internationalization howto

br1, 27.03.2002 18:57

this short howto explains how to use the internationalization
features of mir and how you can translate mir to other
languages. this text is also in doc/INTERNATIONALIZATION.howto

this is actually very easy:


* properties files (step 1)

add a new file to the bundles/ directory. it should
be called exactly like the other files there, except
for the language code, which is the part after the underscore.
at the moment these files are called ´admin_XX.properties´, so

admin_de.properties contains the strings for the german language
admin_en.properties is the one for english.
admin.properties is always used as a fallback and contains imc
spcific information at the moment (this should probably change)

the correct language code for your language can be found at
 http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm, for example.


* translation (step 2)

the files just contain key and value pairs of the form
key=value. if a value contains something like {0}, {1}, and so
on, this means, that these placeholders are replaced when the
phrase is used. this is for example used for the key
show_from_to=showing from {0} to {1}. {0} and {1} get replaced
with the number of the first and the last record shown.

in you new file (say admin_es.properties) you translate every key
into the appropriate phrase in your language.


* adding keys to templates

you can define additional keys just by adding them to the
properties file and by referncing them in the freemaker template
with ${lang("keyname")}. you should do that every time you need
a language specific string!


* renaming keys

some keys might not have a perfectly fitting name at the moment.
if you want to rename a key, please take care that you rename it
in ALL properties files and ALL templates. take care.