How to translate Makelangelo software

As of Makelangelo Software v7.23.0 it’s now easy for you to translate Makelangelo software into your favorite language. Here’s how!

Inside every copy of Makelangelo Software are XML files that have to start like so:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE language>
<language>
  <meta>
    <name>English</name>
    <author>Dan Royer (dan@marginallyclever.com)</author>
  </meta>
</language>

• The <name> field is the translation language and it MUST be there.
• The<author> field should be your name and some contact method. It MUST be there.

In my example I’m working with English, so I’ll call the file english.xml and put it in the same folder as the Makelangelo-7.23.0-with-dependencies.jar file. When I run the app it will load the new XML file first. All the translations are missing in the new file and it will look like this:

Now I’ll have to add the missing values. In the XML file, I’m going to fix one value by adding the following:

  <string>
    <key>TitlePrefix</key>
    <value>Makelangelo</value>
    <hint>window title</hint>
  </string>

Each <string> should contain a <key> which matches the part on right of the “Missing:” tag and should not start or end with spaces. “TitlePrefix ” is not the same as “TitlePrefix”. Each string should also contain a <value> with the new translation.

Test and share your translation

To test your translation, save your XML file and restart the app.

When your translation is ready, please share it on our forums. Then everyone can download your work, tell you how grateful they are, and we can package it in the next release.

It may be easier to start from the complete English translation. All existing translations can be found at https://github.com/MarginallyClever/Makelangelo-software/tree/master/src/main/resources/languages.