(this messages was also posted on the [antville-dev] mailling list. so you may track the discussion there.

i uploaded a first version of a future antville translator application. the goal is to provide an easy to use web interface for translators, so they don't have to mess around with .properties and .skin files.

Download:
translator_20040404 (application/x-zip-compressed, 158 KB)
Update: (incl. skin translation)
translator_20040403b (application/x-zip-compressed, 161 KB)

Screenshot:


please don't check the code - it's a mess so far. but you may test it to get a better idea of what i'm working on.

WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR:

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i started to change the directory and filename structure. (this is a proposal)

instead of l10n we could also name this "localzations" or "lang" or "languages" or "translations"

every directory within l10n that matches ab || ab-AB(C) will be detected as a new language.


app/ --> the = apps/antville most of the time
app/l10n --> the localizations
app/l10n/en --> a two digit language code
app/l10n/en-US --> which may be followed by a country code
app/l10n/en/messages.properties --> language property files always have the suffix .properties
app/l10n/en/skindescriptions.properties --> there may be more than one language.properties file
app/l10n/en/admin.properties
app/l10n/en/skins --> skins may also be translated
app/l10n/en/skins/Story --> prototype name
app/l10n/en/skins/Story/edit.skin --> skin file


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as michi proposed i did start to split up the messages files and renamed them to always use .properties as the extension. the advantages are obvious:

* messages.en & co don't just contain messages any more
* files become more handy and readable
* there is the possibility of "extensions" properties files
* your editor will recognize .properties files by it's extension

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i also moved the skin files to the localization directory

* i would propose to move .skin files away from code (as gobble does)
* with res.skinpath it's very easy to switch between language versions, and to collect the right skins (you don't need to)


TO DO:
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there is no support for skin translation yet!

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i'm thinking about an TranslationItem prototype, which would keep track of changes and updates, which can't be stored within the files. (creator, modifier, accepted, versions, ... )

matthias

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