I want to localize a shortcut and have come across this API SHSetLocalizedName() which takes a path to an executable and a resource ID. However, I want to use a string instead. It looks like it just writes to desktop.ini:
[LocalizedFileNames]
Test.lnk=#program.exe,-101
I played with it manually and I can just do this:
[LocalizedFileNames]
Test.lnk=Localized Name of Test Shortcut
Does anyone know a programmatic way of doing this? I really don't want to write to desktop.ini myself.
Thanks.
A hard coded string is the opposite of localization!
The point of SHSetLocalizedName is to have various parts of the start menu and some special folders (My documents etc.) display in a language that matches the users current UI language. To do this the string has to be a resource in a PE file so that the magic of multiple versions of a resource in different languages can work.
If you always want a specific name you can just rename the file. If you can't do that (you don't have write access or you are trying to trick the user) then perhaps this is not something you should programmatically be doing?
SHGetSetFolderCustomSettings knows how to change some values in desktop.ini but this string is not one of them. I believe using WritePrivateProfileString is the only solution...
I'm rather new to Objective C (I'm using Xcode, if it's relevant). I tried to find an answer to this, but couldn't find anywhere...
My question is: Is there a possible way to change a variable name in the Localizable.strings file, so that it would change in the entire app?
I do not want to use the "search and replace" option, since if there are more instances of that string which are not this variable's name, they would change too (which is something I'm interested to avoid).
Basically I'm interested in finding the parallel function to java's "refactor", while using eclipse. Thanks to all helpers!
No, not possible to do it automatically. At least not in XCode - maybe AppCode can offer something, but I doubt it. Localizable.strings is not code - it's a text file which contains key-value pairs. Thus there are no real references to keys in your code, just same string values in your code and in the file.
I'm using PowerBuilder 10.5 and as a newbie I'm a bit stuck and since Google isn't giving me a satisfying answer I'm asking some advice from the Stack Overflow group.
I have a Rich Text Edit field in which the user can write something, insert pictures and so forth. Once finished, he goes to the „Search“ command button and clicking it searches for the batch file that will suit his needs (copy that text into an existing word document, create a new word and place the folder on web, and so fort – there are 6 different batches). The code in the clicked event of „Search“ command button is this:
String ls_s
GetFileOpenName('PB_app', ls_s, ls_s, 'BAT', "Win Batch Files (*.BAT),*.BAT", 'C:\Programs\Test')
And here come my problems: I can't connect my app and the selected batch file. I'd like the path of the selected batch file to be visible in the Single Line Edit filed, but I have no idea how to get there, not to mention I'm point blank at how to connect PB app, batch file, how to even say to the batch file – „That text in rich text edit field is the one you have to work with?“…?
So I need some advice, guidance, perhaps some links or names of any literature that would help me understand how it should be done. I've lost two days and got nowhere, and I just need some piece of advice to get me going…
Your problem is that the original programmer used one variable for two return values. If you declare a new string variable and pass it instead of the first ls_s, you'll see this will return you the path. If you run into trouble, PB has a good help file (and the manuals are also online) which covers GetFileOpenName().
Good luck,
Terry
I am currently developing some functionality that implements some complex calculations. The calculations themselves are explained and defined in Word documents.
What I would like to do is create a hyperlink in each code file that references the assocciated Word document - just as you can in Word itself. Ideally this link would be placed in or near the XML comments for each class.
The files reside on a network share and there are no permissions to worry about.
So far I have the following but it always comes up with a file not found error.
file:///\\165.195.209.3\engdisk1\My Tool\Calculations\111-07 MyToolCalcOne.docx
I've worked out the problem is due to the spaces in the folder and filenames.
My Tool
111-07 MyToolCalcOne.docx
I tried replacing the spaces with %20, thus:
file:///\\165.195.209.3\engdisk1\My%20Tool\Calculations\111-07%20MyToolCalcOne.docx
but with no success.
So the question is; what can I use in place of the spaces?
Or, is there a better way?
One way that works beautifully is to write your own URL handler. It's absolutely trivial to do, but so very powerful and useful.
A registry key can be set to make the OS execute a program of your choice when the registered URL is launched, with the URL text being passed in as a command-line argument. It just takes a few trivial lines of code to will parse the URL in any way you see fit in order to locate and launch the documentation.
The advantages of this:
You can use a much more compact and readable form, e.g. mydocs://MyToolCalcOne.docx
A simplified format means no trouble trying to encode tricky file paths
Your program can search anywhere you like for the file, making the document storage totally portable and relocatable (e.g. you could move your docs into source control or onto a website and just tweak your URL handler to locate the files)
Your URL is unique, so you can differentiate files, web URLs, and documentation URLs
You can register many URLs, so can use different ones for specs, designs, API documentation, etc.
You have complete control over how the document is presented (does it launch Word, an Internet Explorer, or a custom viewer to display the docs, for example?)
I would advise against using spaces in filenames and URLs - spaces have never worked properly under Windows, and always cause problems (or require ugliness like %20) sooner or later. The easiest and cleanest solution is simply to remove the spaces or replace them with something like underscores, dashes or periods.
I am working on a Software Project that needs to be translated into 30 languages. This means that changing any string incurs into a relatively high cost. Additionally, translation does not happen overnight, because the translation package needs to be worked by different translators, so this might take a while.
Adding new features is cumbersome somehow. We can think up all the Strings that will be needed before we actually code the UI, but sometimes still we need to add new strings because of bug fixes or because of an oversight.
So the question is, how do you manage all this process? Any tips in how to ease the impact of translation in the software project? How to rule the strings, instead of having the strings rule you?
EDIT: We are using Java and all Strings are internationalized using Resource Bundles, so the problem is not the internationalization per-se, but the management of the strings.
I'm not sure the platform you're internationalizing in. I've written an answer before on the best way to il8n an application. See What do I need to know to globalize an asp.net application?
That said - managing the translations themselves is hard. The problem is that you'll be using the same piece of text across multiple pages. Your framework may not, however, support only having that piece of text in one file (resource files in asp.net, for instance, encourage you to have one resource file per language).
The way that we found to work with things was to have a central database repository of translations. We created a small .net application to import translations from resource files into that database and to export translations from that database to resource files. There is, thus, an additional step in the build process to build the resource files.
The other issue you're going to have is passing translations to your translation vendor and back. There are a couple ways for this - see if your translation vendor is willing to accept XML files and return properly formatted XML files. This is, really, one of the best ways, since it allows you to automate your import and export of translation files. Another alternative, if your vendor allows it, is to create a website to allow them to edit the translations.
In the end, your answer for translations will be the same for any other process that requires repetition and manual work. Automate, automate, automate. Automate every single thing that you can. Copy and paste is not your friend in this scenario.
Pootle is an webapp that allows to manage translation process over the web.
There are a number of major issues that need to be considered when internationalizing an application.
Not all strings are created equally. Depending upon the language, the length of a sentence can change significantly. In some languages, it can be half as long and in others it can be triple the length. Make sure to design your GUI widgets with enough space to handle strings that are larger than your English strings.
Translators are typically not programmers. Do not expect the translators to be able to read and maintain the correct file formats for resource files. You should setup a mechanism where you can transform the translated data round trip to your resource files from something like an spreadsheet. One possibility is to use XSL filters with Open Office, so that you can save to Resource files directly in a spreadsheet application. Also, translators or translation service companies may already have their own databases, so it is good to ask about what they use and write some tools to automate.
You will need to append data to strings - don't pretend that you will never have to or you will always be able to put the string at the end. Make sure that you have a string formatter setup for replacing placeholders in strings. Furthermore, make sure to document what are typical values that will be replaced for the translators. Remember, the order of the placeholders may change in different languages.
Name your i8n string variables something that reflects their meaning. Do you really want to be looking up numbers in a resource file to find out what is the contents of a given string. Developers depend on being able to read the string output in code for efficiency a lot more than they often realize.
Don't be afraid of code-generation. In my current project, I have written a small Java program that is called by ant that parses all of the keys of the default language (master) resource file and then maps the key to a constant defined in my localization class. See below. The lines in between the //---- comments is auto-generated. I run the generator every time I add a string.
public final class l7d {
...normal junk
/**
* Reference to the localized strings resource bundle.
*/
public static final ResourceBundle l7dBundle =
ResourceBundle.getBundle(BUNDLE_PATH);
//---- start l7d fields ----\
public static final String ERROR_AuthenticationException;
public static final String ERROR_cannot_find_algorithm;
public static final String ERROR_invalid_context;
...many more
//---- end l7d fields ----\
static {
//---- start setting l7d fields ----\
ERROR_AuthenticationException = l7dBundle.getString("ERROR_AuthenticationException");
ERROR_cannot_find_algorithm = l7dBundle.getString("ERROR_cannot_find_algorithm");
ERROR_invalid_context = l7dBundle.getString("ERROR_invalid_context");
...many more
//---- end setting l7d fields ----\
}
The approach above offers a few benefits.
Since your string key is now defined as a field, your IDE should support code completion for it. This will save you a lot of type. It get's really frustrating looking up every key name and fixing typos every time you want to print a string.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong. By loading all of the strings into memory at static instantiation (as in the example) will result in a quicker load time at the cost of additional memory usage. I have found the additional amount of memory used is negligible and worth the trade off.
The localised projects I've worked on had 'string freeze' dates. After this time, the only way strings were allowed to be changed was with permission from a very senior member of the project management team.
It isn't exactly a perfect solution, but it did enable us to put defects regarding strings on hold until the next release with a valid reason. Once the string freeze has occured you also have a valid reason to deny adding brand new features to the project on 'spur of the moment' decisions. And having the permission come from high up meant that middle managers would have no power to change specs on your :)
If available, use a database for this. Each string gets an id, and there is either a table for each language, or one table for all with the language in a column (depending on how the site is accessed the performance dictates which is better). This allows updates from translators without trying to manage code files and version control details. Further, it's almost trivial to run reports on what isn't translated, and keep track of what was an autotranslation (engine) vs a real human translation.
If no database, then I stick each language in a separate file so version control issues are reduced. But the structure is basically the same - each string has an id.
-Adam
Not only did we use a database instead of the vaunted resource files (I have never understood why people use something like that which is a pain to manage, when we have such good tools for dealing with databases), but we also avoided the need to tag things in the application (forgetting to tag controls with numbers in VB6 Forms was always a problem) by using reflection to identify the controls for translation. Then we use an XML file which translates the controls to the phrase IDs from the dictionary database.
Although the mapping file had to be managed, it could still be managed independent of the build process, and the translation of the application was actually possible by end-users who had rights in the database.
The solution we came up to so far is having a small application in Excel that reads all the property files, and then shows a matrix with all the translations (languages as headers, keys as rows). It is quite evident what is missing then. This is send to the translators. When it comes back, then the sheet can be processed to generate the same property bundles back again. So far it has eased the pain somewhat, but I wonder what else is around.
This google book - resource file management gives some good tips
You can use Resource File Management software to keep track of strings that have changed and control the workflow to get them translated - otherwise you end up in a mess of freezes and overbearing version control
Some tools that do this sort of thing - no connection an I haven't actually used them, just researching
http://www.sisulizer.com/
http://www.translationzone.com/en/products/
I put in a makefile target that finds all the .properties files and puts them in a zip file to send off to the translators. I offered to send them just diffs, but for some reason they want the whole bundle of files each time. I think they have their own system for tracking just differences, because they charge us based on how many strings have changed from one time to the next. When I get their delivery back, I manually diff all their files with the previous delivery to see if anything unexpected has changed - one time all the PT_BR (Brazillian Portuguese) strings changed, and it turns out they'd used a PT_PT (Portuguese Portuguese) translator for that batch in spite of the order for PT_BR.
In Java, internationalization is accomplished by moving the strings to resource bundles ... the translation process is still long and arduous, but at least it's separated from the process of producing the software, releasing service packs etc. One thing that helps is to have a CI system that repackages everything any time changes are made. We can have a new version tested and out in a matter of minutes whether it's a code change, new language pack or both.
For starters, I'd use default strings in case a translation is missing. For example, the English or Spanish value.
Secondly, you might want to consider a web app or something similar for your translators to use. This requires some resources upfront, but at least you won't need to send files around and it will be obvious for the translators which strings are new, etc.