Translating

Translating BIPES interface is essential to make the project more accessible.

Even if you only have an hour here and there to contribute, you can help, every string translated makes a difference.

Language availability

To start our journey as a BIPES translator, check if the language is already available:

ISO 639 format	Language
en	English
es	Español
pt-br	Português Brasileiro
de	German
fr	French
it	Italian
nb	Norwegian
zh-hans	Chinese (simplified)
zh-hant	Chinese (traditional)

If not, feel free to include it in the source code at app.py#L18 and create a copy of en.js at static/msg named with the desired language code, for example, make a copy of en.js as fr.js for French.

Note

By default, untranslated strings should be kept in English and not empty.

How to translate

BIPES uses the global Msg JavaScript variable (available in every file) to store all strings of the user’s preferred language, so you have to just pass the string key as in this example:

function language (button_, panel_) {
  panel.call (this, button_, panel_);
  this.panel.appendChild(document.createTextNode(Msg['languageTooltip']));
}

Where the string key is languageTooltip and Msg['languageTooltip'] will automatically complete with the user prefered language.

Also, like i18n , a JSON like structure is used to store strings, as seen in this chunk of static/msg/pt-br.js:

var Msg = {
  blocks:'Blocos',
  FileManager:'Gerenciador de arquivos',
  HideShowProjectTree:'Ocultar/mostrar árvore de projecto',
 }

The string key is declared in camel case and in English, followed by its translation. All langauge files inside static/msg should be in sync, with the same string keys at the exact same position.

Thus, to include new translations, just create the string key at every file inside static/msg, and use it anywhere in the codebase as Msg['MyStringKeyHere'].

To make this repetitive process instantaneous, use sed:

sed -i 'N i\MY_LINE' static/msg/*.js

Replacing N with the line number you wish to append and MY_LINE with the line you want, for example:

sed -i "30 i\  MyStringTest:'My string test'," static/msg/*.js

Remember to indent with two space and include a comma in the end of the line.

Google Blockly exception

For the Google Blockly’s template definitions, the strings are injected directly into the Blockly object and are declared at the top of the translation files in upper case instead of camel case, for example:

 Blockly.Msg["DISPLAYS"] = "Displays";
 Blockly.Msg["LOOPS"] = "Laços";
 Blockly.Msg['DOCUMENTATION'] = "Documentação";

Then, at the template definition:

# NeoPixel LED Strip
<category name="NeoPixel LED Strip">
<label text="NeoPixel RGB LED Strip"></label>
<button text="%{DOCUMENTATION}: neopixel" callbackKey="loadDoc"></button>

%{DOCUMENTATION} will be replaced with Documentation in English and Documentação in Brazilian Portuguese.