diff -r 80c65c9f7c41 -r ae611743f5c6 doc/book/en/B080-internationalization.en.txt
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+++ b/doc/book/en/B080-internationalization.en.txt	Sat Nov 22 23:59:42 2008 +0100
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+.. -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+.. _internationalization:
+
+
+Internationalization
+====================
+
+Cubicweb fully supports the internalization of it's content and interface.
+
+Cubicweb's interface internationalization is based on the translation project `GNU gettext`_.
+
+.. _`GNU gettext`: http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/
+
+Cubicweb' internalization involves two steps:
+
+* in your Python code and cubicweb-tal templates : mark translatable strings
+
+* in your application : handle the translation catalog
+ 
+String internalization
+----------------------
+
+In the Python code and cubicweb-tal templates translatable strings can be
+marked in one of the following ways :
+
+ * by using the *built-in* function `_` ::
+
+   class PrimaryView(EntityView):
+       """the full view of an non final entity"""
+       id = 'primary'
+       title = _('primary')
+
+  OR
+
+ * by using the equivalent request's method ::
+   
+   class NoResultView(EmptyRsetView):
+       """default view when no result has been found"""
+       id = 'noresult'
+    
+       def call(self, **kwargs):
+           self.w(u'<div class="searchMessage"><strong>%s</strong></div>\n'
+               % self.req._('No result matching query'))
+
+The goal of the *built-in* function `_` is only **to mark the
+translatable strings**, it will only return the translation string
+it-self, but not it's translation.
+
+In the other hand the request's method `_` is ment to retrive the
+proper translation of translation strings in the requested language.
+
+Translations in cubicweb-tal template can also be done with TAL tags
+`i18n:content` and `i18n:replace`.
+
+Note ::
+
+   We dont need to mark the translation strings of entities/relations
+   used by a particular application's schema as they are generated
+   automatically.
+
+
+Handle the translation catalog 
+------------------------------
+
+Once the internalization is done in your application's code, you need
+to populate and update the translation catalog. Cubicweb provides the
+following commands for this purpose:
+
+
+* `i18nlibupdate` updates Cubicweb framework's translation
+  catalogs. Unless you work on the framework development, you dont
+  need to use this command.
+
+* `i18nupdate` updates the translation catalogs of *one particular
+  component* (or of all components). FIXME After this command is
+  executed you must update the translation files *.po* in the "i18n"
+  directory of your template. This command will of course not remove
+  existing translations still in use
+
+* `i18ncompile` recompile the transaltion catalogs of *one particular
+  instance* (or of all instances) after the translation catalogs of
+  its components have been updated. This command is automatically
+  called every time you create or update your instance. The compiled
+  catalogs (*.mo*) are stored in the i18n/<lang>/LC_MESSAGES of
+  application where `lang` is the language identifier ('en' or 'fr'
+  for exemple).
+
+
+Example 
+```````
+You have added and/or modified some translation strings in your application
+(after creating a new view or modifying the application's schema for exemple). 
+To update the translation catalogs you need to do:
+ 
+1. `cubicweb-ctl i18nupdate <component>`
+2. Edit the <component>/xxx.po  files and add missing translations (empty `msgstr`) 
+3. `hg ci -m "updated i18n catalogs"`
+4. `cubicweb-ctl i18n compile <myapplication>`
+