MITS Language Files Define Fixer for modified eCommerce Shopsoftware

MITS Language Files Define Fixer gives you a powerful tool for keeping language files in your modified eCommerce Shopsoftware clean, stable and easy to maintain over the long term.

A familiar problem often occurs, particularly in customised shops or when many modules are used: language constants are defined more than once. This causes unnecessary PHP notices and warnings in the frontend, backend and especially in log files.

The problem with repeatedly defined language constants

modified eCommerce allows and encourages the use of custom language files, for example through the auto_include() mechanism. Custom files are often stored in directories such as lang/german/extra/ or lang/english/extra/.

In practice, however, this means:

• Standard language files already define many constants
• Modules include their own language files
• Custom modifications define the same constants again

PHP responds with messages such as:

Warning: Constant XYZ already defined

These messages primarily generate large numbers of unnecessary log entries, a real problem in busy shops or those that have been running for a long time.

The solution: safe define() shorthand

MITS Language Files Define Fixer addresses precisely this issue. The module recursively searches all language files in the language directory and automatically converts conventional define() statements into safe shorthand syntax:

defined('KONSTANTE') || define('KONSTANTE', 'Text');

A language constant is therefore defined only if it does not already exist. Duplicate definitions are reliably prevented.

New: compare language folders & fill in missing translations

In addition to the classic defined() fix, the module now supports comparing and completing language files across all existing language folders. Particularly in shops with many languages, individual languages can quickly become incomplete after updates, module installations or customisations: entire files may be missing, or individual language constants may appear only in german or english.

The module can therefore automatically check all language folders except german and english and compare them with a selectable reference language:

• Reference language: german or english (selectable)
• Compare each language file with the corresponding file in the reference language
• Detect missing language constants
• Structured results showing: language, file, missing constants

Optional: automatically add missing constants

If desired, the module can fix detected gaps directly as well as report them: missing constants are copied from the reference language and always created safely, without overwriting existing content.

defined('CONSTANT_NAME') || define('CONSTANT_NAME', 'Wert');

• Missing entries are added
• Existing constants remain unchanged
• Existing files remain unchanged

Optional: automatically create entirely missing language files

If a language file is entirely missing from a target language, the module can also handle this automatically: the complete file is copied from the reference language, then the defined() guard fix is applied automatically. This behaviour is optional and can be enabled or disabled as needed.

Correct handling of language-dependent filenames

Many language folders contain language-dependent main files named after the respective language, for example:

• lang/german/german.php
• lang/german/admin/german.php

This is precisely where manual maintenance or simple copy scripts often cause errors: files with incorrect names are copied into other language folders (e.g. german.php into lang/french/). MITS Language Files Define Fixer handles this special case correctly:

• If, for example, lang/french/french.php is missing, content is copied from lang/german/german.php (or english.php)
• The target file is correctly created as french.php
• The same applies to admin/french.php, etc.

This reliably prevents files with incorrect names from ending up in other language folders.

Results overview / dry run

The module can either:

• Only display an overview of the problems found (dry run)
• Or automatically make corrections

The results list includes:

• Missing files
• Newly created files
• Added language constants

Your benefits at a glance

• Prevents duplicate definitions of language constants
• Reduces PHP notices and warnings over the long term
• Prevents unnecessary log spam
• Automatically adds missing language constants (optional)
• Detects and copies missing language files (optional)
• Correct handling of language-specific filenames
• Keeps language folders clean and complete
• Ideal for shops with many modules and auto_include()
• One-time execution, no ongoing system load

Practical everyday example

You run a modified shop with several extensions and custom language files. After updates or module installations, warnings suddenly accumulate in the log files even though the shop still appears to work normally.

With MITS Language Files Define Fixer, you can check and adjust the entire language folder with one click. All affected files are automatically safeguarded, cleanly, quickly and transparently.

Language comparison also ensures that additional languages remain complete: missing constants and even entirely missing files are detected and, if desired, added automatically without overwriting existing translations.

Especially with frequent updates or customisations, this saves considerable time and avoids unnecessary sources of errors over the long term.

Important notice

The module makes direct changes to language files. You should therefore always back up your language folder before running it.

Use of the module is at your own risk. Manually checking individual files is generally unnecessary, but is always possible and recommended.

Conclusion

MITS Language Files Define Fixer is an essential tool if you work with custom language files or use many modules. It provides order, stability and clean log files without any changes to the core.

New features include language folder checking and comparison with a reference language, plus optional automatic completion of missing constants and files, including correct handling of language-dependent filenames.

Another completely free module from MerZ IT-SerVice, developed from practical experience for practical use.