[GRASS-dev] Message standardization

Hamish hamish_nospam at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 18 06:10:09 EDT 2007


Michael Barton wrote:
> 
> Module descriptions are a different sort of beast from error
> messages--and from GUI messages and other descriptors. All need
> standardization, but I'd recommend doing them one at a time so as not
> to overwhelm everyone.
> 
> If we can standardize error messages first it might be the simplest
> piece to attack. Then move on to others like module descriptions in
> the module code, module doc formatting, GUI, etc.


I would consider module and option/flag descriptions much easier "low-
hanging fruit" than error messages. For them the rules are simpler,

- module descriptions end with a "."
- option/flag descriptions do not.
- Multi-sentence descriptions are probably good candidates to break up
into a short ->label + a ->description to hold additional info.
- Begin with a capital letter.
- Don't pad whitespace.


For standard error/warning messages (ie the ones that always come right
after G_open_file() or whatever) we can pick something nice and specify
that on the wiki page to avoid repetitious translations of almost
identical messages.

For the vast majority of error/warning/regular messages, they are
single-use, module dependant, and maybe put there by the programmer on a
just-in-case basis, ie they may never be seen by a user. Contrast that
with the module description and option descriptions which have high
exposure, & thus greater result from a translator's time.

library translations have high-reuse value.
GUI translations have high-exposure value.


2c,
Hamish




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