[i18n] help.xml translation problem

[Jan Schneider]

Zitat von Otto Stolz <Otto.Stolz at uni-konstanz.de>:

> Hello Vilius Šumskas,
>
> <http://www.horde.org/horde/docs/?f=po_README.html> says,
> w.r.t. translations:
>> It is important to set the correct charset for the locale in the
>> Content-Type: header
> and w.r.t. help files:
>> The help files must be encoded in the language's preferred character
>> set.
>
> I had asked:
>> Now, what would happen, if you
>> - set the Conten-Type header in a translation source to UTF-8,
>> - convert both that translation and the pertinent help file to UTF-8,
>> - and re-compile the translation?
>
> You have written:
>> Well, firstly preferred character set for the language Arminas is trying to
>> translate *is* ISO-8859-13.
>
> So, the very 1st question is: Where is that preferred character set
> for any language defined? I was under the impression that it is the
> charset defined in the Content-Type header of the pertinent translation,
> but I could be completely wrong.

The preferred charset is set in config/nls.php, but the content-type  
header in the po files must match.

This is a tribute to older systems that don't support UTF-8 back in  
early Horde days, so they could at least render the interface in this  
charset, if the locale for the translation is installed.

> And the answer should go into the horde/po/README file.
>
> You also have written:
>> Secondly, special characters in help files must be entered numerically
>> especially when they are Unicode.
>
> I guess, this is a misunderstanding.
>
> <http://www.horde.org/horde/docs/?f=po_README.html> says,
> and w.r.t. help files:
>> "There are no predefined entities beyond the XML standard entities [...]
>> Any character available in the language's preferred character set
>> can be entered as a numerical character reference (based on its Unicode
>> scalar value), such as &#160; for the No-Break Space character."
>
> This quote says "can", not "must". Incidentally, I am the author of
> that paragraph, and I meant to make two points:
> - you cannot use, e. g., "&nbsp;" in "&#160;"'s stead,
> - you can only use the characters available in the language's preferred
>   character set (wherever this may be defined), not arbitrary Unicode
>   characters (as in many other XML sources).
>
> Do you think, I should have been more explicit? Would you prefer a different
> wording, and if so, which one?
>
> If UTF-8 happens to be the language's preferred character set, then you
> can enter any conceivable character, as UTF-8 comprises the entire UCS
> (Universal Character Set). On the other hand, if the preferred character
> set is, e. g., ISO 8859-1 (as for German), you cannot even include a
> particular character present on the German keyboard, viz. '€', as this
> one is not contained in that charset.

The help system is different from the regular translations, so it  
should theoretically be possible to choose any charset, as long as you  
specify it in the xml declaration. And you can use the characters  
as-is or as numerical entities, they only have to match the specified  
charset.

> So, I guess, the best long-term route translators could embark on,
> would be to use UTF-8, throughout. This would give them the freedom
> to express their thoughts freely, in particular, to use typographically
> sound punktuation characters, such as (curly) apostrophes, (anti-
> symmetric) quote symbols, and the correct sorts of hyphens, dashes and
> similar marks -- all of these character are missing from the ISO
> 8-bit fonts. Thence my question.

Exactly, and this is planned for Horde 4.

>> Thirdly, I think translation.php is not Unicode aware. But I could be wrong.
>
> How can then km_KH and sl_SI work? Both of those translations have
> utf-8 defined as their respective charset (in the pertinent .po files
> for Horde, Imp, and Turba).

Yes, though this is not limited to unicode, it works with any  
multibyte charset, we have a few of them.

Jan.

-- 
Do you need professional PHP or Horde consulting?
http://horde.org/consulting/