Repository navigation
POT and PO usage for translations? #31
Description
I am new to Racket... I would like to translate it to my own language - Slovak. I've started the translating by copying english english-string-constants.rkt to slovak-string-constants.rkt. I've updated files, but during the translation process I've missed out ", and I had to resolve bug to make my translation work again.
So I've found myself wondering how are changes handled? New strings, removed strings? How is the translation decoupled from the code?
In my professional experience on international projects we had very nice process for i18n by using gettext POT and PO files (more here):
- Developer specified strings in file like
english-string-constants.rkt. Developer removed/add strings as needed in application. - A tool extracted these strings to POT file.
- POT (and language PO file if it already existed) was provided to translators
- Translators used tool of their choice (there are plenty of them e.g. poedit) to translate strings. By opening PO file, specifying the POT (template) file, they were able to see, old-unused translations or newly added translations.
- After translation was done, updated PO files were transformed with some sort of script back to files like:
slovak-string-constants.rkt
Because I like Racket and stuff around it, and I like to learn by doing, I would like to contribute to DrRacket project (string-constants) not only by translating, but by creating such a tool which would simplify translation and proofreading for non developers (including maintenance of new strings and removing non-used ones).
What do you think? Do you think it will improve project somehow?
Activity
rfindler commentedon Nov 23, 2018
As a general rule, we never change any string constants to avoid trouble with translators missing that they changed. We rename and delete old ones, and that gets noticed by setting the
PLTSTRINGCONSTANTSenvironment variable and starting up DrRacket (although I see there is a lot to tend to in that output currently, so maybe it isn't being used).One thing that'll be different in the Racket world from others is that the files like
english-string-constants.rktare actually programs, written in a custom language, and you can open them in DrRacket. In addition to helping with things like mismatched quotes (and spelling errors if you turn that on in the bottom of the "Edit" menu), it is not difficult to add more support to the language to help you do your work. And if you want to take this as a racket-learning experience that's definitely the way to approach the problem. This CACM article is a place to start to read about the philosophy behind this paragraph.That said, reusing the support that others have built for things like PO/POT files does sound wise!
alshopov commentedon Nov 23, 2018
rfindler commentedon Nov 23, 2018
Sorry if I misunderstood your earlier comments! I don't know anything about po but plural (and word order when we want to drop a number or something computed into a string) is something that we struggle with for sure.
martinjirku commentedon Nov 23, 2018
@rfindler I will look at it closer. Thank you very much for directions...
@alshopov Yeah, pluralization is not easy to do it right.
Currently I am using ICU message syntax, which is industry standards with support of all CLDR languages in JavaScript/C++. It's nicely done, we are able to do pluralization for all language our app supports. It would be nice to have in racket...