translation_process.md

Translations

The Qt GUI can be easily translated into other languages. Here's how we handle those translations.

Files and Folders

bitcoin-qt.pro

This file takes care of generating .qm files from .ts files. It is mostly automated.

src/qt/bitcoin.qrc

This file must be updated whenever a new translation is added. Please note that files must end with .qm, not .ts.

<qresource prefix="/translations">
    <file alias="en">locale/bitcoin_en.qm</file>
    ...
</qresource>

src/qt/locale/

This directory contains all translations. Filenames must adhere to this format:

bitcoin_xx_YY.ts or bitcoin_xx.ts

Source file

src/qt/locale/bitcoin_en.ts is treated in a special way. It is used as the source for all other translations. Whenever a string in the code is changed this file must be updated to reflect those changes. Usually, this can be accomplished by running lupdate (included in the Qt SDK).

An updated source file should be merged to github and transifex will pick it up from there. Afterwards the new strings show up as "Remaining" in transifex and can be translated.

Syncing with transifex

We are using http://transifex.net as a frontend for translating the client.

https://www.transifex.net/projects/p/bitcoin/resource/tx/

The "transifex client" (see: http://help.transifex.net/features/client/) will help with fetching new translations from transifex. Use the following config to be able to connect with the client.

.tx/config

[main]
host = https://www.transifex.net

[bitcoin.tx]
file_filter = src/qt/locale/bitcoin_<lang>.ts
source_file = src/qt/locale/bitcoin_en.ts
source_lang = en

.tx/config (for Windows)

[main]
host = https://www.transifex.net

[bitcoin.tx]
file_filter = src\qt\locale\bitcoin_<lang>.ts
source_file = src\qt\locale\bitcoin_en.ts
source_lang = en

It is also possible to directly download new translations one by one from transifex.

Fetching new translations

1. tx pull -a
2. update src/qt/bitcoin.qrc manually or via ls src/qt/locale/*ts|xargs -n1 basename|sed 's/\(bitcoin_\(.*\)\).ts/<file alias="\2">locale/\1.qm<\/file>/'
3. git add new translations from src/qt/locale/