
      
      <button type="submit">
        {m(formMessages.actions.send)}
      </button>
    </form>
  );
}
```

### Dynamic content generation
```tsx
// utils/productData.ts
import { msg } from 'gt-react';

function mockProducts() {
  return [
    { name: 'iPhone 15', company: 'Apple', category: 'Electronics' },
    { name: 'Galaxy S24', company: 'Samsung', category: 'Electronics' }
  ];
}

export function getProductData() {
  const products = mockProducts();
  
  return products.map(product => ({
    ...product,
    description: msg('{name} is a {category} product by {company}', {
      name: product.name,
      category: product.category,
      company: product.company
    })
  }));
}
```

```tsx
// components/ProductList.tsx
import { useMessages } from 'gt-react';
import { getProductData } from '../utils/productData';

function ProductList() {
  const m = useMessages();
  const products = getProductData();
  
  return (
    <div>
      {products.map(product => (
        <div key={product.name}>
          <h3>{product.name}</h3>
          <p>{m(product.description)}</p>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}
```

## Common issues

### Using encoded strings directly
Never use the output of [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) directly:

```tsx
// ❌ Wrong - encoded string used directly
const encoded = msg('Hello, world!');
return <div>{encoded}</div>; // Shows encoded string, not translation

// ✅ Correct - decode the string first  
const encoded = msg('Hello, world!');
const m = useMessages();
return <div>{m(encoded)}</div>; // Shows proper translation
```

### Dynamic content in msg()
Strings must be known at build time:

```tsx
// ❌ Wrong - dynamic template literal
const name = 'John';
const message = msg(`Hello, ${name}`); // Build time error

// ✅ Correct - use variables  
const name = 'John';
const message = msg('Hello, {name}', { name });
```

### Forgetting to decode
Every [`msg`](/docs/react/api/strings/msg) string needs to be decoded:

```tsx
// ❌ Missing decoding
const config = {
  title: msg('Dashboard'),
  subtitle: msg('Welcome back')
};

// Later in component - forgot to decode
return <h1>{config.title}</h1>; // Shows encoded string

// ✅ Correct - decode when using
const m = useMessages();
return <h1>{m(config.title)}</h1>; // Shows translated title
```

## Next steps

- [Dictionaries Guide](/docs/react/guides/dictionaries) - Organize translations with structured data
- [Languages Guide](/docs/react/guides/languages) - Configure supported languages
- API References:
  - [`msg` Function](/docs/react/api/strings/msg)