[GRASS-translations] Re: grass-translations Digest, Vol 32, Issue 4

[Milena Nowotarska]

Hi Markus, hi Jan,

Jan wrote:
>> I think on-line translation would be great. from the software mentioned
>> on the link, I think of pootle. It seems to have everything translators
>> need. while a few of us can do some supervisory job to the language we
>> know.

Markus wrote:
> should we register GRASS there
> http://pootle.locamotion.org/
>
> and make a try? Would you be willing to then lead the test phase?

I have been testing pottle before and now, and compared to other ways/software:
+ it is nice as it provides the possibility to translate messages
without installing anything, requires only login and password
+ it is good for beginners or for a rainy day - not much hassle
- it is not nice, cause might be working slow when using an average
internet connection (as in my case - too slow for me)
- translating the files with lots of messages might be annoying cause
it starts every time form the beginning of the file (and it is slow).
Jumping to the next page is possible of course.
- it does not have *nice* suggestions (not as nice as poEdit for
example) the suggestions cannot be used *as they are*, they need to be
edited, so everything has to be handtyped... (is that a word?)
- if one does not want to install anything, I would recommend using
notepad - the fastest way :) but no message suggestions available ;)
+ please add here your observations...

What I do not know is: does pottle have the possibility to merge the
files between the projects? The whole lot of the messages are the same
in GIS projects and not only. One thing I do not like about
translating - typing for the 3rd, 4th and 5th time what Apply, Save,
Undo, ect. means in my language.

I haven't had time to install svn client yet. When translating
complicated messages (in language which uses 7 cases) it is essential
to see where the message exists. It is possible when one has the
sources, and the sources are linked to translation software. I guess
it can't be done with pottle?

My dream is to unificate somehow all the (osgeo) GIS translations.
Messages translated in GRASS could be then automatically ported to
QGIS and gvSIG (or the other way round ;) It might be done by:
1. persuading all the osgeo projects to use the same (the best, the
most popular?) way of maintaining the files - .po files or .ts files -
are there any technical restrictions to switch to .ts files? (Qt
Linguist is the best known to me tool by now - but I'm a win and mac
user only)
2. creating the application for merging the translation between
projects (so anybody could feed any project with any foreign language
once translated in one of the projects) and putting the application
with instructions into osgeo wiki
3. any other suggestions?

I can prepare a short 'how to start with pottle', in steps - what to
set to work the fastest way, and put it into wiki. If we decide for
pottle it would be essential for beginners. Advanced users mostly
compile from sources and use english version. Teachers would be also
interested in translating but would use rather desktop software or
make the students to translate. The aim of using pottle is to involve
people who don't want to play with installing anything. It is a good
aim.

Milena