GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 460511
string translation issues
Last modified: 2011-11-11 10:03:55 UTC
salut benoît, i tried to update the translation of system-monitor and had some problems. system-monitor includes some terms that are specific and require some technical knowledge that translators do not necessarily have. on the other hand, we want a correctly localized user interface... #: ../src/e_date.c:154 msgid "?" should this really be marked for translation? #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:2 msgid "Column zero saved width" a "column zero" exists? how can i get that displayed in the UI? #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:7 msgid "Default graph net in color" #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:8 msgid "Default graph net out color" please add a translator comment that "net in" means "incoming network traffic" (same with "net out"), otherwise only few, creative folks will understand what this is about. http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments "Show process * on startup" "Width of process * column" these would be much easier to read and understand if you put the name of the column in '' #: ../src/interface.cpp:47 msgid "_Monitor" verb or noun? http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments #: ../src/interface.cpp:371 ../src/interface.cpp:431 msgid "of" of what? this can mean several words in other languages, depending on the context. http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments #: ../src/load-graph.cpp:440 ../src/load-graph.cpp:450 msgid "%s/s" what's that, and how to translate? http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments #: ../src/memmaps.cpp Private clean, Private dirty, Shared clean, Shared dirty very technical terms, i found out the meaning after several minutes of googling: PC = Private-Clean one copy, consistent with memory PD = Private-Dirty one copy, not consistent with memory SC = Shared-Clean more copies, possibly not consistent with memory SD = Shared-Dirty more copies, not consistent with memory every translator should decide on his own whether these terms should be translated or kept in english, i guess. translator comments for each term would make it at least a bit easier to understand the meaning of the terms, and to decide whether to translate at all or not. #: ../src/procdialogs.cpp:215 msgid "_Nice value:" #: ../src/proctable.cpp:282 msgid "Nice" "Nice" probably refers to the process priority? i'm afraid that some people translated this literally. http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments #: ../src/sysinfo.cpp:400 msgid "Release %s" noun or verb? most probably noun, followed by something like "2.19.6", i guess? a translator comment would be good, http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments
(In reply to comment #0) > salut benoît, Bonjour > i tried to update the translation of system-monitor and had some problems. > system-monitor includes some terms that are specific and require some technical > knowledge that translators do not necessarily have. on the other hand, we want > a correctly localized user interface... > > > #: ../src/e_date.c:154 > msgid "?" > > should this really be marked for translation? > this code has been copy&pasted from evolution. And yes, it duplicates translation work. http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=325064 I don't feel like touching it. Moreover, this "?" stands for "unknown". But is "?" the interrogation mark in every language ? > > #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:2 > msgid "Column zero saved width" > > a "column zero" exists? how can i get that displayed in the UI? There is no API to save/restore treeview state http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=75128 I don't think it worths it do translate these keys so I delete them. > > #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:7 > msgid "Default graph net in color" > #: ../src/gnome-system-monitor.schemas.in.h:8 > msgid "Default graph net out color" > > please add a translator comment that "net in" means "incoming network traffic" > (same with "net out"), otherwise only few, creative folks will understand what > this is about. > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments OK > > "Show process * on startup" > "Width of process * column" > these would be much easier to read and understand if you put the name of the > column in '' OK > > #: ../src/interface.cpp:47 > msgid "_Monitor" > > verb or noun? > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments noun > > #: ../src/interface.cpp:371 ../src/interface.cpp:431 > msgid "of" > > of what? this can mean several words in other languages, depending on the > context. > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments Sometimes strings need to be splitted to keep them aligned. So the string parts are put in a table. > > #: ../src/load-graph.cpp:440 ../src/load-graph.cpp:450 > msgid "%s/s" > > what's that, and how to translate? > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments OK > > #: ../src/memmaps.cpp > Private clean, Private dirty, Shared clean, Shared dirty > > very technical terms, i found out the meaning after several minutes of > googling: > > PC = Private-Clean one copy, consistent with memory > PD = Private-Dirty one copy, not consistent with memory > SC = Shared-Clean more copies, possibly not consistent with memory > SD = Shared-Dirty more copies, not consistent with memory > > every translator should decide on his own whether these terms should be > translated or kept in english, i guess. translator comments for each term would > make it at least a bit easier to understand the meaning of the terms, and to > decide whether to translate at all or not. I actually don't understand the definition you found. I've added some comments. > > #: ../src/procdialogs.cpp:215 > msgid "_Nice value:" > #: ../src/proctable.cpp:282 > msgid "Nice" > > "Nice" probably refers to the process priority? i'm afraid that some people > translated this literally. I think most these issues could be avoided by actually running the translated software. Most of the translators don't. > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments Well, the higher nice you have, the lower your priority is. http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=131802 > > #: ../src/sysinfo.cpp:400 > msgid "Release %s" > > noun or verb? most probably noun, followed by something like "2.19.6", i guess? > a translator comment would be good, > http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments > OK Here's a patch
Created attachment 92483 [details] [review] patch
(In reply to comment #1) > > msgid "?" > > should this really be marked for translation? > Moreover, this "?" stands for "unknown". But is "?" the interrogation mark in > every language ? then add a translator comment that "?" stands for "unknown". ;-) > > msgid "Column zero saved width" > I don't think it worths it do translate these keys so I delete them. ok. > > msgid "_Monitor" > > verb or noun? http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/gnome-i18n/developer.html#use-comments > noun ok, can you add that info by a translator comment? merci en avant... > > msgid "of" > > of what? this can mean several words in other languages, depending on the > > context. > Sometimes strings need to be splitted to keep them aligned. So the string > parts are put in a table. > > Private clean, Private dirty, Shared clean, Shared dirty > > very technical terms, i found out the meaning after several minutes of > > googling: > > PC = Private-Clean one copy, consistent with memory > > PD = Private-Dirty one copy, not consistent with memory > > SC = Shared-Clean more copies, possibly not consistent with memory > > SD = Shared-Dirty more copies, not consistent with memory > > every translator should decide on his own whether these terms should be > > translated or kept in english, i guess. translator comments for each term > > would make it at least a bit easier to understand the meaning of the > > terms, and to decide whether to translate at all or not. > I actually don't understand the definition you found. hehe, same situation for me before :-) > I've added some comments. thanks. > I think most these issues could be avoided by actually running the translated > software. Most of the translators don't. it's just not their task. for seeing the 2.19.x changes, they would have to build it, and that's not their task - it requires a lot of knowledge. thanks for the patch and the quick answer! i'd prefer a "translators:" instead of "xgettext:" at the beginning, and if i remember correctly, some platforms require /* */ comment style instead of //, but i'm not totally sure with that.
OK, i've commited a updated patch. http://svn.gnome.org/viewcvs/gnome-system-monitor?view=revision&revision=2091 I'll try to handle the nice issue soon. (Anyway, i disagree with you about translators running applications. I've once run GNOME-FR for some months and we really had a lot of issues with blind translations. Translating domain-specific application (like system-monitor, or a sound recorder for example) is very hard. But that's a long story. Let's do our best.) // comments are OK for C++ Thanks
great now, thanks so much!! i know the problem of blind translations (i'm not a translator, but i sometimes take a look at it to understand the problems of translating better), and it would be very good if translators would run the app to see the strings, i know, and i also prefer it. but sometimes it's just not possible, especially for translators with low bandwidth (and some teams don't live in area where broadband access is cheap). guess we have the same opinion here :-)