Re: Summary (Re: A system for localizing documentation strings)

[Jean-Christophe Helary <fusion@mx6.tiki.ne.jp>]

On 31 juil. 07, at 12:38, Richard Stallman wrote:

>> If so, what would it do if you try to edit the file?
>
>     The edit would modify the file.
>
>     If the documentation had been in the oiginal English then an edit
>     would modify that original English. If the displayed documentation
>     were to be the Japanese string, then the Japanese data would be
>     edited (to eventually be later saved).
>
> That would be very hard to do.

I understand that.

If automatic display based on locale information is difficult, do you  
think a command that simply overwrites the documentation with an  
available translation would be easier to implement ? Instead of  
overwriting the strings (which may not be a practical solution), the  
command would simply re-generate the code file from the translation  
database stored strings.

In the end, the user would have a choice between the default English  
and any translation available, and even once "overwritten" the files  
could be reverted to their original English state.

What matters is that the coder has easy access to the translation  
database in a way or another _during_ the coding process without  
having to refer to a separate file.


Jean-Christophe Helary