Hi all, As many of you are probably already aware, a while back I started coordinating language translations for FreeDOS and related projects over on GitHub in the FD-NLS project[1]. The translators that have been contributing do a great job. But with all the various formats and methods used by the individual projects, there are often difficulties providing some of the translation needs.
It is a fairly large and complex problem. It has numerous interwoven complications and issues to consider. But, providing translations for FreeDOS is going to be getting a whole lot easier. Since the release of FreeDOS 1.3 final, I’ve begun to tackle the problem. The first step in process was to provide a easier way to translate the package descriptions. The package descriptions are the information provided about the package in programs like FDIMPLES and websites like the Official online repository. Translating those was done through a large CSV spreadsheet. Although better than previous methods, it was easy to make mistakes while editing the extremely wide spread sheet. It required conversion to and from UTF-8 to codepage formats. Often programs would manage to not properly format the columns or mangle the codepage versions. It was a "hope for the best” then “fix what is broken” system. Well, step 1 is nearly complete. The macOS version[2] (my primary development system) of the cross-platform desktop application works great. There are a couple minor FPC/Lazarus UI framework issues possibly related to the slightly different compiler/IDE versions that will require me to implement work-arounds. But, the Linux and Windows versions should be out over the next day or so. The macOS version[2] is available now. And for anyone who is curious, a screen shot[3] of package description editing is provided on the download page. Step 1 required a lot of “under the hood” stuff. But, it provides a means to easily edit the package description translations. It has automatic UTF-8/Codepage conversion. It even includes a live simulated preview of how the translation will appear in FDIMPLES using DOS codepages and fonts. Step 2 will involve translation support for the projects themselves. It will be a long process with many substeps. But, the end goal will include live previews for the different types and formats of translations with sample data. Just to name a few, Kitten based programs, Source code based, Html based, and many more. It won’t be done overnight. But, in many small steps and stages. On a side note, all the nitty-gritty stuff that deals with the FD-NLS repository, translation files, codepage/UTF-8 conversion, etc. is being done separately from the UI code through an “API”. That makes it a little more time consuming to create the Desktop app. But, it eventually would make it easier to port versions to mobile platforms. It would also make it possible to create some command-line utilities to deal with all the various needs. It could even possibly permit switching to modern translation systems like PO files. To contribute translations using the FD-NLS Desktop app, it is very easy. You head over to the FD-NLS project[1] and clone/download the whole thing to your hard drive somewhere. Run the FD-NLS app and point it at that repository. If the language you want to create translations for is not yet created, add settings for it and possibly create a codepage map (all in app stuff, and fairly easy). Then have fun translating. When satisfied, push your changes to the GitHub repository and we can merge them. If you created a new language profile or codepage map, be sure to include that in your commit. Eventually, the handling of the git repo related aspects will be integrated into the application as well. Anyway, once I work-around the cross-platform issues for Linux and Windows, I’ll post an update. :-) Jerome [1] https://github.com/shidel/fd-nls <https://github.com/shidel/fd-nls> [2] https://up.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX <https://up.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX> [3] https://dnld.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX-001.png <https://dnld.lod.bz/FDNLS_OSX-001.png>
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