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How to translate all of Gpg4win into your language

Gpg4win consists of various modules. Some do already support numerous languages, some only a few. Here, you find a description on how to translate each of the modules or just how to check whether it supports your language.

Introduction

Note, that English is always the default base for any translation.

In most cases the GNU gettext technology is applied for translations which more or less means to edit .po files. This is a very common technology and various graphical tools to aid the translation are available (e.g. poedit or KBabel). However, a simple text editor will do the job as well. In many cases this makes sense if the editor supports UTF8. Your language identifier is the language code (ISO 639-1) and optionally combined with country code (ISO 3166). E.g. "de" is german language, "de_DE" is German language as used in Germany and "de_CH" is the German language as used in Switzerland.

Gpg4win Installer

Available languages

See the .po filenames in the Gpg4win po directory. This is the most current status, so in case of relatively new files the most recent release of Gpg4win might not yet support it.

How to initialize a new language

The procedure is the standard procedure of GNU gettext to create a new PO file.

It is highly recommended to coordinate with the Gpg4win developers (via the Gpg4win developer mailing list) before you start if you want to have your language integrated into Gpg4win as an officially supported language.

Also, the po files should not be in UTF-8 but rather in some Windows code page. The Gpg4win developers will help you to find the best option or whether the support of your language will cause bigger problems.

How to update an available language

This should work on basically any GNU/Linux or other unixoid system:

  1. Get the sources for the website anonymously (without write access):
    git clone git://git.gnupg.org/gpg4win.git
  2. Configure the whole package:
    cd gpg4win
    ./autogen.sh
    ./configure --enable-maintainer-mode --host=i586-mingw32msvc
    
  3. Check the status of the translations:
    cd po
    make update-po
    

    This will report about the total number of strings that are marked inside the source code for translation, about the number of fuzzy and un-translated strings. If only the number of translated messages is reported, there is nothing to do and you can stop for now. At a later time you might want to get the newest updates with the following command to repeat the check:

    git pull && git up

  4. Edit the .po file to resolve fuzzy and missing translations with your preferred tool. Then repeat "make update-po" to check whether you completed the translation successfully.

How to activate an available language

Depending on the language environment of your Windows system, the appropriate language is selected automatically, if available. Otherwise, English is used.

Gpg4win Website

Available languages

In the upper right hand corner of this web page, you will see a list of available translations. For those language names that are struck out, only the current page is not translated, but the language is supported in general.

Before you start, please coordinate with us, e.g. (via the Gpg4win developer mailing list). Check out the technical steps to maintain the website .

How to initialize a new language

You basically need to create a "-LL.htm4" file for any file in doc/website that ends with "-de.htm4" (where LL is code of your language). Basis of the translation are the files without the LL suffix which are in fact the English defaults. Some further changes are needed for the website build process.

How to update an available language

This is a difficult task and requires some discipline.

The English version is the master version. Whenever a change is made to one of the English files, the other languages must be synchronized. A good notification system for translators is the Gpg4win commit mailing list (Archive | Subscribe).

Currently, there is no automatic detection routine to mark non-English pages that have not been updated although the corresponding master has. And it is virtually impossible for the Gpg4win developer team to check the synchronization work nor the correctness of translations. So, that's where discipline comes into play.

How to activate an available language

Simply click on the top-right language you prefer.

Gpg4win Compendium

Available languages

The Gpg4win Compendium is available in German and English language. The translation into English is currently not finished (as of: September 2010). Translations from German compendium into other languages are most welcome! Please contact the Gpg4win developer mailing list if you want to start with a new translation.

How to initialize a new language

Basically you need to pick the German file doc/manual/gpg4win-compendium-de.tex and translate the text to your language. Next there are many screenshots to be done with the software running in your language.

Note, that this file is a LaTeX file and you should be basically familiar with LaTeX (i.e. know what is text and what are commands to determine what needs to be translated and what not). Also, you should work with a comfortable and suitable editor for plain text.

It is highly recommended to coordinate with the Gpg4win developers (via the Gpg4win developer mailing list) before you start.

How to update an available language

The German version is the master version. Whenever a change is made to the German files, the other languages must be synchronized. A good notification system for translators is the Gpg4win commit mailing list (Archive | Subscribe).

Currently, there is no automatic detection routine to mark non-German parts that have not been updated although the corresponding master has. And it is virtually impossible for the Gpg4win developer team to check the synchronization work nor the correctness of translations. So, that's where discipline comes into play.

How to activate an available language

Simply read the text (html, pdf or print-outs) in one of the available languages.

GpgOL

Available languages

See the .po filenames in the GpgOL po directory. This is the most current status, so in case of relatively new files the most recent release of GpgOL might not yet support it.

How to initialize a new or update an available language

GpgOL uses GNU gettext and therefore the standard methods for GNU gettext apply. GpgOL is managed by the GnuPG developer team which coordinates translations on the GnuPG-i18n Mailing List.

How to activate an available language

Depending on the language environment of your Windows system, the appropriate language is selected automatically, if available. Otherwise, English is used.

GpgEX

Available languages

See the .po filenames in the GpgEX po directory. This is the most current status, so in case of relatively new files the most recent release of GpgEX might not yet support it.

How to initialize a new or update an available language

GpgEX uses GNU gettext and therefore the standard methods for GNU gettext apply. GpgEX is managed by the GnuPG developer team which coordinates translations on the GnuPG-i18n Mailing List.

How to activate an available language

Depending on the language environment of your Windows system, the appropriate language is selected automatically, if available. Otherwise, English is used.

Kleopatra

This certificate manager is a project of KDE. Please ask the i18n KDE team for more information.

GnuPG

Available languages

Not yet documented here. Please ask on the gpg4win developer mailing list for support.

How to initialize a new or update an available language

GnuPG uses GNU gettext and therefore the standard methods for GNU gettext apply. The GnuPG developer team coordinates translations on the GnuPG-i18n Mailing List.

How to activate an available language

Depending on the language environment of your Windows system, the appropriate language is selected automatically, if available. Otherwise, english is used.