docs/TRANSLATORS.md

   1 # Notes for Translators
   2
   3 systemd depends on the `gettext` package for multilingual support.
   4
   5 You'll find the i18n files in the `po/` directory.
   6
   7 The build system (meson/ninja) can be used to generate a template (`*.pot`),
   8 which can be used to create new translations.
   9
  10 It can also merge the template into the existing translations (`*.po`), to pick
  11 up new strings in need of translation.
  12
  13 Finally, it is able to compile the translations (to `*.gmo` files), so that
  14 they can be used by systemd software. (This step is also useful to confirm the
  15 syntax of the `*.po` files is correct.)
  16
  17 ## Creating a New Translation
  18
  19 To create a translation to a language not yet available, start by creating the
  20 initial template:
  21
  22 ```
  23 $ ninja -C build/ systemd-pot
  24 ```
  25
  26 This will generate file `po/systemd.pot` in the source tree.
  27
  28 Then simply copy it to a new <code><i>${lang_code}</i>.po</code> file, where
  29 <code><i>${lang_code}</i></code> is the two-letter code for a language
  30 (possibly followed by a two-letter uppercase country code), according to the
  31 ISO 639 standard.
  32
  33 In short:
  34
  35 <pre>
  36 $ cp po/systemd.pot po/<i>${lang_code}</i>.po
  37 </pre>
  38
  39 Then edit the new <code>po/<i>${lang_code}</i>.po</code> file (for example,
  40 using the `poedit` GUI editor.)
  41
  42 ## Updating an Existing Translation
  43
  44 Start by updating the `*.po` files from the latest template:
  45
  46 ```
  47 $ ninja -C build/ systemd-update-po
  48 ```
  49
  50 This will touch all the `*.po` files, so you'll want to pay attention when
  51 creating a git commit from this change, to only include the one translation
  52 you're actually updating.
  53
  54 Edit the `*.po` file, looking for empty translations and translations marked as
  55 "fuzzy" (which means the merger found a similar message that needs to be
  56 reviewed as it's expected not to match exactly.)
  57
  58 You can use any text editor to update the `*.po` files, but a good choice is
  59 the `poedit` editor, a graphical application specifically designed for this
  60 purpose.
  61
  62 Once you're done, create a git commit for the update of the `po/*.po` file you
  63 touched. Remember to undo the changes to the other `*.po` files (for instance,
  64 using `git checkout -- po/` after you commit the changes you do want to keep.)
  65
  66 # Recompiling Translations
  67
  68 You can recompile the `*.po` files using the following command:
  69
  70 ```
  71 $ ninja -C build/ systemd-gmo
  72 ```
  73
  74 The resulting files will be saved in the `build/po/` directory.