Files
gods-eye-view/docs/TRANSLATORS.md
Sameh Khamis bc5d038afd Merge Core main into german/hal-644-ar: Arabic on the Vue UI
Main moved the UI to Vue views and Pinia stores, so the Arabic changes to
the old DOM controllers now live in their views: the rail legend range
comes from formatScaleRange (keeping units a source supplies as given),
the voice timeout options are worded by Intl unit formatting in
VoiceControl, and the scene editor's JSON fields stay left to right in
SceneDialog. Main's CCTV status line, launch panel and calibration values
keep the Arabic isolates and Western-digit formatting.

isolate() and keepCodesWithValues() read the locale through getLocale(),
which follows the page's vue-i18n instance, and the Intl formatters take
intlLocale(getLocale()). A language switch now applies in place, and
applyDocumentLanguage sets <html dir> on every switch, so the page mirrors
without a reload.

The icon rails and their tips are placed with logical properties, so they
stay on the outer side of the mirrored stacks; Cyber's new stack offsets,
padding and edge lines are logical too, and rtl.css moves Cyber's right
stack to its new rail clearance. Main removed the Context mini radio, so its
right-to-left rules and test go.

The Arabic catalog gains main's new strings and drops the ones main no
longer uses; the other catalogs keep main's new keys and the branch's
landing labels.
2026-11-01 20:15:02 -08:00

4.9 KiB
Raw Permalink Blame History

Translating God's Eye View

Shipped languages: English (source and fallback), Arabic (ar), German (de), Spanish (es), French (fr), Italian (it), Japanese (ja), Brazilian Portuguese (pt), Russian (ru), Ukrainian (uk), Simplified Chinese (zh-CN) and Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant).

How it works

The English text is the key: code calls t('Save keys'), and markup marks elements with data-i18n. How developers mark text is in I18N.md.

Every other language is one flat JSON file, src/i18n/locales/<code>.json, keyed by the English text:

{
  "Save keys": "Сохранить ключи",
  "{count} cameras": {
    "one": "{count} камера",
    "few": "{count} камеры",
    "many": "{count} камер",
    "other": "{count} камеры"
  }
}

A tn() entry is keyed by the English plural form and holds one string per Intl.PluralRules category of that language. A missing entry falls back to English.

The page picks its language from ?lang=, then the choice stored by the language picker (the globe button in the bottom-right corner), then the browser languages, then English. ?lang= is not stored, and copied share links leave it out. Switching applies at once, without a reload.

The check

npm run i18n                      # what is missing, unused or broken, per language
npm run i18n -- --missing ru      # missing ru entries as JSON, ready to translate
npm run i18n -- --prune           # drop entries the code no longer uses

npm test runs the same check. It fails on a missing, empty or unused entry, on placeholders that differ from the English, on a missing plural form, and on text or plural forms still in English. The --missing template fails until every entry is translated. If an entry is right in English (a code such as CRT, a product name), add it under your language code in src/i18n/same-as-english.json.

Changing English text changes its key: the old translation becomes unused and the new text shows as missing. Translate it and prune.

Fixing a translation

Edit src/i18n/locales/<code>.json and run npm run i18n. To see your change, open the app with ?lang=<code>.

Adding a language

  1. Create src/i18n/locales/<code>.json, fill it from npm run i18n -- --missing <code> (start from {}), and translate every entry.
  2. Import it in src/i18n/index.js and add it to CATALOGS.
  3. Add the code to LOCALES and its own-language name to LOCALE_NAMES in src/i18n/locale.js. Right-to-left languages also go in RTL_LOCALES; the chrome mirrors through logical CSS properties (inset-inline-*, margin-inline-*), and src/ui/styles/rtl.css holds what those cannot express (see the Arabic notes). If the language should keep Western digits, map it in INTL_TAGS in locale.js.
  4. Add src/i18n/locales/<code>.json next to ru.json in scripts/package-boundaries.json.
  5. Write docs/translations/<code>.md: glossary, plural forms, units and style (copy the structure of ru.md).
  6. Run npm run i18n and npm test, then check the panels in the app at narrow widths.

Rules

  • Keep every {placeholder} name exactly as in the English: do not rename, drop or add one. Its position inside the sentence follows the grammar of your language, e.g. "{accepted} of {raw} records accepted" → "принято записей: {accepted} из {raw}".
  • UPPERCASE English stays UPPERCASE. Short labels, chips and HUD readouts should stay short; prefer an abbreviation over a wrapped line.
  • Keep the separators ·, —, →, ↗, ….
  • Leave product, provider and data names in their original form: Google Maps, Cesium ion, OpenAI, ChatGPT, NASA FIRMS, USGS, OpenSky, ADS-B, AIS, CCTV, HUD, TomTom, OpenStreetMap, Mapillary, and keyboard keys (Space, Esc, H, 1–9).
  • Units follow the language's convention; see the language notes.

Never translated

These are contracts, not copy: layer ids and registry keys, status enums and other machine values (translate only the label shown for them), share-link and hash parameters, ?lang=, storage schemas, API fields, voice tool names and schemas, provider and dataset names, data from feeds (callsigns, vessel, satellite, station and place names, headlines), attribution, console diagnostics, and user-authored content.

Language notes

Each language keeps its glossary, plural forms, units and style in its own file, docs/translations/<code>.md: Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese. Read it before translating, and add a term there when you settle on one.