Intl.Locale.prototype.maximize()

The Intl.Locale.prototype.maximize() method gets the most likely values for the language, script, and region of the locale based on existing values.

Syntax

locale.maximize()

Return value

A Locale instance whose baseName property returns the result of the Add Likely Subtags algorithm executed against locale.baseName.

Description

Sometimes, it is convenient to be able to identify the most likely locale language identifier subtags based on an incomplete langauage ID. The Add Likely Subtags algorithm gives us this functionality. For instance, given the language ID "en", the algorithm would return "en-Latn-US", since English can only be written in the Latin script, and is most likely to be used in the United States, as it is the largest English-speaking country in the world. This functionality is provided to JavaScript programmers via the maximize() method. maximize() only affects the main subtags that comprise the language identifier: language, script, and region subtags. Other subtags after the "-u" in the locale indentifier are called extension subtags and are not affected by the maximize() method. Examples of these subtags include Locale.hourCycle, Locale.calendar, and Locale.numeric.

Examples

Using maximize

let myLocale = new Intl.Locale("fr", {hourCycle: "h24", calendar: "gregory"});
console.log(myLocale.baseName); // Prints "fr"
console.log(myLocale.toString()); // Prints "fr-u-ca-gregory-hc-h24"
let myLocMaximized = myLocale.maximize();

// Prints "fr-Latn-FR". The "Latn" and "FR" tags are added,
// since French is only written in the Latin script and is most likely to be spoken in France.
console.log(myLocMaximized.baseName);

// Prints "fr-Latn-FR-u-ca-gregory-hc-h24".
// Note that the extension tags (after "-u") remain unchanged.
console.log(myLocMaximized.toString()); 

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Internationalization API (ECMA-402)

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobileServer
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung InternetNode.js
maximizeChrome Full support 74Edge Full support 79Firefox Full support 75IE No support NoOpera Full support 62Safari Full support 14
Notes
Full support 14
Notes
Notes Safari 14 Technology Preview 107-111 returns a string instead of a Locale object.
WebView Android Full support 74Chrome Android Full support 74Firefox Android No support NoOpera Android Full support 53Safari iOS Full support 14
Notes
Full support 14
Notes
Notes Safari 14 Technology Preview 107-111 returns a string instead of a Locale object.
Samsung Internet Android Full support 11.0nodejs Full support 12.0.0
Notes
Full support 12.0.0
Notes
Notes Before version 13.0.0, only the locale data for en-US is available by default. See the Locale() constructor for more details.

Legend

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also