[Chandler-dev] EuroPython Localization wrap up and next steps

[Philippe Bossut]

Hi Brian,

Wow! This is great feedback.

Brian Kirsch wrote:
> http://people.osafoundation.org/bkirsch/postsprint/

Excellent! Before you log bugs though, you may want to check with me 
since I've been running through some of those issues last year and some 
easy stuff are not so easy.

For instance, strings like "ChoiceItem" or "http://" are used as place 
holders in some xrc files and are dynamically replaced in the Python 
code. It's unfortunate that the createpot tool pick them up when parsing 
the xrc. Changing that will require to add something in the xrc to mark 
those strings as "do not localize" and modify the createpot tool to 
recognize those markers (TBD). I actually did a pass on those "do not 
localize" strings some months ago so you can see my detailed comments on 
this and other issues in bug 6723. Some strings though (like "Open 
Source Applications Foundation") made it back in the pot... I don't know 
why...

Also, some "bugs" are actually choices we made for Preview (e.g. the 
position of the Select View menu under Tools, it's there because there 
are serious bugs with recurring items when viewing the dashboard as a 
calendar...).

The most interesting thing though is the accelerator thing. As a 
localizer myself, I have to say that it's impossible to make a choice 
looking at the po. The contextual comment to disambiguate strings is 
also a great idea.

> So my proposal is to maintain a Localization Freeze for all developers.
>
> Mimi will be the sole source of truth regarding what text should 
> appear in
> our Chandler.pot. I will be the interface for converting those ideas 
> in to
> strings in our Python code. I will also provide feedback to Mimi when 
> I see
> a string change that may cause localization problems.
>
> I will have commit rights to change any strings in the Chandler code 
> that need to
> augment for better localization. For all commits, I will first create 
> a bug and attach
> a patch which will require approval by Philippe before I can check in.

I agree with the proposal. Again, I've been there as a localizer and, 
indeed, without deep knowledge of the app, it's hard to translate. May 
be though you could limit the number of commits: last batch of changes 
Mimi made on Chandler.po amounted to 397 changed strings! (addressing 
most of the issues you mention BTW).

To make things easier, I committed Mimi's current rework of the strings 
in 
svn+ssh://svn.osafoundation.org/svn/localizations/chandler/trunk/en/Chandler-en.po 
, using the svn structure and naming convention we discussed on IRC this 
afternoon.

Thanks again for the great report. It's good to see people diving into 
Chandler enthusiastically like those guys, great way to get contributors 
and, I hope, users... :)

Cheers,
- Philippe