GrandPerspective localization

GrandPerspective is fully internationalized and supports Base Internationalization since May 2016. This means it is now easier to provide translations. You do not have to update the UI anymore in Interface Builder.

Express your interest

If you want to help out with making GrandPerspective available in your mother tongue, or any other language you speak fluently, go to the GrandPerspective Localization forum:

  • If you want to help with updating an existing localization, find the corresponding thread, and see if you can help.
  • If you want to provide a new localization, check if there's not a thread for it already, and if not, create one to express your interest.

Either way, I will get back to you and provide you with the XLIFF file that you can then start translating.

Translation process

Adding a new localization to GrandPerspective requires creation of an XLIFF file that contains all translations. This file can be imported in Xcode to create a new version of the app. See Apple's localization documentation for details.

In short, we will follow the following steps:

  1. You receive the XLIFF file from me
  2. You provide/update translations for all strings in the XLIFF that are missing, outdated, or incorrect
  3. You return the updated XLIFF file to me
  4. I will provide you with a new version of GrandPerspective that includes these translations
  5. You check the result. If any changes are needed, go to Step 2
  6. Once the translations are of sufficient quality, I will release a new version of GrandPerspective with the new translations

Note: If you want to, you can run GrandPerspective with your translations before you return the translated XLIFF to me. This requires using Xcode and retrieving the GrandPerspective source code. From Xcode you can then open the GrandPerspective project, import your XLIFF, build the application yourself, and run it. However, this is not recommended unless you are familiar with building Mac apps.

Items not to translate

You should not translate the following:

  • GrandPerspective

Not all strings in the XLIFF file require translation. This holds for all strings that are hidden or placeholders which are replaced at runtime. This includes the following:

  • OtherViews
  • Text Cell
  • Item1
  • Item2
  • Item3
  • Item 1
  • Item 2
  • Item 3
  • 888.8 MB
  • (888.8 MB)
  • 0 bytes
  • 2000-01-01 12:00:00
  • 00:00:00 28-12-88
  • 1234567890
To facilitate translation, the initial XLIFF file that I will provide will mark the strings for which translation is required as "TO DO".

Follow standard terminology

Use Apple's terminology when possible. Check Apple applications to see what terms are used in your locale.

Gotcha's

If you decide to also translate the help documentation watch out for the following:

  • The HTML help documentation is using the Western (ISO Latin 1) text encoding. This is therefore also the text encoding specified in the head of the HTML page, i.e. using charset=iso-8859-1. You can use a different text encoding if you need to (i.e. when you need characters that are not available in the Western (ISO Latin 1) encoding). However, you then need to update the Content-Type meta tag in the head of the HTML file(s) accordingly.

  • Do not translate the content of the AppleTitle meta tag in the main help file. The content of this tag in the GrandPerspectiveHelp.html should be set to "GrandPerspective Help", as the help documentation will otherwise not load in the Help Viewer. The reason is that the content must match the value of CFBundleHelpBookName in the application's Info.plist file (which is not localizable).