View source for Localization

This article describes localization (translation) of applications into different languages. Please study this material carefully before attempting to contribute. List of contributors is available in the [[Translators]] article.

Products which currently support this new method of localization:
* [[ReNamer]] (since v6.0.0.1)
* [[Hasher]] (since v3.1.0.1)
* [[Colors]] (since v2.0.0.1)
* (more will be added soon)

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

== Translation files ==

Translations are stored in '''PO files''' (as produced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettext gettext]) which are distributed together with the application, inside '''Languages''' folder:
* <tt>Languages\Application.po</tt> &ndash; '''Template''' file.
* <tt>Languages\Application.ru.po</tt> &ndash; '''Russian''' (RU) translation file.
* <tt>Languages\Application.es.po</tt> &ndash; '''Spanish''' (ES) translation file.
* <tt>Languages\Application.fr.po</tt> &ndash; '''French''' (FR) translation file.
* ...

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

Translation files (<tt>Application.XX.po</tt>) contain translated text. A '''two-letter language code''' in the file extension identifies a particular language.

== Create new translations ==

To create a translation file for a new language:
# Create a copy of <tt>Application.po</tt> (template file)
# Rename it to <tt>Application.XX.po</tt> (translation file), where ''XX'' is a two-letter language code.
# Translate entries to the new langauge using instructions below.
# Populate PO file headers, copy from any other translation file and modify appropriately.

Example of relevant entries in PO file headers for a new translation file:
<pre><nowiki>
msgid ""
msgstr ""
...
"Language: ru\n"
"X-Country: ru\n"
"X-Country-Name: Russia\n"
"X-Language-Name: Russian\n"
"X-Language-Name-Native: Русский\n"
"X-Translators: Your Name\n"
...
</nowiki></pre>

* Language codes are defined in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes ISO 639-1]
* Country codes are defined in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2 ISO 3166-1 alpha-2].
* In conflicting and ambiguous situations:
*# Name the translation file using <tt>Application.XX_YY.po</tt> format, where ''XX'' is a language code and ''YY'' is a country code.
*# Set <tt>X-Language-Name</tt> header to highlight the difference between translations.
*: For example: "<tt>en_US</tt>" code for ''English (United States)'', "<tt>en_GB</tt>" code for ''English (United Kingdom)''.

== 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:
* [http://poedit.net/ Poedit] &ndash; Editor for Windows, Linux and Mac. (''Recommended'')
* [http://virtaal.translatehouse.org/ Virtaal] &ndash; Editor for Windows, Linux and Mac.
* [http://github.com/mlocati/betterpoeditor/releases 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.
* [http://poedit.net/ Poedit] versions prior to 1.7 forcefully wrap long entries causing "noise" in diffs, so PO files need to be cleaned via <code>msgcat --no-wrap</code> before committing. [http://github.com/vslavik/poedit/issues/94].

== Guidelines for translators ==

Guidelines for translators:
* Use the most up-to-date language files from the latest development version (Beta versions).
* 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:
* Add your name to "<tt>X-Translators:</tt>" field in PO file headers.
* Please keep names of other translators (separate multiple names with a comma).

== Loading specific language == 

All available language files are automatically added to the "Languages" menu on startup. Select a desired language and restart the application.

When selected language is set to "''Autodetect''" mode:
* Application automatically tries to recognize system language and loads appropriate translation file.
* It is also possible to load a specific language file, by either:
*# Adding "<tt>--lang XX</tt>" command line parameters to the application, where ''XX'' is a two-letter language code.
*# Setting "<tt>LANG</tt>" 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.

[[Category:Localization]]