localize-mainmenu

Command line tool that localizes the common main menu items of an OS X app automatically.

Problem

Localizing Apps for OS X also requires localizing the main menu. It includes a bunch of items that are common throughout all OS X apps (like Copy, Paste, and so forth). Unfortunately, Apple does not automatically provide localizations for those keys after adding a new langange. So either you or your translators need to take care of it.

Solution

Let this small command line tool take care of the common menu items for you. Neither you nor your translators need to bother localizing them. Furthermore, the localization is based on Apple’s built-in apps so you don’t have to worry about consistency.

Install

[sudo] npm install localize-mainmenu -g

How it works

1. Add a new language in XCode.

2. Export an XLIFF file.

   1. Select your project file in the project navigator.
   2. [Main Menu] Editor > Export for Localization…

3. Run localize-mainmenu from your command line.

   $ cd /path/to/your/export

   $ localize-mainmenu de.xliff de_menu_done.xliff

4. Send the output file de_menu_done.xliff to you translator(s) to get the actual important stuff localized.

5. Import the xliff file back in

   1. Select your project file in the project navigator.
   2. [Main Menu] Editor > Import Localizations…

Requirements

• XCode 6 (or higher)
• Node.js

Contributing

Feel free to contribute, especially by adding more languages. Make sure the localization matches Apple’s strings so that the Apps won’t feel alien.

Please fork the repo and create a pull request when you are done.

Workflow for adding new langauges

1. Make copy of languages/_template.json and name it using the two lowercase language code. (e.g. de.json).
2. Fill out the new language JSON file.
   • Run node generate_search_translations_commands.js. This will generate command line commands for each existing language to look for tokens within your installed apps.
   • The App Language Chooser allows you to start any app (prefer Apple’s like Pages) in the language of your choice. This is a handy way to check how Apple translated particular menu items.
   • Here’s a Map of Standard Internationalised OS X Application Menu Strings to Menu Locations to help you find the localised reference strings in Pages.
   • As @catlan points out in Issue #1 there is also a collection of translated menu nib files that you can refer to.
   • extract-localization by @hendriks73 can be used to extract localized strings from existing OS X apps.
3. Run node validate_language_files.js to validate whether all languages are formatted in correct JSON and check the token quantity of all files.
4. Commit new langauge files one by one.

Miscellaneous

• Here is a short list of XLIFF-capable editors I started. Feel free to contribute or hint to an existing collection.