issue-#110 use mapped strings for labels in all forms

[Josef Templ]

This issue if or localization of forms.
Instead of hardcoded labels, mapped strings must be used in all forms.

For the issue see http://redmine.blackboxframework.org/issues/110.

Work on this issue can only start after #105 has been merged to master.

- Josef

[DGDanforth]

Grumble.
Although I agree that support for internationalization of BlackBox is necessary,
the process of doing so makes things very cumbersome.

Suggestion: Make fields automatically (invisibly) pass through the Strings translation process
using the default language.

-Doug

[Josef Templ]

Doug, for the user of BlackBox there is no difference.
This is a one time effort and very systematic.

Mapping labels implicitly would not work, I am afraid, because
1. it is not known which Strings file to use (which subsystem?)
2. it may lead to unintended mappings that are simply wrong.

What exactly do you mean by
"the process of doing so makes things very cumbersome"?

- Josef

[DGDanforth]

What exactly do you mean by
"the process of doing so makes things very cumbersome"?

- Josef

The menu files become cluttered with #System& which looks very messy to me.
I agree that explicit pointing to different Strings files is necessary, however,
it bends my sense of simplicity and "one place only" to see all of the duplications.
-Doug

[Josef Templ]

This issue is about forms, not about menus.
But yes, essentially it is the same approach and localization
comes with some costs.
However, I don't see a way to avoid that.

- Josef

[Josef Templ]

I should have added that in your own forms you don't have to make any changes
unless you want to enable localization of your own forms.
The label mapping was always built in to BlackBox but so far it has not been used for
its own forms.

- Josef

[Robert]

The only place I know where Forms have been fully internationalised (English, French, & German) is the drawing package Escher on CPC.
(What about American, for those who would write internationalized!).

It was a lot of work. (I didn't do it, thanks to Gérard Meunier for most of the work, and to Helmut for the German strings.) But I agree it is an important job.

[Ivan Denisov]

It should be done manually anyway because all forms need to be checked for width of elements. I can help Josef, because I am very interested in this feature and I will check all widths for Russian translation anyway before voting.

[Josef Templ]

A first version has been committed to issue-#110.

(I think that I have avoided the merge conflict with #105
by putting the final version of Host/Rsrc/Prefs into #105
and avoiding any change of Host/Rsrc/Strings in #105.)

When working with mapped labels the new > button in the inspector
was extremely helpful, BTW.

What is still missing is a search in Rsrc.
It is not possible to find out if some key/label is already in one of the Strings files.
This is a nightmare.
In my private BlackBox I introduced such a search a long time ago.
This would have been my second wish for a new feature after finishing with the CPC changes.

- Josef

[DGDanforth]

In my private BlackBox I introduced such a search a long time ago.
This would have been my second wish for a new feature after finishing with the CPC changes.

- Josef

I use GftSearchFiles. I have a newer version that I have not yet released.
-Doug