Localization

This article describes localization (translation) of applications into different languages. Please study this material carefully before attempting to contribute.

Products which currently support this new method for localization are:

• ReNamer
• (more will be added soon)

Note: Previous versions of localization articles are available for reference, but they should no longer be used: Localization Old 2013, Localization Old 2014.

Translation files

Translations are stored in PO files (as produced by gettext) are are distributed together with the application, inside Languages folder:

• Languages\Application.po – Template file.
• Languages\Application.ru.po – Russian (RU) translation file.
• Languages\Application.es.po – Spanish (ES) translation file.
• Languages\Application.fr.po – French (FR) translation file.
• ...

Template file (Application.po) is used for creating translations for new languages and normally should not be edited.

Translation files (Application.XX.po) contain translated text. A two-letter language codes in the file extension identifies a particular language.

• All possible language codes are defined in ISO 639-1 (not the same as two-letter country codes in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2).

To create a translation file for a new language:

1. Create a copy of Application.po (template file)
2. Rename it to Application.XX.po (translation file), where XX is a two-letter language code.
3. Edit new translation file using instructions below.

Editing translation file

The process involves translation of individual textual messages to create a mapping from original text to a different language.

Translation files (*.po) should be edited with specifically designed translation tools:

• Poedit – Editor for Windows, Linux and Mac.
• Virtaal – Editor for Windows, Linux and Mac.
• Better PO Editor - Editor for Windows only.

Notes for advanced users:

• Translation files could also be edited manually using a text editor, but this is highly discouraged as tiny mistakes can result in corruption of the entire file.
• Poedit forcefully wraps long entries causing "noise" in diffs, so PO files need to be cleaned via msgcat --no-wrap before committing. [1].

Guidelines for translators

Guidelines for translators:

• Try not the exceed the length of the translated text, comparing to the length of the original text.

  Some components may not fit longer text, so it is better to make it shorter rather than longer.

• Beware of the special formatting, symbols and placeholders, e.g. "\n", "%s", "%d".

  Make sure to maintain such formatting, translate only actual words.

• If you don't have a good translation for some text, just leave those blank.

  Other people may be able to fill in the blanks later.

Attribution to the translator:

• Replace "#Translator#" value with your name and it will be displayed in the About dialog of the translated application.
• If you are updating an existing translation, please keep the name of original author and append your name if you wish (comma separated).

Loading specific language

Application automatically tries to recognize system language on launch and loads appropriate translation file.

To load a specific language (translation) file, either:

• Add "--lang XX" command line parameters to the application, where XX is a two-letter language code.
• Set "LANG" environmental variable to a two-letter language code.

Publishing your translation

Please send new and updated translation files via email, as attachments.

The email address can be found in the About dialog of every application.