using-translations.md

Using Translations

The purpose of translations in lane is to automate handling of text for Android, iOS and web applications.

Translation in lane provides these functions:

1. An optional helper function for downloading CSV files from Google Sheets.
2. A function that writes out the actual files and support files needed for each application.

A Practical Example

Suppose you have a Google Sheet document with an ID of MY-DOCUMENT which contains translations for two languages, English and Danish. This documents should have contents similar to this:

Key	Context	EN	DA
WELCOME_MESSAGE	Message upon login	Hello %1	Hej %1
BUY	The purchase now button	Acquire	Køb

Note that the string key is in column 1 and that English is in column 3 and Danish in column 4 and that the header row is only for us humans.

We will assume you already have your credentials in lane/translations.json (for help with credentials see ).

What we will be doing to generate translation files for Android, iOS and web is to use docker run to invoke lane. Below are examples of how such calls should be integrated into tooling your project may already be using for easier copy-and-paste, but ...

Remember:

1. Update the document id, if used
2. Remove download step if you are using a local CSV file.
3. Adjust the configurations and other options to match your needs.

Alright, go ahead and copy!

Android

We will update the build.gradle file so we can update all translations by running a gradle task, or simply:

./gradle updateStrings

The updates to a build.gradle file should look like this:

static void executeWithErrorHandling(ArrayList<String> command, File dir) {
    def process = command.execute(null, dir)
    process.waitFor()
    if (process.exitValue() != 0) throw new GradleException("Gradle exited with: " + process.exitValue() + "\nDetails: " + process.errorReader().text)
}

static void dockerRun(ArrayList<String> args, File dir) {
    executeWithErrorHandling(['docker', 'run', '-it', '--rm', '--quiet-pull', '-v .:/workspace', '-w /workspace', 'ghcr.io/codereaper/lane@1', '--'] + args, dir)
}

tasks.register('updateStrings') {
    dockerRun(['lane', 'translations', 'download',
            '--credentials', 'lane/translations.json', '--output', 'lane/translations.csv', '--document', 'MY-DOCUMENT'],
        projectDir)

    dockerRun(['lane', 'translations', 'generate',
            '--fill-in', '--input', 'lane/translations.csv', '--type', 'android',
            '--index', '1', '--main-index', '3',
            '--configuration', '3 src/main/res/values/strings.xml',
            '--configuration', '3 src/main/res/values-en-rGB/strings.xml',
            '--configuration', '4 src/main/res/values-da/strings.xml'],
        projectDir)
}

iOS

We will add a target to a Makefile so we can update all translations by running a single task:

make update-strings

The updates to a Makefile file should look like this:

LANE_RUN = docker run -it --rm --quiet-pull -v .:/workspace -w /workspace ghcr.io/codereaper/lane@1 -- lane

update-strings:
    $(LANE_RUN) translations download --credentials lane/translations.json --output lane/translations.csv \
        --document MY-DOCUMENT

    $(LANE_RUN) translations generate --fill-in --input lane/translations.csv --type ios \
        --output iOSProject/Assets/Translations.swift \
        --index 1 --main-index 3 \
        --configuration, '3 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/Base.lproj/Localizable.strings' \
        --configuration, '3 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/Base.lproj/InfoPlist.strings' \
        --configuration, '3 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/en-GB.lproj/Localizable.strings' \
        --configuration, '3 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/en-GB.lproj/InfoPlist.strings' \
        --configuration, '4 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/da.lproj/Localizable.strings' \
        --configuration, '4 iOSProject/Assets/Translations/da.lproj/InfoPlist.strings'

Web

We will add a target to a Makefile so we can update all translations by running a single task:

make update-strings

The updates to a Makefile file should look like this:

LANE_RUN = docker run -it --rm --quiet-pull -v .:/workspace -w /workspace ghcr.io/codereaper/lane@1 -- lane

update-strings:
    $(LANE_RUN) translations download --credentials lane/translations.json --output lane/translations.csv \
        --document MY-DOCUMENT

    $(LANE_RUN) translations generate --fill-in --input lane/translations.csv --type json \
        --index 1 --main-index 3 \
        --configuration, '3 src/locale/messages/en.json' \
        --configuration, '4 src/locale/messages/da.json'