What is nibTranslate ?
nibTranslate is a little Cooca application that provides a graphical front end to nibtool, Apples command line application for nib manipulation. It allows translation and generation of multiple nib files using a single translation dictionary for each language.
nibTranslate is based on mmalcom Crawfords iTranslate application.
For an introduction on the whole topic, please read mmalcoms article "Internationalizing Cocoa applications" on www.stepwise.org
Download
Download nibTranslate 0.8 + Source Code (TAR Format)
Version history
v 0.8 (2006-11-01)
- improved user interface
- added search field
- addded 'verify format strings' function
v 0.7.1 (2006-05-20)
- fixed bug where newly added files were not correctly parsed
v 0.7 (2006-05-08)
- source file references can be either absolut or relative to nibTranslate document
- strings with missing translations can be highlighted
- strings with existing translations can be hidden
- compiled as universal binary
v 0.5 (2004-03-28)
- fixed 'Export translated files for selection...' command
- source files remain alphabetically sorted
- Imports AppleGlot (.ad) files
- fixed 'Reparse Source Files..'
v 0.4 (2003-11-13)
- Imports PowerGlot glossary files that were exported to .txt format
v 0.3 (2003-11-03)
- Warns if nibtool is not installed
v 0.2 (2003-11-01)
- delete menu command works for source files
- Option to use layout of existing translated nib file instead of overwriting it
- Reparse command for source files
v 0.1 (2003-10-31)
Brief Usage Instructions
To translate several .nib and .strings files follow these steps:
1. Open nibTranslate and choose "Import Source Files" from the nibTranslate menu (or click '+'-Button at the lower left). In the upcoming dialog select the files you want to translate (hold down the shift key to select several file at once).
2. Click the '+'- Button next to the Language Popup and add the desired target language(s).
3. Select each nib or strings file from the file list at the left side of the window too see the strings extracted from that file. You can select several files using the shift key or by pressing Command-A.
Click on a line in the main table view. The small table view below will show you from wich files the selected key was extracted, its native value in each of those files, and comments if available. Enter your translation in the "Foreign" - Column. Note that you only have the enter the translation once, no matter in how many source files it appears.
You could also choose "Export Translated Strings" to generate a strings file containing all keys (including their native values and comments). You could than mail this file to a translator and later import it again.
4. When you are down translating choose "Export Translated Files" to create translated nib and strings files. If you already had localized versions of the saved nib files in the destination directory, you can check the 'use layout from existing nib files option' to preserve your layout modification. If the source nib files changed alot you should review the generate files for consistency.
To Do List (Anyone?)
- command line interface (like PackageMaker) to run translation process from XCode Shell Script Phases