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Port then migrate your current translations to PO format On Mon, Mar 21, 2022 at 4:56 AM Jerome Shidel <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi all, > > As many of you are probably already aware, a while back I started > coordinating language translations for FreeDOS and related projects over on > GitHub in the FD-NLS project[1]. The translators that have been contributing > do a great job. But with all the various formats and methods used by the > individual projects, there are often difficulties providing some of the > translation needs. > > It is a fairly large and complex problem. It has numerous interwoven > complications and issues to consider. But, providing translations for FreeDOS > is going to be getting a whole lot easier. Since the release of FreeDOS 1.3 > final, I’ve begun to tackle the problem. > > The first step in process was to provide a easier way to translate the > package descriptions. The package descriptions are the information provided > about the package in programs like FDIMPLES and websites like the Official > online repository. > > Translating those was done through a large CSV spreadsheet. Although better > than previous methods, it was easy to make mistakes while editing the > extremely wide spread sheet. It required conversion to and from UTF-8 to > codepage formats. Often programs would manage to not properly format the > columns or mangle the codepage versions. It was a "hope for the best” then > “fix what is broken” system. > > Well, step 1 is nearly complete. The macOS version[2] (my primary development > system) of the cross-platform desktop application works great. There are a > couple minor FPC/Lazarus UI framework issues possibly related to the slightly > different compiler/IDE versions that will require me to implement > work-arounds. But, the Linux and Windows versions should be out over the next > day or so. The macOS version[2] is available now. And for anyone who is > curious, a screen shot[3] of package description editing is provided on the > download page. > > Step 1 required a lot of “under the hood” stuff. But, it provides a means to > easily edit the package description translations. It has automatic > UTF-8/Codepage conversion. It even includes a live simulated preview of how > the translation will appear in FDIMPLES using DOS codepages and fonts. > > Step 2 will involve translation support for the projects themselves. It will > be a long process with many substeps. But, the end goal will include live > previews for the different types and formats of translations with sample > data. Just to name a few, Kitten based programs, Source code based, Html > based, and many more. It won’t be done overnight. But, in many small steps > and stages. > > On a side note, all the nitty-gritty stuff that deals with the FD-NLS > repository, translation files, codepage/UTF-8 conversion, etc. is being done > separately from the UI code through an “API”. That makes it a little more > time consuming to create the Desktop app. But, it eventually would make it > easier to port versions to mobile platforms. It would also make it possible > to create some command-line utilities to deal with all the various needs. It > could even possibly permit switching to modern translation systems like PO > files. > > To contribute translations using the FD-NLS Desktop app, it is very easy. You > head over to the FD-NLS project[1] and clone/download the whole thing to your > hard drive somewhere. Run the FD-NLS app and point it at that repository. If > the language you want to create translations for is not yet created, add > settings for it and possibly create a codepage map (all in app stuff, and > fairly easy). Then have fun translating. > > When satisfied, push your changes to the GitHub repository and we can merge > them. If you created a new language profile or codepage map, be sure to > include that in your commit. Eventually, the handling of the git repo related > aspects will be integrated into the application as well. > > Anyway, once I work-around the cross-platform issues for Linux and Windows, > I’ll post an update. > > :-) > > Jerome > > [1] https://github.com/shidel/fd-nls > [2] https://up.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX > [3] https://dnld.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX-001.png > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-devel mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel _______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
