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diff --git a/doc/localefile.md b/doc/localefile.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..777e759 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/localefile.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ + +# Locale file format + +*Note: This document explains the old conf/ini-like file format. +The new interface uses [gettext][gettext] `.po` files. +See [The Format of PO Files][PO-Files] for more information.* + +Here's an example for a Spanish locale file (`es.txt`): + + # A comment. + # Another comment. + This line is ignored since it has no equals sign. + Hello, World! = Hola, Mundo! + String with\nnewlines = Cadena con\nsaltos de linea + String with an \= equals sign = Cadena con un signo de \= igualdad + +Locale (or translation) files are plain text files consisting of lines of the +form `source text = translated text`. The file must reside in the mod's `locale` +subdirectory, and must be named after the two-letter +[ISO 639-1 Language Code][ISO639-1] of the language you want to support. + +The translation files should use the UTF-8 encoding. + +Lines beginning with a pound sign are comments and are effectively ignored +by the reader. Note that comments only span until the end of the line; +there's no support for multiline comments. Lines without an equals sign are +also ignored. + +Characters that are considered "special" can be "escaped" so they are taken +literally. There are also several escape sequences that can be used: + + * Any of `#`, `=` can be escaped to take them literally. The `\#` + sequence is useful if your source text begins with `#`. + * The common escape sequences `\n` and `\t`, meaning newline and + horizontal tab respectively. + * The special `\s` escape sequence represents the space character. It + is mainly useful to add leading or trailing spaces to source or + translated texts, as these spaces would be removed otherwise. + +[gettext]: https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext +[PO-Files]: https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/PO-Files.html +[ISO639-1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes |