Using Attesoro

Attesoro is free, open source, translation editor for Java programs; for more information or to download up to date versions of this tool, browse the Internet starting at: http://ostermiller.org/attesoro/.

These notes concern the installation and use of Attesoro 1.1; the use is quite straightforward, but a few notes may be useful, especially for non-programmers.

Attesoro is a Java program; if you browse the Internet, you probably have Java Virtual Machine installed on your PC, otherwise you can download it from http://java.com/en/index.jsp.

Once the Java Virtual Machine is installed, with most operating systems, you can run Attesoro by double clicking on its icon.

In particular cases, it may be necessary to run it from the command line; in this case just issue the command:

java -jar attesoro_1_1.jar

Attesoro displays its main window:

You should now select the file to translate; note that Java programs use a different file for each language all sharing the same header; for example:

access_rb.properties

access_rb_en.properties

access_rb_it.properties

The first is the default file (the one used by the Java program if a localized file cannot be found), the other are localized files (for English and Italian in this case).

Select the Open item in the File menu; Attesoro displays a file selection dialog; select 'all files' in the 'Files of type' list, then select the default property file (access_rb.properties) in this case.

Click Open; attesoro will display a list of the already defined languages in the top left area of the window and a list of keys (identifiers for messages) in the bottom left part.

Select a language and a key to display its text and eventually a comment on the right part of the window.

You can edit the text: click on it, then use the normal editing keys.

To add a new locale select Locale/New in the Edit menu. Attesoro will display a list of the possible Locales.

A locale is composed of three parts:

Language: this is the language for the locale, for example French or German.

Country: you can have more locales for the same language to account for the fact that the French spoken in France is different from the French spoken in Canada.

Variant: this field accounts for other differences (like using Euro).

Normally you may want to just select a language and keep the Country and Variant fields generic (All); this would mean that your translation is suitable for all countries in which the selected language is spoken.

Select the new language to be added and click OK. The new language will be added to the list of locales.

Select it, then select the key for the message to translate and type the translation in the text field.

You can then go on to enter all the desired translations; when you have finished translating select Save in 'File' menu to save changes (saving periodically is also recommended if you are making a lot of editing).

Carlo Magnaghi

2003-10-14T17:54:36

Carlo Magnaghi