Difference between revisions of "Translating Gramps"

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{{languages|Translating GRAMPS}}
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{{languages|Translating Gramps}}
 +
 
 +
Tips for translators of the Gramps program.
 +
 
 +
The page [[Coding_for_translation|coding for translation]] may also be of interest to translators.
  
Tips for translators of the GRAMPS program.
 
 
[[Category:Translators/Categories]][[Category:Developers/General]]
 
[[Category:Translators/Categories]][[Category:Developers/General]]
  
Line 19: Line 22:
 
  "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n"
 
  "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n"
 
  "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
 
  "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
 +
"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\n"
  
 
* ''Project-Id-Version'' : this is the name and version of the package. Fill it in if it has not already been filled in by xgettext.  
 
* ''Project-Id-Version'' : this is the name and version of the package. Fill it in if it has not already been filled in by xgettext.  
Line 53: Line 57:
 
===Getting started===
 
===Getting started===
  
# Always save your translations in UTF-8 encoding
+
# Always save your translations in UTF-8 encoding '''without [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte-order_mark BOM]''' ([http://achilles-keep-moving.blogspot.de/2011/10/msgfmt-fatal-error-with-utf-8-with-bom.html take care with ''NotePad''])
 
# Don't overwrite the English strings, your translation should be below the original string
 
# Don't overwrite the English strings, your translation should be below the original string
 
# Take heed on special characters. You must have the same number of and types as the original string.
 
# Take heed on special characters. You must have the same number of and types as the original string.
Line 61: Line 65:
 
# If possible, try the translation before sending
 
# If possible, try the translation before sending
  
Translating GRAMPS into a new language means translating English strings used in the GRAMPS interface. To put it shortly, this amounts to
+
Translating Gramps into a new language means translating English strings used in the Gramps interface. To put it shortly, this amounts to
 
# obtaining the gramps.pot file with the strings to be translated,
 
# obtaining the gramps.pot file with the strings to be translated,
 
# translating the strings in the template, and
 
# translating the strings in the template, and
# getting the translated file uploaded into gramps SVN repository.
+
# getting the translated file uploaded into the Gramps Git repository.
Another avenue of translation is translating the documentation. This is a different and lengthy process and it is decribed in our [[Translating the manual]] page. Here we will concentrate on the interface translation only.
+
Another avenue of translation is translating the documentation. This is a different and lengthy process and it is described in our [[Translating the Gramps User manual]] page. Here we will concentrate on the interface translation only.
  
 
===Obtaining gramps.pot===
 
===Obtaining gramps.pot===
* Download <code>gramps.pot</code> from GRAMPS SVN repository, see [[Brief_introduction_to_SVN| the introduction to SVN]].
+
* Download <code>gramps.pot</code> from Gramps Git repository, see [[Brief_introduction_to_Git| the introduction to Git]].
* Look for <code>gramps.pot</code> in the directory <code>gramps31/po</code> or if you looking for the trunk version look for <code>gramps.pot</code> in the directory <code>trunk/po</code>.
+
You can also download files by browsing via [https://github.com/gramps-project/gramps GitHub web interface].
 +
* Look for <code>gramps.pot</code> in the '''po''' directory.
  
 
===Translating messages===
 
===Translating messages===
 
* Copy <code>gramps.pot</code> to the file named <code>lang.po</code>, according to the language you are translating into (<code>fr.po</code> for French, <code>ru.po</code> for Russian, etc.)
 
* Copy <code>gramps.pot</code> to the file named <code>lang.po</code>, according to the language you are translating into (<code>fr.po</code> for French, <code>ru.po</code> for Russian, etc.)
* Use [http://gtranslator.sourceforge.net GTtranslator] (GNOME), [http://kbabel.kde.org/ KBabel] (KDE), [http://userbase.kde.org/Lokalize Lokalize] (KDE, windows), Emacs po-mode, [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/pootling/index pootling] (GNU/Linux, windows), [http://www.poedit.net/ poedit] (GNU/Linux, OSX, windows), or any similar tool designed for translating <code>.po</code> files. If you do not like any of these tools, you can use any text editor to translate messages.
+
* Use [http://gtranslator.sourceforge.net GTtranslator] (GNOME, windows), [http://i18n.kde.org/tools/ KBabel] (KDE), [http://userbase.kde.org/Lokalize Lokalize] (KDE, windows), Emacs po-mode, [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/pootling/index pootling] (GNU/Linux, windows), [http://www.poedit.net/ poedit] (GNU/Linux, OSX, windows), or any similar tool designed for translating <code>.po</code> files. If you do not like any of these tools, you can use any text editor to translate messages. If using vim, properly setting the "langmap" option will significantly speed up your work.
* Even though GRAMPS uses UNICODE (UTF-8) for its character set, you may use your native character set for your translation. Just make sure you specify the character set you are using in the <code>Content-Type</code> line in the <code>.po</code> file. GRAMPS will handle the conversion to UNICODE.
+
* Even though GRAMPS uses UNICODE (UTF-8) for its character set, you may use your native character set for your translation. Just make sure you specify the character set you are using in the <code>Content-Type</code> line in the <code>.po</code> file. Gramps will handle the conversion to UNICODE.
 +
* If there are non ASCII characters in the original English string, try to preserve them by copying them, if applicable.
  
 
===Context===
 
===Context===
As an extension to standard gettext, strings in GRAMPS can have a context prefix. This prefix should '''not''' be translated, and just be deleted in the translation. More info and an example [[#Translation context|further down]].
+
As an extension to standard gettext, strings in Gramps can have a context prefix. This prefix should '''not''' be translated, and just be deleted in the translation. More info and an example [[#Translation context|further down]].
  
 
As a special context, you will see the manual context, eg :
 
As a special context, you will see the manual context, eg :
 
  'manual|Editing_Dates'
 
  'manual|Editing_Dates'
these strings should only be translated if a wiki manual is available in your language. The string refers to a section, eg [[Gramps_3.0_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_Editing_Data:_Detailed#Editing_Dates |Editing_Dates]] in Dutch becomes [[Gramps_3.0_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_Editing_Data:_Detailed/nl#Datums_aanpassen|Datums_aanpassen]].
+
these strings should only be translated if a '''wiki user manual''' is available in your language, eg in Dutch :
 +
'Datums_aanpassen'
 +
 
 +
The string refers to a section, eg [[Gramps_4.1_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_Editing_Data:_Detailed_-_part_1#Editing_dates |Editing_Dates]] in Dutch becomes [[Gramps_4.1_Wiki_Manual_-_Entering_and_Editing_Data:_Detailed_-_part_1/de#Daten_bearbeiten|Datums_aanpassen]].
  
 
===Testing your <code>.po</code> file===
 
===Testing your <code>.po</code> file===
In the directory <code>gramps31/po</code> or the <code>trunk/po</code> run the command: <pre>make</pre> If there are errors in your po file, this will fail and give you an error message. You should correct these errors. If you have trouble understanding the error, try to run the next test, which might give a more verbose output.
+
 
 +
{{man warn|Environment change|For Gramps 4.0, {{stable_branch}} and master, see [[Translation_environment4|new environment]].}}
 +
 
 +
In the <code>po</code> directory run the command: <pre>make</pre> If there are errors in your po file, this will fail and give you an error message. You should correct these errors. If you have trouble understanding the error, try to run the next test, which might give a more verbose output.
  
 
====check_po====
 
====check_po====
In the directory <code>gramps31/po</code> or the <code>trunk/po</code> run the command: <pre>./check_po lang.po</pre> or <pre>python check_po lang.po > lang</pre> where lang is your language code. This will give you errors in your translation, information on badly translated phrases, ... the output could resemble something like this..
+
In the <code>po</code> directory run the command:  
 +
 
 +
./check_po --skip-fuzzy lang.po  
 +
or  
 +
python check_po --skip-fuzzy lang.po > lang
 +
where lang is your language code. This will give you errors in your translation, information on badly translated phrases, ... the output could resemble something like this..
  
 
  File:              nl.po
 
  File:              nl.po
Line 119: Line 136:
 
====statistics====
 
====statistics====
  
In the directory <code>gramps31/po</code> or the <code>trunk/po</code> run the command: <pre>msgfmt --statistics lang.po</pre> or <pre>msgfmt.exe --statistics lang.po</pre>  where lang is your language code. This should not throw an error.
+
In the <code>po</code> directory run the command: <pre>msgfmt --statistics lang.po</pre> or <pre>msgfmt.exe --statistics lang.po</pre>  where lang is your language code. This should not throw an error.
 
Basically this gives the same info in a condensed format: 3533 translated messages, 125 fuzzy translations, 12 untranslated messages.
 
Basically this gives the same info in a condensed format: 3533 translated messages, 125 fuzzy translations, 12 untranslated messages.
  
Line 141: Line 158:
 
  msguniq - unify duplicate translations in message catalog
 
  msguniq - unify duplicate translations in message catalog
  
For checking syntax :
+
For checking syntax (header, format, domain) :
 
  msgfmt -c nl.po
 
  msgfmt -c nl.po
  
 
  msgfmt.exe -c nl.po
 
  msgfmt.exe -c nl.po
 +
 +
For checking keyboard accelerators (underscore) :
 +
msgfmt --check-accelerators=_ nl.po
 +
 +
msgfmt.exe --check-accelerators=_ nl.po
 +
 +
====Gettext lint====
 +
 +
[http://gettext-lint.sourceforge.net/ Gettext lint] is a collection of tools for checking the validity, consistency and spelling of PO. Some python scripts do not work anymore with last expat version.
 +
 +
====Pology (KDE)====
 +
 +
[http://pology.nedohodnik.net/ Pology] is a Python library and collection of command-line tools for in-depth processing of PO files, the translation file format of the GNU Gettext software translation system. Pology functionality ranges from precision operations on individual PO messages, to cross-file operations on large collections of PO files. Pology is used by the [http://websvn.kde.org/trunk/l10n-support/pology/ KDE] translation teams for checking syntax.
 +
 +
====Translate Toolkit====
 +
 +
[http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/toolkit/index Translate Toolkit] is a collection of useful tools for localisation. It can help to improve the quality of your localisation, including tools to help check, validate, merge and extract messages from your localizations.
 +
 +
===Save as .mo file===
 +
 +
If possible and when you are finished translating, go to '''File -> Save as...''' to generate a ''.mo'' file for testing syntax.
 +
 +
* Under poedit, you can set to always compile a ''.mo'' file when saving changes by clicking '''File -> Preferences''' and on the '''Editor tab''' check the '''Automatically compile ''.mo'' file on save box'''. A dialog will warn you if there is a syntax error on your ''.po'' file.
 +
 +
* Lokalize, GTranslator also provide a syntax check when saving. If an error occured we can navigate to messages which contain errors.
 +
 +
Please, enable this feature to avoid errors on compilation process.
  
 
===Formatting (compiling) <code>.po</code> file===
 
===Formatting (compiling) <code>.po</code> file===
* Currently, formatting is performed during build time, so you should not have to worry about it. The translated <code>.po</code> file is the product of your work. Check it into SVN if you obtained the permission to do so, or email it to [[Contact|Brian or Benny]] otherwise.
+
* Currently, [[Coding_for_translation#How_it_works|formatting (msgfmt) is performed during build time]], so you should not have to worry about it. The translated <code>.po</code> file is the product of your work. However, try to [[Translating_Gramps#Save_as_.mo_file|check syntax]] before any commit.
 +
 
 +
===Send your contribution===
 +
 
 +
Check it into Git if you obtained the permission to do so.
 +
 
 +
The following configuration option simplifies pushing a branch back to the server:
 +
$ git config --global push.default upstream
 +
 
 +
Otherwise you can fork gramps repository with a Github account and pull a merge request.
 +
 
 +
See: {{Code Browser}}
  
 
===Updating your translation===
 
===Updating your translation===
If you have submitted a translation, changes are that after some weeks/months, new strings are added to GRAMPS, implying you need to update your translation file.  
+
If you have submitted a translation, it may well be that after some weeks/months, new strings are added to Gramps, implying you need to update your translation file.  
  
Assuming you have obtained originally the GRAMPS source tree as explained in [[Brief introduction to SVN]]. Now:
+
Assuming you have obtained originally the Gramps source tree as explained in [[Brief introduction to Git]]. Now:
* Update your gramps tree from SVN. This can be done by executing the command <pre>svn up</pre> from the root GRAMPS svn directory. This will download an updated <code>gramps.pot</code> file.
+
* Update your Gramps tree from Git. This can be done by executing the command <pre>git pull</pre> from the root Gramps directory. This will download an updated <code>gramps.pot</code> file.
* Use your outdated translation to translate the strings that did not change:<pre>msgmerge lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po</pre> or <pre>msgmerge --no-wrap lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po</pre> where <code>lang</code> is your language code.  The <code>--no-wrap</code> option will prevent changes due to automatic word wrapping, use it if your previous po file was constructed like that.  The <code>--no-wrap</code> options allows for more readable SVN diffs.
+
* Use your outdated translation to translate the strings that did not change:<pre>msgmerge lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po</pre> or <pre>msgmerge --no-wrap lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po</pre> where <code>lang</code> is your language code.  The <code>--no-wrap</code> option will prevent changes due to automatic word wrapping, use it if your previous po file was constructed like that.  The <code>--no-wrap</code> options allows for more readable Git diffs.
* Translate all untranslated messages in <code>newlang.po</code>. When you are sure everything is right, rename <code>newlang.po</code> as <code>lang.po</code> and check it into SVN as you did with the original file.
+
* Check fuzzy messages and translate all untranslated messages in <code>newlang.po</code>. When you are sure everything is right, rename <code>newlang.po</code> as <code>lang.po</code> and check it into Git as you did with the original file.
* If command <code>msgmerge</code> is not available on your system, you have to install the <code>}gettext</code> package. For [http://wiki.wxpython.org/index.cgi/Internationalization#head-d8e0d98b64f3878f8bb828aeb41a05bcc6a02cc4  windows users].
+
* If command <code>msgmerge</code> is not available on your system, you have to install the <code>}gettext</code> package. For [http://wiki.wxpython.org/index.cgi/Internationalization#How_to_get_gettext_tools_for_Win32 windows users].
 +
* To back-port translations, e.g., to merge master branch translations onto an earlier branch, do this on the earlier branch (assuming gramps.pot is updated):
 +
<pre>msgmerge -C lang.po master-lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po</pre>. Then resolve the fuzzies as usual.
  
 
There is also the make target that does the following:
 
There is also the make target that does the following:
 
* Create new <code>gramps.pot</code> template from the source code files
 
* Create new <code>gramps.pot</code> template from the source code files
 
   cd po
 
   cd po
   make gramps.pot
+
   ./genpot.sh or python update_po.py -p see [[Talk:Translation_environment4|differences between tools]].
or
 
  intltool-update -p
 
 
* Updates each <code>po</code> file in the source tree
 
* Updates each <code>po</code> file in the source tree
 
It may be an overkill for you, but if you feel like using it, you can run:
 
It may be an overkill for you, but if you feel like using it, you can run:
   make update-po 
+
   cd po
in the <code>po</code> directory. This assumes that you have already succesfully configured the source.
+
  python update_po -m all 
 +
in the <code>po</code> directory. This assumes that you have already succesfully configured the source. Note, this command ignores <code>--no-wrap</code> option, so not practical for Git diffs.
 +
 
 +
{{man warn|Environment change|For Gramps 4.0, {{stable_branch}} and master, see [[Translation_environment4|new environment]].}}
  
 
===Testing your update===
 
===Testing your update===
  
 
You can test your update easily with the above mentioned '''check_po''' file. If you downloaded this file, just do:
 
You can test your update easily with the above mentioned '''check_po''' file. If you downloaded this file, just do:
<pre>python check_po newlang.po</pre>. If everything is ok, the output will be something like this:
+
python check_po --skip-fuzzy newlang.po
 +
If everything is ok, the output will be something like this:
 
  File:              newlang.po
 
  File:              newlang.po
 
  Template total:    3075
 
  Template total:    3075
Line 190: Line 249:
  
 
===Installing your translation===
 
===Installing your translation===
 +
 +
{{man warn|Environment change|For Gramps 4.0, {{stable_branch}} and master, see [[Translation_environment4|new environment]].}}
  
 
You want to use the new translation immediately, and systemwide?
 
You want to use the new translation immediately, and systemwide?
Line 198: Line 259:
 
  make --prefix=/usr install    #as root !
 
  make --prefix=/usr install    #as root !
  
This should install your translations to <code>/usr/share/locale/xx/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo</code>, with xx being your language. You could of course copy your files manually to that dir with the gramps.mo name.
+
This should install your translations to ''/usr/share/locale/{lang}/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo'', with {lang} being your language. You could of course copy your files manually to that dir with the gramps.mo name.
 +
 
 +
Make sure you only install from within the po directory, or you will install the development version of Gramps, which is not supported and for testing only!
 +
 
 +
==== Running the master branch with your translation ====
  
Make sure you only install from within the po directory, or you will install the development version of GRAMPS, which is not supported and for testing only!
+
The i18n data are often under ''../share/locale'' according to the default prefix.
  
==== Running trunk with your translation ====
+
So you can use:
  
The current GRAMPS trunk as of February 2009 by default looks for the i18n data under <code>/usr/local/share/locale</code>. So you can use:
+
python setup.py build
 +
python setup.py install    #as root !
  
./autogen.sh
+
This will install the .mo files under ''../share/locale/xx/LC_MESSAGES'', according to the default prefix set.
  make
+
 
  cd po
+
or
  make install    #as root !
+
   
 +
  python setup.py build
 +
  python setup.py install --root=/home/joe/gramps
 +
                        --prefix="/home/joe/gramps4"
 +
                        --enable-packager-mode     #as simple user !
 +
 
 +
This will install Gramps and translations under your ''/home/...'' directory.
 +
 
 +
===== $GRAMPSI18N (for your locale) =====
 +
 
 +
Actually you don't even need to install the files in order to test them. This is useful because you can develop Gramps without needing superuser privileges. Bear in mind the Gramps i18n process goes something like this when you use the master branch:
 +
 
 +
* when you type <code>python build</code> in the source tree root (/home/user/Gramps e.g.) all the po/*.po files are compiled into build/mo/{lang}/*.mo files.
 +
* when you type <code>python install</code> inside the po directory, these .mo files are copied to {prefix}/share/locale/{lang}/LC_MESSAGES as gramps.mo files.
  
This will install the .mo files under /usr/local/share/locale/xx/LC_MESSAGES, since the default prefix is /usr/local
+
But you can change the place where Gramps looks for these files by altering the environment variable $GRAMPSI18N. So you could also for instance do something like this and avoid the <code>python setup install</code> step: (if you are using csh or tcsh the syntax would be a little different)
  
===== $GRAMPSI18N =====
+
  [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ mkdir -p po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES
 +
  [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ cp po/en_GB.gmo po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo
 +
  [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ cd gramps
 +
  [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps/src]$ GRAMPSI18N=$PWD/../po LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 python gramps.py
  
Actually you don't even need to install the files in order to test them. This is useful because you can develop GRAMPS without needing superuser privileges. Bear in mind the GRAMPS i18n proccess goes something like this when you use trunk:
+
===== gramps.sh =====
  
* when you type <code>make</code> in the source tree root (/home/user/trunk e.g.) all the trunk/po/*.po files are compiled into trunk/po/*.gmo files.
+
On a gramps launcher (copy from ''<code>{prefix}/bin/gramps</code>'') you can set :
* when you type <code>make install</code> inside the /home/user/trunk/po directory, these .gmo files are copied to /usr/local/share/locale/xx/LC_MESSAGES as gramps.mo files.
+
export GRAMPSDIR=/...
 +
export GRAMPSI18N=/...
  
But you can change the place where GRAMPS looks for these files by altering the environment variable $GRAMPSI18N. So you could also for intance do something like this and avoid the <code>make install</code> step: (if you are using csh or tcsh the syntax would be a little different)
+
Where the environment variable ''$GRAMPSDIR'' is the path to your ''gramps'' directory.
  
[user@localhost /home/user/trunk]$ mkdir -p po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES
+
Where the environment variable ''$GRAMPSI18N'' is the path to your ''gramps locale'' directory.
[user@localhost /home/user/trunk]$ cp po/en_GB.gmo po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo
 
[user@localhost /home/user/trunk]$ cd src
 
[user@localhost /home/user/trunk/src]$ GRAMPSI18N=$PWD/../po LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 python gramps.py
 
  
 
===== Just testing your translation =====
 
===== Just testing your translation =====
  
If you don't want to compile all translations, you may use ''msgfmt'' utility on /po directory:
+
If you don't want to compile all translations, you may save your ''.po'' file as ''.mo'' file, or use ''msgfmt'' utility on /po directory:
  
  msgfmt your_lang.po
+
  msgfmt -o gramps.mo your_lang.po
  
  msgfmt.exe your_lang.po
+
  msgfmt.exe -o gramps.mo your_lang.po
  
this will create a messages.mo file, a compiled version of your ''.po'' file.
+
this will create a ''gramps.mo'' file, a compiled version of your ''.po'' file.
Rename messages.mo to gramps.mo and put it on your translation path (''see above'').
+
Put it on your translation path (''see above'').
  
==Hard to Translate Phrases==
+
==Hard to translate phrases==
 
Some things are just hard to translate. Below are a few of the more difficult items, along with some suggestions on how to handle them.
 
Some things are just hard to translate. Below are a few of the more difficult items, along with some suggestions on how to handle them.
===LDS Terminology===
+
===LDS terminology===
 
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) maintains a lot of genealogy data. In the United States, they are probably the non-government organization with the most detailed records available. Genealogical research is important to the Mormon church. They are responsible for defining the [[GEDCOM]] format.
 
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) maintains a lot of genealogy data. In the United States, they are probably the non-government organization with the most detailed records available. Genealogical research is important to the Mormon church. They are responsible for defining the [[GEDCOM]] format.
  
Line 266: Line 346:
 
#* Canceled
 
#* Canceled
 
#* DNS/CAN (Do Not Submit/Previous sealing cancelled)
 
#* DNS/CAN (Do Not Submit/Previous sealing cancelled)
 
  
 
==Advanced issues==
 
==Advanced issues==
Line 307: Line 386:
 
  Eltitkoob
 
  Eltitkoob
 
  Eltitnosrep
 
  Eltitnosrep
 +
 +
If you are a Gramps translator and need a developer to help you add a context to the Gramps source files, please ask for it on the gramps-devel list.
 +
 +
====Translation context in GUI labels====
 +
If there is a string in the Glade GUI (i.e., in a .glade source file) that requires the translation context, it's impossible to have it translated statically. In this case, one needs to add runtime code to the corresponding dialog initialization to override the label string with the text obtained with an sgettext call. I.e.,
 +
 +
* Verify the relevant widget has a meaningful id in the .glade file (as opposed to a silly autogenerated one). Modify the id if needed and make sure no existing code used the old widget id! E.g., change
 +
<object class="GtkLabel" id="label3">
 +
:into
 +
<object class="GtkLabel" id="place_name_label">
 +
* Add a context to the translatable string in the .glade file. This way, when you look at the POT file or a PO file derived from it, you see a reference to this place, along with the actual place in the .py file(s) which also has the same context string. E.g., change
 +
<property name="label" translatable="yes">Name:</property>
 +
:into
 +
<property name="label" translatable="yes">place|Name:</property>
 +
* In the corresponding dialog initialization, add code to set the string to the correct translation during runtime, e.g.:
 +
:globally in the file:
 +
PLACE_NAME = _('place|Name:')
 +
:in the MergePlace.__init__ method:
 +
        for widget_name in ('name_btn1', 'name_btn2'):
 +
            self.get_widget(widget_name).set_label(PLACE_NAME)
 +
:The exact method to call on the Gtk control will be different based on the actual GUI element affected. E.g., a GtkButton has a set_label method, whereas a GtkLabel has a set_text.
 +
* Regenerate the POT, translate the new PO strings, and test your work.
  
 
===Plural forms===
 
===Plural forms===
Line 312: Line 413:
 
There was requests for [http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/gettext_150.html#Plural-forms plural forms] support.
 
There was requests for [http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/gettext_150.html#Plural-forms plural forms] support.
  
First, translators need to check if information is available on .po header.  
+
First, translators need to check if information is available on .po header :''"Plural-Forms:\n"''. (See [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/l10n/pluralforms samples])
(See [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/l10n/pluralforms samples])
 
  
 
# msgid contains the singular string in english
 
# msgid contains the singular string in english
Line 324: Line 424:
  
 
  msgid "%d second"
 
  msgid "%d second"
  msgstr_plural "%d seconds"
+
  msgid_plural "%d seconds"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d 秒"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d 秒"
  
Line 330: Line 430:
  
 
  msgid "%d hour"
 
  msgid "%d hour"
  msgstr_plural "%d hours"
+
  msgid_plural "%d hours"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d hour"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d hour"
 
  msgstr [1] "%d hours"
 
  msgstr [1] "%d hours"
Line 337: Line 437:
  
 
  msgid "%d second"
 
  msgid "%d second"
  msgstr_plural "%d seconds"
+
  msgid_plural "%d seconds"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d sekunda"
 
  msgstr [0] "%d sekunda"
 
  msgstr [1] "%d sekundy"
 
  msgstr [1] "%d sekundy"
Line 346: Line 446:
 
  msgfmt -c filename.po
 
  msgfmt -c filename.po
  
===Translating mnemonics===
+
===Translating mnemonics keys(Keyboard Shortcut keys)===
Mnemonics are accelerator keys you find in labels, accessible by pressing the ALT key together with the mnemonic. You see then in the translated text with a low line, eg '_Help' is shown as 'Help' with a line under the H, and can be put to focus/selected by pressing ALT+h.
+
Mnemonics are accelerator keys (also known as Keyboard Shortcut keys) you find in labels, accessible by pressing the {{man key press|ALT}} key together with the mnemonic. You see then in the translated text with a low line, eg '_Help' is shown as 'Help' with a line under the H, and can be put to focus/selected by pressing {{man key press|ALT|h}}.
  
 
It is nice if mnemonics on a screen are unique, but it is not required. If you use twice the same mnemonic, the user must press repeatedly the accelerator to switch between the different entries. However, note the following rule:
 
It is nice if mnemonics on a screen are unique, but it is not required. If you use twice the same mnemonic, the user must press repeatedly the accelerator to switch between the different entries. However, note the following rule:
"If duplication of access keys in a window is unavoidable, you should still refrain from duplicating the access keys for any of these buttons that appear in the same window: OK, Cancel, Close, Apply or Help."
+
*"If duplication of access keys in a window is unavoidable, you should still refrain from duplicating the access keys for any of these buttons that appear in the same window: {{man button|OK}}, {{man button|Cancel}}, {{man button|Close}}, {{man button|Apply}} or {{man button|Help}}."
  
 
So you should check in your language what the mnemonic key is for those buttons, and avoid using the same in translated text
 
So you should check in your language what the mnemonic key is for those buttons, and avoid using the same in translated text
  
'''Warning''': some fonts family will not properly display mnemonics on "g", "j", "p", "q" or "y" as these print the letter over the line under it making it very hard to distinguish the small line. Please avoid to use mnemonics key bindings on these letters. Also try to avoid i and l, as people have difficulty distinguishing between those.
+
{{man warn|Warning|Some fonts family will not properly display mnemonics on "g", "j", "p", "q" or "y" as these print the letter over the line under it making it very hard to distinguish the small line. Please avoid to use mnemonics key bindings on these letters. Also try to avoid i and l, as people have difficulty distinguishing between those.}}
  
 
Capital letters are no problem though, underlining eg G will work just fine as the letter does not write over the line.
 
Capital letters are no problem though, underlining eg G will work just fine as the letter does not write over the line.
Line 369: Line 469:
  
 
==Translating man pages==
 
==Translating man pages==
 +
 +
{{man warn|Environment change|For gramps 4.0, {{stable_branch}} and master, see [[Translation_environment4#Translating_man_pages|new environment]].}}
 +
 
You can also translated the man pages into your own language.
 
You can also translated the man pages into your own language.
  
For the development (trunk) version you can find the required starting files under the directory (/trunk)/data/man. You will find the files
+
For the development version (master branch) you can find the required starting files under the directory data/man. You will find the files
 
*Makefile.am
 
*Makefile.am
 
*gramps.1.in
 
*gramps.1.in
  
 
First off all you must make a directory for your language under data/man.
 
First off all you must make a directory for your language under data/man.
<code>
 
  cd data/man
 
</code>
 
  
and do <code>
+
<code>cd data/man</code>
  mkdir xx
+
 
</code>
+
and do  
 +
 
 +
<code>mkdir xx</code>
 +
 
 +
where xx is your languagecode (fr for French, sv for Swedish, etc.) You should use Git. See [[Brief_introduction_to_Git| the introduction to Git]].
  
where xx is your languagecode (fr for French, sv for Swedish, etc.) You should use SVN. See [[Brief_introduction_to_SVN| the introduction to SVN]]. Then do <code>
 
  svn add xx
 
  svn commit -m "xx dir for man pages" xx
 
</code>
 
This will add the xx dir under svn revision control and upload the new dir.
 
 
Next step is to copy the Makefile.am and gramps.1.in from data/man to your new directory. Translate all relevant strings in the data/man/xx/gramps.1.in file. Change the file data/man/xx/Makefile.am:
 
Next step is to copy the Makefile.am and gramps.1.in from data/man to your new directory. Translate all relevant strings in the data/man/xx/gramps.1.in file. Change the file data/man/xx/Makefile.am:
 
*add the line mandir = @mandir@/xx
 
*add the line mandir = @mandir@/xx
Line 399: Line 498:
 
*add data/man/xx/Makefile to the line AC_CONFIG_FILES([
 
*add data/man/xx/Makefile to the line AC_CONFIG_FILES([
  
Because you added new files, SVN requires that you set the correct propset for those files. Two things are to be done.
+
All changes must be committed and pushed to the server:
<code>
+
git commit -am "Add man page for xx"
  svn propset svn:mime-type text/plain xx/gramps.1.in xx/Makefile.am
+
git push
  svn propset svn:eol-type native xx/gramps.1.in xx/Makefile.am
 
</code>
 
  
You could also in the config file of subversion ( HOMEDIR/.subversion/config) enable the auto-prop feature (enable-auto-props = yes) and uncomment the relevant lines in the [auto-props] section.
+
You should see no errors when you run the  
All changes must be committed and do not forget to change the ChangeLog file.
 
  
You should see no errors when you run the <code>
+
<code>./configure</code><br/>
  ./configure
+
<code>make</code><br/>
  make
+
scripts.
</code> scripts.
 
  
 
{{man warn|Install|This last step must be done only in the data/man/xx directory. If not, your normal gramps installation will be overwritten. And this step must be done as superuser(su)}}
 
{{man warn|Install|This last step must be done only in the data/man/xx directory. If not, your normal gramps installation will be overwritten. And this step must be done as superuser(su)}}
<code>
 
  sudo make install
 
</code>
 
This will put the gramps.1.gz file into /usr/local/share/man/xx/man1 directory. You could also use a prefix. Then you do:<code>
 
  sudo make --prefix=/usr/share install
 
</code>
 
  
To see the result of your work, do:<code>
+
<code>sudo make install</code>
  man -L xx gramps
+
 
</code>
+
This will put the gramps.1.gz file into /usr/local/share/man/xx/man1 directory. You could also use a prefix. Then you do:
 +
 
 +
<code>sudo make --prefix=/usr/share install</code>
 +
 
 +
To see the result of your work, do:
 +
 
 +
<code>man -L xx gramps</code>
  
 
==Translating wiki manual==
 
==Translating wiki manual==
To have the link working in GRAMPS, you need to have or edit the GrampsDisplay.py file to contain your language.
+
To have the link working in Gramps, you need to have or edit the GrampsDisplay.py file to contain your language.
 
On line 30 of that file, you see:
 
On line 30 of that file, you see:
  
Line 440: Line 535:
 
  }
 
  }
  
*Every 'manual|...' entry in the gramp.pot file refers to a section in the manual, so make sure to use good section headings so this does not change too much over time.
+
*Every '<code>manual|...</code>' entry in the <code>gramp.pot</code> file refers to a section in the manual, so make sure to use good section headings so this does not change too much over time.
Note that reports/tools link to a section in the page with the same name as the report name in GRAMPS.
+
Note that reports/tools link to a section in the page with the same name as the report name in Gramps.
  
*You should be able to edit directly on wiki or using tools like [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/toolkit/txt2po txt2po]. Also previous gettext file for the manual and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_memory Translation Memory] may help you to upgrade deprecated/old gettext files.
+
*You should be able to edit directly on wiki or using tools like [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/toolkit/txt2po txt2po] or [http://po4a.alioth.debian.org/ po4a]. Also previous gettext file for the manual and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_memory Translation Memory] may help you to upgrade deprecated/old gettext files. eg, store existing entries from ''/usr/share/locale''.
  
 
==Language specific pages==
 
==Language specific pages==
 
Check out the pages which cover some aspects of translation into a specific language, such as the glossary.
 
Check out the pages which cover some aspects of translation into a specific language, such as the glossary.
  
 +
*[[Translation into Finnish|Finnish]]
 +
*[[Translation into French|French (Français)]]
 
*[[Translation into Russian|Russian]]
 
*[[Translation into Russian|Russian]]
  
==Translating third-party plugins==
+
==Translating addon plugins==
As [[Third-party Plugins]] are not officially part of GRAMPS and are not supported by the GRAMPS Developers but give users more tools to work with your genealogy data in GRAMPS, we can translate them !
 
 
 
Trying to avoid duplicate strings which could generate conflicts, [[Media:additional.pot.gz|here an additional template]]. We should be able to copy/paste references at the end of main translation file for supporting translation on third-party plugins.
 
 
 
===On next major release===
 
  
* See [[Addons_Development#Get_translators_to_translate_your_addon_into_multiple_languages|3rd-party addon for GRAMPS 3.2]].
+
* See [[Addons_development#Get_translators_to_translate_your_addon_into_multiple_languages|3rd-party addon for Gramps]].

Revision as of 07:27, 8 August 2015

Tips for translators of the Gramps program.

The page coding for translation may also be of interest to translators.

Gettext file format

Header

msginit is a GNU utility, called on /po directory, which generates a header for gettext file template : gramps.pot.

"Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
"Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
"POT-Creation-Date: 2004-12-30 10:52-0500\n"
"PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n"
"Last-Translator: FULL NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n"
"Language-Team: LANGUAGE <[email protected]>\n"
"MIME-Version: 1.0\n"
"Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n"
"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n"
"Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=(n != 1);\n"
  • Project-Id-Version : this is the name and version of the package. Fill it in if it has not already been filled in by xgettext.
  • Report-Msgid-Bugs-To : this has already been filled in by xgettext. It contains an email address or URL where you can report bugs in the untranslated strings:
    • Strings which are not entire sentences, see the maintainer guidelines in Preparing Strings.
    • Strings which use unclear terms or require additional context to be understood.
    • Strings which make invalid assumptions about notation of date, time or money.
    • Pluralisation problems.
    • Incorrect English spelling.
    • Incorrect formatting.
  • POT-Creation-Date : this has already been filled in by xgettext.
  • PO-Revision-Date : You don't need to fill this in. It will be filled by the PO file editor when you save the file.
  • Last-Translator : fill in your name and email address (without double quotes).
  • Language-Team : fill in the English name of the language, and the email address or homepage URL of the language team you are part of. Before starting a translation, it is a good idea to get in touch with your translation team, not only to make sure you don't do duplicated work, but also to coordinate difficult linguistic issues. In the Free Translation Project, each translation team has its own mailing list. The up-to-date list of teams can be found at the Free Translation Project's homepage, in the "Teams" area.

msgid / msgstr / comment / fuzzy

#: gramps.py:10
#, fuzzy
msgid "File not found"
msgstr ""
  • text after # provides a comment.
    • The file reference and the line number after #:
    • A comment on code or the main string (msgid) after #.
    • A comment on your translation (msgstr) after #

This will help translator but is optional for having a translation.

  • #, fuzzy could be added because string is not up-to-date. It means that there was a change somewhere (a string has been added, removed or modified) and xgettext did a guess on what the translation should be. This guess is most likely not entirely correct, but it is often very close.

fuzzy strings are ignored, english string (msgid) will be used ! Need to correct/validate entry on your translation editor.

  • msgid is the string, present on gramps' code
  • msgstr is your translation string

Tips for translators

Getting started

  1. Always save your translations in UTF-8 encoding without BOM (take care with NotePad)
  2. Don't overwrite the English strings, your translation should be below the original string
  3. Take heed on special characters. You must have the same number of and types as the original string.
  4. Verify spelling and grammar on your translation.
  5. Don't translate "too freely". Your translation should be as close match to the original as possible
  6. Be consistent with your translations. If you decide on a specific word/phrase for something, stick to that throughout the translation.
  7. If possible, try the translation before sending

Translating Gramps into a new language means translating English strings used in the Gramps interface. To put it shortly, this amounts to

  1. obtaining the gramps.pot file with the strings to be translated,
  2. translating the strings in the template, and
  3. getting the translated file uploaded into the Gramps Git repository.

Another avenue of translation is translating the documentation. This is a different and lengthy process and it is described in our Translating the Gramps User manual page. Here we will concentrate on the interface translation only.

Obtaining gramps.pot

You can also download files by browsing via GitHub web interface.

  • Look for gramps.pot in the po directory.

Translating messages

  • Copy gramps.pot to the file named lang.po, according to the language you are translating into (fr.po for French, ru.po for Russian, etc.)
  • Use GTtranslator (GNOME, windows), KBabel (KDE), Lokalize (KDE, windows), Emacs po-mode, pootling (GNU/Linux, windows), poedit (GNU/Linux, OSX, windows), or any similar tool designed for translating .po files. If you do not like any of these tools, you can use any text editor to translate messages. If using vim, properly setting the "langmap" option will significantly speed up your work.
  • Even though GRAMPS uses UNICODE (UTF-8) for its character set, you may use your native character set for your translation. Just make sure you specify the character set you are using in the Content-Type line in the .po file. Gramps will handle the conversion to UNICODE.
  • If there are non ASCII characters in the original English string, try to preserve them by copying them, if applicable.

Context

As an extension to standard gettext, strings in Gramps can have a context prefix. This prefix should not be translated, and just be deleted in the translation. More info and an example further down.

As a special context, you will see the manual context, eg :

'manual|Editing_Dates'

these strings should only be translated if a wiki user manual is available in your language, eg in Dutch :

'Datums_aanpassen' 

The string refers to a section, eg Editing_Dates in Dutch becomes Datums_aanpassen.

Testing your .po file

Gnome-important.png
Environment change

For Gramps 4.0, 52 and master, see new environment.

In the po directory run the command:

make

If there are errors in your po file, this will fail and give you an error message. You should correct these errors. If you have trouble understanding the error, try to run the next test, which might give a more verbose output.

check_po

In the po directory run the command:

./check_po --skip-fuzzy lang.po 

or

python check_po --skip-fuzzy lang.po > lang

where lang is your language code. This will give you errors in your translation, information on badly translated phrases, ... the output could resemble something like this..

File:               nl.po
Template total:     3816
PO total:           3671
Fuzzy:              125
Untranslated:       12
%s mismatches:      0
%d mismatches:      2
%() name mismatches:9
%() missing s/d:    0
Runaway context:    0
XML special chars:  0
Last character:     15
Shortcut in msgstr: 16
PO Coverage:        99.67%
Template Coverage:  95.89%
Localized at:       97% (previous gramps.pot)

If you get previous gramps.pot, then you are not using the last gramps.pot, see update your translation. fuzzy and untranslated strings will be ignored, Gramps will use main strings in english.

-------- %d mismatches --------------

You can see that there are 3816 strings to be translated and the coverage is around 96 %. There are still 12 untranslated strings and some 120 fuzzies. The last one can be ok, but should be checked. Additional information shows e.g. that in 15 strings there is a mismatch with the 'last character':

-------- last character not identical ---------
msg nr: 98, lineno: 602
msgid "Could not make database directory: "
msgstr "Kon geen gegevensbestandsmap aanmaken"

This is very valuable information, because you can easily see what the problem is, even if you do not understand the language! Clearly the last characters must be ": "

statistics

In the po directory run the command:

msgfmt --statistics lang.po

or

msgfmt.exe --statistics lang.po

where lang is your language code. This should not throw an error.

Basically this gives the same info in a condensed format: 3533 translated messages, 125 fuzzy translations, 12 untranslated messages.

GNU `gettext' utilities

GNU `gettext' utilities provides a few stand-alone programs to massage in various ways the sets of translatable strings, or already translated strings:

msgattrib - attribute matching and manipulation on message catalog
msgcat - combines several message catalogs
msgcmp - compare message catalog and template
msgcomm - match two message catalogs
msgconv - character set conversion for message catalog
msgen - create English message catalog
msgexec - process translations of message catalog
msgfilter - edit translations of message catalog
msgfmt - compile message catalog to binary format (.po->.mo)
msggrep - pattern matching on message catalog
msginit - initialize a message catalog
msgmerge - merge message catalog and template
msgunfmt - uncompile message catalog from binary format
msguniq - unify duplicate translations in message catalog

For checking syntax (header, format, domain) :

msgfmt -c nl.po
msgfmt.exe -c nl.po

For checking keyboard accelerators (underscore) :

msgfmt --check-accelerators=_ nl.po
msgfmt.exe --check-accelerators=_ nl.po

Gettext lint

Gettext lint is a collection of tools for checking the validity, consistency and spelling of PO. Some python scripts do not work anymore with last expat version.

Pology (KDE)

Pology is a Python library and collection of command-line tools for in-depth processing of PO files, the translation file format of the GNU Gettext software translation system. Pology functionality ranges from precision operations on individual PO messages, to cross-file operations on large collections of PO files. Pology is used by the KDE translation teams for checking syntax.

Translate Toolkit

Translate Toolkit is a collection of useful tools for localisation. It can help to improve the quality of your localisation, including tools to help check, validate, merge and extract messages from your localizations.

Save as .mo file

If possible and when you are finished translating, go to File -> Save as... to generate a .mo file for testing syntax.

  • Under poedit, you can set to always compile a .mo file when saving changes by clicking File -> Preferences and on the Editor tab check the Automatically compile .mo file on save box. A dialog will warn you if there is a syntax error on your .po file.
  • Lokalize, GTranslator also provide a syntax check when saving. If an error occured we can navigate to messages which contain errors.

Please, enable this feature to avoid errors on compilation process.

Formatting (compiling) .po file

Send your contribution

Check it into Git if you obtained the permission to do so.

The following configuration option simplifies pushing a branch back to the server:

$ git config --global push.default upstream

Otherwise you can fork gramps repository with a Github account and pull a merge request.

See: https://github.com/gramps-project/gramps

Updating your translation

If you have submitted a translation, it may well be that after some weeks/months, new strings are added to Gramps, implying you need to update your translation file.

Assuming you have obtained originally the Gramps source tree as explained in Brief introduction to Git. Now:

  • Update your Gramps tree from Git. This can be done by executing the command
    git pull
    from the root Gramps directory. This will download an updated gramps.pot file.
  • Use your outdated translation to translate the strings that did not change:
    msgmerge lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po
    or
    msgmerge --no-wrap lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po
    where lang is your language code. The --no-wrap option will prevent changes due to automatic word wrapping, use it if your previous po file was constructed like that. The --no-wrap options allows for more readable Git diffs.
  • Check fuzzy messages and translate all untranslated messages in newlang.po. When you are sure everything is right, rename newlang.po as lang.po and check it into Git as you did with the original file.
  • If command msgmerge is not available on your system, you have to install the }gettext package. For windows users.
  • To back-port translations, e.g., to merge master branch translations onto an earlier branch, do this on the earlier branch (assuming gramps.pot is updated):
msgmerge -C lang.po master-lang.po gramps.pot -o newlang.po

. Then resolve the fuzzies as usual.

There is also the make target that does the following:

  • Create new gramps.pot template from the source code files
  cd po
  ./genpot.sh or python update_po.py -p see differences between tools.
  • Updates each po file in the source tree

It may be an overkill for you, but if you feel like using it, you can run:

  cd po
  python update_po -m all  

in the po directory. This assumes that you have already succesfully configured the source. Note, this command ignores --no-wrap option, so not practical for Git diffs.

Gnome-important.png
Environment change

For Gramps 4.0, 52 and master, see new environment.

Testing your update

You can test your update easily with the above mentioned check_po file. If you downloaded this file, just do:

python check_po --skip-fuzzy newlang.po

If everything is ok, the output will be something like this:

File:               newlang.po
Template total:     3075
PO total:           3075
Fuzzy:              0
Untranslated:       0
%s mismatches:      0
%d mismatches:      0
%() name mismatches:0
%() missing s/d:    0
Runaway context:    0
XML special chars:  0
Last character:     0
Shortcut in msgstr: 0
PO Coverage:        100.00%
Template Coverage:  100.00%

Installing your translation

Gnome-important.png
Environment change

For Gramps 4.0, 52 and master, see new environment.

You want to use the new translation immediately, and systemwide? You can by installing just the contents of the po directory, but you will need to build the source first, so:

./autogen.sh
make
cd po
make --prefix=/usr install     #as root !

This should install your translations to /usr/share/locale/{lang}/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo, with {lang} being your language. You could of course copy your files manually to that dir with the gramps.mo name.

Make sure you only install from within the po directory, or you will install the development version of Gramps, which is not supported and for testing only!

Running the master branch with your translation

The i18n data are often under ../share/locale according to the default prefix.

So you can use:

python setup.py build
python setup.py install     #as root !

This will install the .mo files under ../share/locale/xx/LC_MESSAGES, according to the default prefix set.

or

python setup.py build
python setup.py install --root=/home/joe/gramps
                        --prefix="/home/joe/gramps4" 
                        --enable-packager-mode     #as simple user !

This will install Gramps and translations under your /home/... directory.

$GRAMPSI18N (for your locale)

Actually you don't even need to install the files in order to test them. This is useful because you can develop Gramps without needing superuser privileges. Bear in mind the Gramps i18n process goes something like this when you use the master branch:

  • when you type python build in the source tree root (/home/user/Gramps e.g.) all the po/*.po files are compiled into build/mo/{lang}/*.mo files.
  • when you type python install inside the po directory, these .mo files are copied to {prefix}/share/locale/{lang}/LC_MESSAGES as gramps.mo files.

But you can change the place where Gramps looks for these files by altering the environment variable $GRAMPSI18N. So you could also for instance do something like this and avoid the python setup install step: (if you are using csh or tcsh the syntax would be a little different)

 [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ mkdir -p po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES
 [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ cp po/en_GB.gmo po/en_GB/LC_MESSAGES/gramps.mo
 [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps]$ cd gramps
 [user@localhost /home/user/Gramps/src]$ GRAMPSI18N=$PWD/../po LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 python gramps.py
gramps.sh

On a gramps launcher (copy from {prefix}/bin/gramps) you can set :

export GRAMPSDIR=/...
export GRAMPSI18N=/...

Where the environment variable $GRAMPSDIR is the path to your gramps directory.

Where the environment variable $GRAMPSI18N is the path to your gramps locale directory.

Just testing your translation

If you don't want to compile all translations, you may save your .po file as .mo file, or use msgfmt utility on /po directory:

msgfmt -o gramps.mo your_lang.po
msgfmt.exe -o gramps.mo your_lang.po

this will create a gramps.mo file, a compiled version of your .po file. Put it on your translation path (see above).

Hard to translate phrases

Some things are just hard to translate. Below are a few of the more difficult items, along with some suggestions on how to handle them.

LDS terminology

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) maintains a lot of genealogy data. In the United States, they are probably the non-government organization with the most detailed records available. Genealogical research is important to the Mormon church. They are responsible for defining the GEDCOM format.

The LDS Church has some specific terminology that can present difficulty in translating. There are two approaches to handling the information.

  1. If the LDS Church has a presence in your country, contact the LDS Temple in your area and ask them what the correct terminology is in your native language
  2. If the LDS Church does not have a presence in your country, it would probably be safe to simply not translate the phrases.

These terms include:

  1. LDS Ordinance names:
    • Sealed to Parents
    • Sealed to Spouse
    • LDS Baptism
    • Endowment
  2. LDS Status names for Ordinances:
    • Child
    • Cleared
    • Completed
    • Infant
    • Pre-1970
    • Qualified
    • Stillborn
    • Submitted
    • Uncleared
    • BIC (Born In the Covenant)
    • DNS (Do Not Submit)
    • Canceled
    • DNS/CAN (Do Not Submit/Previous sealing cancelled)

Advanced issues

Format line parameters

Format line parameters such as %s and %d should not be translated. The order of these parameters should not be changed. Examples:

English:

   Long widowhood: %s was a widow %d years.

Translation (using Backward English as an example :-):

   Gnol doohwodiw: %s saw a wodiw %d sraey.

Named format line parameters such as %(something)s and %(something)d also should not be translated. Feel free to change the order of named parameters to correctly phrase the message in your language. Also, use hints provided by the names. Examples:

English:

   Baptized before birth: %(male_name)s
           born %(byear)d, baptized %(bapyear)d.

Translation into Backward English:

   Dezitpab erofeb htrib: %(byear)d
           nrob %(male_name)s, dezitpab %(bapyear)d.

In the above example, the verb "born" should be in masculine form (if verbs in your language have gender, that is), since the person born is apparently a male.

Sometimes those %(something)s are positioned in a text without spaces, like in the example below:

English:

   This person was baptised%(endnotes)s.

Translation into Backward English:

   Siht nosrep saw desitpab%(endnotes)s.

Translation context

In some cases, two different concepts can be expressed by the same word in English and yet require different translations. For example, the title of the book and the nobility title of the person are expressed by the same Title word. However, in other languages different words are needed to describe the book title and the person's title.

To mitigate such problems, a context can be added to the translation string. A context-enabled string has a vertical line separating the context from the string:

book|Title
person|Title

The correct translation should not include either the context or the separator. The context is to give the translator idea of what the string means. However, both the context and the separator must not be in the translated string, so in backward english the above is translated into

Eltitkoob
Eltitnosrep

If you are a Gramps translator and need a developer to help you add a context to the Gramps source files, please ask for it on the gramps-devel list.

Translation context in GUI labels

If there is a string in the Glade GUI (i.e., in a .glade source file) that requires the translation context, it's impossible to have it translated statically. In this case, one needs to add runtime code to the corresponding dialog initialization to override the label string with the text obtained with an sgettext call. I.e.,

  • Verify the relevant widget has a meaningful id in the .glade file (as opposed to a silly autogenerated one). Modify the id if needed and make sure no existing code used the old widget id! E.g., change
<object class="GtkLabel" id="label3">
into
<object class="GtkLabel" id="place_name_label">
  • Add a context to the translatable string in the .glade file. This way, when you look at the POT file or a PO file derived from it, you see a reference to this place, along with the actual place in the .py file(s) which also has the same context string. E.g., change
<property name="label" translatable="yes">Name:</property>
into
<property name="label" translatable="yes">place|Name:</property>
  • In the corresponding dialog initialization, add code to set the string to the correct translation during runtime, e.g.:
globally in the file:
PLACE_NAME = _('place|Name:')
in the MergePlace.__init__ method:
       for widget_name in ('name_btn1', 'name_btn2'):
           self.get_widget(widget_name).set_label(PLACE_NAME)
The exact method to call on the Gtk control will be different based on the actual GUI element affected. E.g., a GtkButton has a set_label method, whereas a GtkLabel has a set_text.
  • Regenerate the POT, translate the new PO strings, and test your work.

Plural forms

There was requests for plural forms support.

First, translators need to check if information is available on .po header :"Plural-Forms:\n". (See samples)

  1. msgid contains the singular string in english
  2. msgid_plural contains the plural string in english
  3. msgstr[0] contains the singular translated version (for 1 and sometimes 0, set on header)
  4. msgstr[1] contains the plural version (for 1 + 1 = 2 )
  5. msgstr[2] contains the plural form (for 2 + 1 = 3)
  • For language with one form (singular=plural, Plural-Forms: nplurals=1; plural=0), like Chinese, Hungarian or Turkish:
msgid "%d second"
msgid_plural "%d seconds"
msgstr [0] "%d 秒"
  • For language with one plural form (Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=n != 1;), like english:
msgid "%d hour"
msgid_plural "%d hours"
msgstr [0] "%d hour"
msgstr [1] "%d hours"
  • For language with more plural forms (like Czech):
msgid "%d second"
msgid_plural "%d seconds"
msgstr [0] "%d sekunda"
msgstr [1] "%d sekundy"
msgstr [2] "%d sekund"

As a final check, please do ensure that the following command does not throw any errors:

msgfmt -c filename.po

Translating mnemonics keys(Keyboard Shortcut keys)

Mnemonics are accelerator keys (also known as Keyboard Shortcut keys) you find in labels, accessible by pressing the ALT key together with the mnemonic. You see then in the translated text with a low line, eg '_Help' is shown as 'Help' with a line under the H, and can be put to focus/selected by pressing ALT+h.

It is nice if mnemonics on a screen are unique, but it is not required. If you use twice the same mnemonic, the user must press repeatedly the accelerator to switch between the different entries. However, note the following rule:

  • "If duplication of access keys in a window is unavoidable, you should still refrain from duplicating the access keys for any of these buttons that appear in the same window: OK, Cancel, Close, Apply or Help."

So you should check in your language what the mnemonic key is for those buttons, and avoid using the same in translated text

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Warning

Some fonts family will not properly display mnemonics on "g", "j", "p", "q" or "y" as these print the letter over the line under it making it very hard to distinguish the small line. Please avoid to use mnemonics key bindings on these letters. Also try to avoid i and l, as people have difficulty distinguishing between those.

Capital letters are no problem though, underlining eg G will work just fine as the letter does not write over the line.

Translating relationships

Translating relationships is not done within the .po files, except for occasional father and mother strings here and there in the interfaces and reports. Complete translation of all relationships for the language/culture is done inside a relationship calculator plugin.

In short, the need for a plugin comes from the impossibility to translate "first cousin twice removed" in languages such as, e.g., German or Russian. See the Relationship Calculator page for details on why and how to create such a plugin.

Translating dates

Handling date translation is not entirely done within the .po files. Complete handling of date translation for each language/culture is done inside a dedicated date handler module.

The need for a separate module comes from the requirements to handle culture-specific parsing and displaying of dates. For example, the month and day order is different between most European countries and the US. Also, each language has its own set of acceptable modifier and qualifiers for the date: things like "from X to Y" or "between X and Y" may have different word order. Same with "around", "calculated", "estimated". Add to this calendar names, and you have a compelling need for a dedicated module. See the Date Handler page for details on why and how to create such a module.

Translating man pages

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Environment change

For gramps 4.0, 52 and master, see new environment.

You can also translated the man pages into your own language.

For the development version (master branch) you can find the required starting files under the directory data/man. You will find the files

  • Makefile.am
  • gramps.1.in

First off all you must make a directory for your language under data/man.

cd data/man

and do

mkdir xx

where xx is your languagecode (fr for French, sv for Swedish, etc.) You should use Git. See the introduction to Git.

Next step is to copy the Makefile.am and gramps.1.in from data/man to your new directory. Translate all relevant strings in the data/man/xx/gramps.1.in file. Change the file data/man/xx/Makefile.am:

  • add the line mandir = @mandir@/xx
  • change the line && CONFIG_FILES=data/man/xx/$@ $(SHELL)

Next step: change the file data/man/Makefile:

  • add xx to the line SUBDIRS = fr nl sv

The final step is to alter the file Configure.in :

  • add data/man/xx/Makefile to the line AC_CONFIG_FILES([

All changes must be committed and pushed to the server:

git commit -am "Add man page for xx"
git push

You should see no errors when you run the

./configure
make
scripts.

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Install

This last step must be done only in the data/man/xx directory. If not, your normal gramps installation will be overwritten. And this step must be done as superuser(su)

sudo make install

This will put the gramps.1.gz file into /usr/local/share/man/xx/man1 directory. You could also use a prefix. Then you do:

sudo make --prefix=/usr/share install

To see the result of your work, do:

man -L xx gramps

Translating wiki manual

To have the link working in Gramps, you need to have or edit the GrampsDisplay.py file to contain your language. On line 30 of that file, you see:

MANUALS = {
   'nl' : '/nl',
}

This maps a language code to the extension used on the wiki, so to add french, change this too:

MANUALS = {
   'nl' : '/nl',
   'fr':  '/fr',
}
  • Every 'manual|...' entry in the gramp.pot file refers to a section in the manual, so make sure to use good section headings so this does not change too much over time.

Note that reports/tools link to a section in the page with the same name as the report name in Gramps.

  • You should be able to edit directly on wiki or using tools like txt2po or po4a. Also previous gettext file for the manual and Translation Memory may help you to upgrade deprecated/old gettext files. eg, store existing entries from /usr/share/locale.

Language specific pages

Check out the pages which cover some aspects of translation into a specific language, such as the glossary.

Translating addon plugins