Modules/localize

The localize module handle translation in several language of your application. This module is very small in size and very efficient.

Usage

The translation process consists of 3 elements:

• A source file (or several) in which the user places his translations for each supported language.
• A header file with resulting data generated by the Build tool from the source files.
• A module to be initialized in the code, then functions to select a language and to retrieve a given text's translation.

Translation source file

A translation source file is a text file (encoded as UTF-8) that must include:

• A tag that defines each language section as: [language].
• A translation list in the form: key = "text".

For example:

[en]
Start   = "Start"
Options = "Options"
Exit    = "Exit"

[fr]
Start   = "Commencer"
Options = "Options"
Exit    = "Quitter"

[ja]
Start   = "スタート"
Options = "オプション"
Exit    = "しゅうりょう"

You can use as many localization files as you like. You can, for example, group everything together in a single file, have different thematic files (menu, in-game, per mission, etc.), have a file for each language, etc. The Build Tool will gather them all together to generate the file you'll use in your code.

Language codes can be anything you like, but must contain only alphanumeric or '_' characters. We recommend using the 2-letter ISO 639-1 codes to define a language. The use of some given codes enables automatic conversion of UTF-8 characters into those compatible with MSX default fonts. The following are currently supported:

Code ISO 639-1	Code ISO 639-2	Language	Notes	Conversion	Font layout
en	eng	English		Latin
fr	fra fre	French
de	deu ger	German
es	spa	Spanish
ja	jpn	Japanese		Kana
ko	kor	Korean		Hangul
ar	ara	Arabic		Arabic
uk	ukr	Ukrainian		Cyrillic
ru	rus	Russian

In translation entries, the key can only use alphanumeric or '_' characters.

Notes:

• The MSXgl translation file format respects the format of the .ini files, so you can benefit from syntax highlighting if you use this extension. That said, this is not mandatory and you could, for example, use a .loc extension for your localization file.
• Language code int and max are reserved and must not be used.

Generated header file

By adding source files to your project configuration (project_config.js; see bellow), the build tool will automatically group your source files into a header file for inclusion in your code.

You'll get warning messages if some of your translation keys exist in one language but not in another. The same applies if the same key is defined several times for the same language.

Use the module in your code

In your code, you only need 3 functions to use the location system:

• Loc_Initialize to initialize the localization module.
• Loc_SetLanguage to set the current language to use.
• Loc_GetText to get a given text translation in the current language.

For example:

// Include the generated header file
#include "my_localization.h"

// Set the root data generated by the Build tool
Loc_Initialize(g_LocData, TEXT_MAX); 

// Select French language
Loc_SetLanguage(LANG_FR);

// Display the text corresponding to 'HELLO' key
Print_DrawTextAt(10, 10, Loc_GetText(TEXT_HELLO));

Dependencies

Dependency on other modules: None.

Settings

The localization process can be customized in your Build tool configuration file, project_config.js.

Available options:

//-- List files to be localized (array)
LocFiles = [ "file1.ini", "file2.ini" ];

//-- Localization output filename (string)
LocOutput = "localization.h";

//-- Localization structure name (string)
LocStruct = "g_LocData";

Note: If LocFiles is empty (default value), the localization process is disabled.

Appendix

• See also: Sample program s_loc