Prepare a sandbox folder
export ICU_SANDBOX=~/hello_icu_mf2
mkdir $ICU_SANDBOX
cd $ICU_SANDBOX
Build ICU4C (you only need to do this once)
git clone https://github.com/unicode-org/icu.git
pushd icu/icu4c/source
# Run this and choose the platform and toolchain you prefer
./runConfigureICU --help
# if macOS
./runConfigureICU macOS/gcc
# else if Linux (gcc is just an example, there are 5 Linux options)
./runConfigureICU Linux/gcc
# end
export DESTDIR=$ICU_SANDBOX/icu_release
make -j8 releaseDist
popd
Create a minimal C++ file here (we are in the $ICU_SANDBOX folder) called hello_mf2.cpp (click to view and/or download). The contents are reproduced below.
// hello_mf2.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "unicode/utypes.h"
#include "unicode/calendar.h"
#include "unicode/errorcode.h"
#include "unicode/locid.h"
#include "unicode/messageformat2.h"
using namespace icu;
int main() {
ErrorCode errorCode;
UParseError parseError;
icu::Calendar* cal(Calendar::createInstance(errorCode));
cal->set(2025, Calendar::JANUARY, 28);
UDate date = cal->getTime(errorCode);
message2::MessageFormatter::Builder builder(errorCode);
message2::MessageFormatter mf = builder
.setPattern("Hello {$user}, today is {$now :date style=long}!", parseError, errorCode)
.setLocale(Locale("en_US"))
.build(errorCode);
std::map<UnicodeString, message2::Formattable> argsBuilder;
argsBuilder["user"] = message2::Formattable("John");
argsBuilder["now"] = message2::Formattable::forDate(date);
message2::MessageArguments arguments(argsBuilder, errorCode);
icu::UnicodeString result = mf.formatToString(arguments, errorCode);
std::string strResult;
result.toUTF8String(strResult);
std::cout << strResult << std::endl;
}
Build your application and run it
g++ hello_mf2.cpp -I$DESTDIR/usr/local/include -std=c++17 -L$DESTDIR/usr/local/lib -licuuc -licudata -licui18n
# if macOS
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=$DESTDIR/usr/local/lib ./a.out
# else if Linux
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$DESTDIR/usr/local/lib ./a.out
# end
This will output
Hello John, today is January 28, 2025!
These instructions will use a release version of ICU4C (tested with 76.1) and a “Hello ICU world” project already created. They provide minimal effort that only requires downloading and opening in Visual Studio before using.
Note: the MessageFormat 2 implementation in a previously release version may be behind the spec in the first few releases of ICU after the MF2.0 spec was declared 1.0 in CLDR 46.1, which occurred between ICU 76 and ICU 77. The difference between latest MF2.0 and the spec version supported in ICU may be minimal.
Download the “Hello ICU / MF2 World” project HelloMF2.zip.
Unzip the files you just downloaded and merge the content of the two ICU folders. The “hello world” project to be a sibling to the icu folder.
The folder tree structure should look like this
someFolderOfYourChoice\
+- HelloMF2\
| \- HelloMF2\
\- icu\
\- icu4c\
+- bin\
+- bin64\
+- include\
| \- unicode\
+- lib\
\- lib64\
HelloMF2.sln solution in Visual Studio and you are ready to go.Start the Visual Studio “x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 20xx”
Prepare a sandbox folder
set ICU_SANDBOX=%USERPROFILE%\hello_icu_mf2
md %ICU_SANDBOX%
cd %ICU_SANDBOX%
Build ICU4C (you only need to do this once):
git clone https://github.com/unicode-org/icu.git
cd icu\icu4c
msbuild source/allinone/allinone.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=x64 /p:SkipUWP=true
cd ..\..
set DESTDIR=%ICU_SANDBOX%\icu_release
rd /q/s %DESTDIR%
md %DESTDIR%
xcopy icu\icu4c\include %DESTDIR%\include /E /V /I /Q /Y
xcopy icu\icu4c\bin64 %DESTDIR%\bin64 /E /V /I /Q /Y
xcopy icu\icu4c\lib64 %DESTDIR%\lib64 /E /V /I /Q /Y
Create a minimal C++ file here (we are in the $ICU_SANDBOX folder). Call it hello_mf2.cpp. The link to download and the contents are listed above (see the Linux section).
Build your application and run it
set DESTDIR=%ICU_SANDBOX%\icu_release
cl /std:c++17 /EHsc /I %DESTDIR%\include %DESTDIR%/lib64/*.lib hello_mf2.cpp
rem set PATH only once, not every time
set PATH=%DESTDIR%\bin64;%PATH%
.\hello_mf2.exe
This will output
Hello John, today is January 28, 2025!
Prepare a sandbox folder. Call it hello_icu_mf2.
Build ICU4C (you only need to do this once)
Clone the ICU repository from https://github.com/unicode-org/icu to the hello_icu_mf2 folder. We will end up with the folder hello_icu_mf2\icu.
allinone.sln solution from the hello_icu_mf2\icu\icu4c\source\allinone folder.Create a minimal C++ project in the hello_icu_mf2 folder. Call it hello_mf2.
C++, Windows, Console)hello_icu_mf2 folder. \hello_icu_mf2\HelloMF2 folder.Create a macro pointing to the ICU folder with the files we built.
IcuPropertySheet.props and click “Add”IcuPropertySheet in any of the “leafs” of the tree on the left. For example in HelloMF2 / Release | 64 / IcuPropertySheetIcuDistro and set the “Value” to the ..\icu\icu4c folder. If the test project we created is not in hello_icu_mf2, next to icu, then you can use a full path to the ICU folder where you just did a built. You can also point it to one you downloaded (from the GitHub releases, see above).Configure the project
HelloMF2 in the left-side tree$(IcuDistro)\include;%(AdditionalIncludeDirectories)ISO C++17 Standard (/std:c++17)icudt.lib;icuin.lib;icuuc.lib;$(CoreLibraryDependencies);%(AdditionalDependencies)$(IcuDistro)/lib64;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)PATH=$(IcuDistro)/bin64;%PATH%64 in two of the settings:
$(IcuDistro)/lib;%(AdditionalLibraryDirectories)PATH=$(IcuDistro)/bin;%PATH%Update the default source file to use some ICU functionality
HelloMF2.cpphello_mf2.cpp file (see earlier in this page for download link) and save it as HelloMF2.cpp, thereby replacing it.At this point you should be able to build and run the application, debug it, etc.
When run, it will output
Hello John, today is January 28, 2025!
We will assume that if you are interested in testing a pre-release Java library you already have (or know how to install) a JDK, Apache Maven, git, know how to create a project in your favorite IDE, and so on.
What you needCreate a new Maven project
mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=com.mycompany.app -DartifactId=hello_icu_mf2 -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart -DarchetypeVersion=1.5 -DinteractiveMode=false
cd hello_icu_mf2
Modify the pom.xml file
<maven.compiler.release> property to whatever Java version you are using.
# Example on how to set the Java version to 11
mvn versions:set-property -Dproperty=maven.compiler.release -DnewVersion=11
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.ibm.icu</groupId>
<artifactId>icu4j</artifactId>
<version>77.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>
Warning: make sure it is done in dependencies, not in dependencyManagement / dependencies
Edit the src/test/java/com/mycompany/app/AppTest.java file
@Test
public void testMessageFormat2() {
MessageFormatter mf2 = MessageFormatter.builder()
.setLocale(Locale.US)
.setPattern("Hello {$user}, today is {$now :date style=long}!")
.build();
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
cal.set(2025, 0, 28);
Map<String, Object> arguments = new HashMap<>();
arguments.put("user", "John");
arguments.put("now", cal);
System.out.println(mf2.formatToString(arguments));
}
Add imports
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Locale;
import java.util.Map;
import com.ibm.icu.util.Calendar;
import com.ibm.icu.message2.MessageFormatter;
Now run the tests
This will output the following in the tests’ console output
Hello John, today is January 28, 2025!
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