[Cuis-dev] Locale Plugin and Gettext package

[Juan Vuletich]

On 10/29/2021 6:51 AM, Hilaire Fernandes via Cuis-dev wrote:
> Hello,
>
> A while ago, more than 10 years. I ported to Pharo the original 
> Gettext[1] package developed by the Etoys team[2], to use it with 
> DrGeo. Gettext is a system to translate the string in an image. It is 
> originally a C library. There is then a whole ecosystem to manage the 
> translation of the application[3]. The translations are done per 
> domain correlated with class category in Smalltalk. So you can manage 
> translation with different .po files per class category. It is a very 
> valuable addition when you are targeting end user, out of the English 
> sphere.
>
> To work it requires the LocalePlugin to be used in the Smalltalk 
> system, to detect which locale to use and which translation file to use.
>
> The gettext package in the Pharo community has continued to evolve 
> with fixes[2]. It is used by people developing end user web 
> application. The Squeak community seems to have completely forgotten 
> about it. So a port to Cuis should be done from the Pharo version 
> found in SmalltalkHub or GIT.
>
> This is a port I will have to do for DrGeo. Other people interested to 
> join in the effort?
>
> Best
>
> Hilaire
>
> [1 ] https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/
>
> [2] http://smalltalkhub.com/
>
> [3] https://translations.launchpad.net/drgeo
>

Hi Hilaire,

This is a very welcome addition to the Cuis landscape!

At some point you might need help with formats. In Cuis, String supports 
the latin alphabet, but not others. For read-only labels, using 
truetype, we can show Unicode BMP, but text needs to be UTF-8 
(ByteArray) or UTF-32 (WordArray). I'll be more than happy to help in 
any way I can, especially with that part.

Cheers,

-- 
Juan Vuletich
www.cuis-smalltalk.org
https://github.com/Cuis-Smalltalk/Cuis-Smalltalk-Dev
https://github.com/jvuletich
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-vuletich-75611b3
@JuanVuletich