How to translate JClic into your language

JClic messages are organized in 11 templates. Some of them have very few messages, other are large files:

basicmessages	Messages of the basic infrastructure used by JClic (classes of edu.xtec.utils).	80 strings
jclicmessages	Messages of the JClic core system	187 strings
playermessages	Messages of JClic player.	196 strings
persistentpathsmessages	Messages used only when users start JClic for first time.	3 strings
authormessages	Messages used in JClic Author.	796 strings
reportmessages	Messages used in the reports system of JClic.	136 strings
reportservermessages	Texts that appear on the stand-alone version of the JClic Reports server.	71 strings
listactivities	Contains the list of the different types of JClic activities and a short description of each one.	16 strings
listshapers	List of the currently available shaping engines used in JClic activities to divide panels in cells.	5 strings
contentproviders	List of currently available automatic providers of content for JClic activities.	2 strings
installer	Messages shown by the Windows installer.	12 strings

The translation system of JClic is hosted by Launchpad, a free software hosting and development platform created by Canonical, the promoters of Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

The steps to follow in order to start a translation of JClic are:

• Subscribe yourself to the JClic translation mailing list. Is a low-traffic discussion list, and the main communication channel among people interested in helping to translate JClic. Begin sending a message to the list introducing yourself and asking if anyone have already started the translation into your language.
• Go to https://launchpad.net/ and register your e-mail address in the portal if you don't have done this yet. You will need to be a registered user of Launchpad in order to collaborate with the project.
• Log-in to Launchpad, click on your name (at top-right) to go to your profile, click on Overview and then on Set preferred languages. Check the languages you are able to translate into.
• Go to the JClic project in Launchpad, located in https://launchpad.net/jclic
• Click on Help Translate.
• Select one of the listed templates.
• Here you will see the list of the current languages
• Click on the language you want to start working on
• You will see for each string in the template:
  • The English term or expression to be translated
  • The current translated string (if yet translated)
  • In some cases, a suggestion. Suggestion are taken from other projects in Launchpad that also have the same string translated to your language.
  • A text field, where you must write the translated expression unless you accept the suggestion or the already translated text.
  • Under the text field there is a guess: the text "Located in" displays the internal key used by JClic for this string. This can be helpful in some ambiguous expressions.
  • If you are not sure about your translation, check the field Someone should review this translation, but be careful with this option because this expressions will remain freezed in Launchpad until you (or someone else) uncheck it.
• Start translating some texts. When you finish, click on Save & Continue.

For templates with a larger number of expressions, it can be more convenient for you to work off-line. To do this, click on Download translations and you will receive a message with a link to a special file with extension ".po".

To edit this files you can use a simple text editor or, more better, a specialized app like:

• poEdit, a very powerful cross-platform software for dealing with gettext (".po") files.
• kBabel, the main translation tool of KDE.

When you have finished translating the file, go back to the JClic project in Launchpad and use the Upload a file feature to import your work into the system. This process can take a while to be completed.

Please write to the JClic translation list in order to notify the developers that you have finished your work, so they can incorporate it in the next release of JClic.

Test files

If you want to test your translations in a real working environment, download the last experimental build of JClic.

To download the files, right-click on it and select "Save to disk"

• jclic.jar (28/May/2010 - 23:00)
• jclicauthor.jar (28/May/2010 - 23:00)
• jclicreports.jar (28/May/2010 - 23:00)

To launch the programs, download the .jar file into a folder, open a console and write:

java -jar jclic.jar

java -Xmx256m -jar jclicauthor.jar

java -jar jclicreports.jar

Windows installer:

• jclic-0.2.1.1-DEV.exe (28/May/2010 - 23:00)

Experimental builds will be updated when significant changes are detected in Launchpad, or upon translators request.

Translating other projects related to JClic

If you want to collaborate in the translation of the JClic module for Moodle, take a look at: Jclicmoodle:en - How to translate JClic module for Moodle into your language.