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| -rw-r--r-- | translation-help | 116 |
diff --git a/translation-help b/translation-help index 8887b37a..dd3b4129 100644 --- a/translation-help +++ b/translation-help @@ -12,38 +12,88 @@ http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/gettext.html[] In addition, this site presents a small tutorial that I found useful: http://oriya.sarovar.org/docs/gettext/[] + Translating Messages -------------------- -The message files are located in two directories in pacman- lib/libalpm/po/ for -the translation of the backend, and po/ for the translation of the frontend and -the scripts. -Each language has a .po file associated with it; the .pot file is the template -file for creating new .po files and updating the messages in them when the code -changes. +Overview +~~~~~~~~ + +There are two separate message catalogs in pacman- one for the backend +(libalpm) and one for the frontend (pacman and scripts). These correspond to +the `lib/libalpm/po` and `po` directories in the pacman source, respectively. + +Translation message files are a specially formatted text file containing the +original message and the corresponding translation. These po files can then +either be hand edited, or modified with a tool such as poedit, gtranslator or +kbabel. Using a translation tool tends to make the job easier. + +See the <<Notes,Notes>> section for additional hints on translating. + +Pre-release Updates +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +A week or two before each release, the codebase will go into a string freeze +and an email will be sent by the 'translation lieutenant' to the +mailto:pacman-dev@archlinux.org[pacman-dev] mailing list asking for +translations. This email will have a prefix of *[translation]* for anyone +looking to set up an email filter. + +At this time, the `.po` language files will be made available at a URL +specified in the email. Each language will have two files available (backend +and frontend). Translators interested in helping are encouraged to send a +follow-up message to the mailing list stating exactly what they intend to +translate so efforts are not duplicated on the same language. + +Once a translator has completed the translation (*OR* realizes they do not have +time to finish), please email the `.po` files back to the list with a subject +such as '[translation] Updated German translation'. At this point, the +'translation lieutenant' will gather the translations together for inclusion in +the upcoming release. + +NOTE: Please email your translations back to the list as soon as possible- this +will give other speakers of your language time to review your translations and +update them as necessary. -First things first. If you haven't already, you will need to get a copy of the -pacman repository. +For those familiar with GIT, you may wish to follow the procedure outlined +below as another alternative. + +Incremental Updates +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +If you have more advanced needs you will have to get a copy of the pacman +repository. git clone git://projects.archlinux.org/pacman.git pacman Next, you will need to run `./autogen.sh` and `./configure` in the base -directory to generate the correct Makefiles. To update all the translation -files, run this command in one of the two message file directories: +directory to generate the correct Makefiles. At this point, all necessary +make targets will be generated and we can begin updating the translation +files. - make update-po +We need to first update the main message catalog file. Navigate into either the +`lib/libalpm/po` or `po` directory depending on which translation you wish to +work on first, and execute the following command. If you are working in the +`po/` tree, replace 'libalpm.pot' with 'pacman.pot': -At this point, the .pot file is regenerated from the source code with an -updated string list, and the existing po files are merged if necessary to add -new messages or remove old ones. These po files can then either be hand edited, -or modified with a tool such as poedit, gtranslator or kbabel. + make libalpm.pot-update -These steps make it easier to just update your language and not every po file. -If you are working in the `po/` tree, replace 'libalpm.pot' with 'pacman.pot': +Next, update your specific language's translation file: - make libalpm.pot-update make <po file>-update +At this point, you can do the translation. To submit your changes, either email +the new `.po` file to the mailing-list with *[translation]* in the subject, or +submit a GIT-formatted patch (please do not include any `.pot` file changes). + +As a shortcut, all translation files (including `.pot` files) can be updated +with the following command: + + make update-po + +Adding a New Language +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + Making a new language is not too hard, but be sure to follow all the steps. You will have to do the following steps in both the `lib/libalpm/po/` and `po/` directories, substituting where appropriate. First, edit the `LINGUAS` file and @@ -61,17 +111,8 @@ create the new language file, you may need to slightly modify the headers; try to make them look similar to the other .po file headers. In addition, for all new translations we would strongly recommend using UTF-8 encoding. -If you want to test the translation (for example, the frontend one): - - rm *.gmo stamp-po - make - cp <lang code>.gmo /usr/share/locale/<lang code>/LC_MESSAGES/pacman.mo - -Finally, submitting your translations in patch form is not essential for new -languages, but highly recommended for future updates to the translations. - -Notes -~~~~~ +Notes[[Notes]] +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ msgid and msgstr 'variables' can be on as many lines as necessary. Line breaks are ignored- if you need a literal line break, use an `\n` in your string. The @@ -82,11 +123,26 @@ following two translations are equivalent: msgstr "" "This is a test translation" +If you want to test the translation (for example, the frontend one): + + rm *.gmo stamp-po + make + cp <lang code>.gmo /usr/share/locale/<lang code>/LC_MESSAGES/pacman.mo + Translating Manpages -------------------- -(To Be Announced) +There are currently no efforts underway to include translated manpages in the +pacman codebase. However, this is not to say translations are unwelcome. If +someone has experience with i18n manpages and how to best include them with our +source, please contact the pacman-dev mailing list at +mailto:pacman-dev@archlinux.org[]. + +Some community efforts have been made to translate manpages, and these can be +found in the link:http://aur.archlinux.org[AUR] (Arch User Repository). Please +check there first before undergoing a translation effort to ensure you are not +duplicating efforts. ///// vim: set ts=2 sw=2 syntax=asciidoc et: |