This is the README for the UMTF format specification VERSION 1.0: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Index: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction: 1.1. Definition. 1.2. Pre index. 1.3. Update. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Document form: 2.1. XML header. 2.2. Tags/UMTF. 2.2.1 Language. 2.2.2 Translator. 2.2.3 Serial. 2.2.4 Index. 2.2.4.1 Resource. 2.3 Buffer 2.3.5. Message. 2.3.5.1 Value. 2.3.6. Translation. 2.3.6.1. Value. 2.3.6.1.1 Index. 2.3.6.1.2 Tid. 2.3.6.2. Translator. 2.3.6.3. Description. 2.3.6.4. Date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Programs: 3.1. gtranslator. [3.2. KBabel.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Authors, Contributors ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Version ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Ego perspective/author of the file ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 Definition: -------------- UMTF -> Unified Message/Translation Format 1.2 Pre index: ------------- This explains the specifications the gnome-i18n, me and Matthias (-> KBabel) have thought to be a sole database format to use for messages/translations. The base format for the databases is XML and we do work on it without any DTD yet. Comments on the draft should be added to the "COMMENTS" file in this directory. A sample comment is put there by me. This format will be/is used in gtranslator (and KBabel?), so that it should be generally usable. Therefore it's based upon XML which is easily readable & writable by many apps due to the open definitions and format specification. For now the format is quite ready to be used as it includes almost everything imaginable for a message/translation database format written in xml. 1.3 Update: ---------- Unfortunately the coordination efforts on gtranslator & KBabel side somehow did drown in the river of history so that currently only gtranslator supports UMTF and I didn't hear anything about UMTF & KBabel for more then a year now. The previously idea to get a general library which supports UMTF by the means of a GLib level is now thrown away and I'm about to integrate Semerkent sources now completely into gtranslator so that this will get now quite integrated as a "natural part" of gtranslator's learn buffer mechanism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 XML header: -------------- Every database is a XML file and has to start with the XML standard header for the current version 1.0: 2.2 Tags/UMTF: ------------- Tags which are used in the database files are the following ones listed here. The xml file starts and ends with the "umtf" tag as the main descriptor for the UMTF format. It should look like this whereas the "...." represents the content :-) .... The main umtf node has got only one attribute: Attribute: Example: Description: --------------------------------------------------------------------- version 1.0 The UMTF version of the file. 2.2.1 Language: -------------- The database should carry a language tag with itself (in fact it is mandatory to break up any filename dependance for the files) which does have the following attributes: Attribute: Example: Description: --------------------------------------------------------------------- ename Turkish This attribute describes the languages name in English (therefore the _e_). --------------------------------------------------------------------- name Türkçe This attribute takes the languages own name in the own language (here Türkçe for Turkish). --------------------------------------------------------------------- code tr Describes the language code in the ISO 639 format (e.g. tr for Turkish). Can also be a long language code like tr_TR or de_DE. --------------------------------------------------------------------- email tr@li.org This is the standard mailing list for the corresponding language. --------------------------------------------------------------------- href tr.li.org A URL for getting more information on the language team - should be a website, homepage or something alike. Example: 2.2.2 Translator: ---------------- The general translator tags in the beginning of a file gives to define a global translator for the whole file (and therefore no need to set the translator tag on every message/translation pair); you can also set up a list of some translators and ref to them in the translation->"value" tag. The translator tag doesn't take any data and does only consists of attributes which are listed below: Attribute: Example: Description: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- name Mr. Foo The name of the translator ---------------------------------------------------------------------- email foo@bar.com The EMail address of the translator ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tid 1 A ref counter for internal refs in the buffer itself - should be an integer. Example: 2.2.3 Serial: ------------ The serial tag defines the databases date and version number. The date of the message database is to be included in the serial tag via the attribute "date" while the date format is mandatorily "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%s". Example: 1 2.2.4 Index: ----------- The index tags enclose a list of resource descriptors which do have several possible attributes. It is an including date carrying tag. Example: .... 2.2.4.1 Resource: ---------------- The resource tags are used within the index tags and do make a translation tracking possible. It has got many attributes which are listed followingly: Attribute: Example: Description: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- package gnome-libs Where the string could be referring to ---------------------------------------------------------------------- premiereversion 1.2.8 (Optionally) this defines the first version where the resource was added ---------------------------------------------------------------------- updated 2000-11-17 16:27:40 The date of the last update. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- index 1 Sets the index number, here '1' for the gnome-libs package. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- href http://package.com An information source about the resource; could be a link to a project homepage et al. Complete example: 2.3 Buffer: --------- The new "buffer" has got to be present within UMTF 1.0 and encapsulates all the message/translation pairs within itself; it has got to have a mandatory attr. called "entries" which shows up the number the following "message" entries. Example: 2.3.5 Message: ------------- The message tags sets the informations for which translations are supplied for. This can be a date format, any other kind of format or "simply" strings. It doesn't have any attributes and is only a "container" tag for the following translations and related tags. 2.3.5.1 Value: ------------- The value tags do always include the data (here in case the message tp be translated). Example: Open .... 2.3.6 Translation: ----------------- The translation tag does include the translation data and some more tags and is also like the message tag only a container tag as it doesn't have got any own attributes. 2.3.6.1 Value: ------------- This value tags do also include the data like the value tags in the message tags children nodes but now with the _translated_ entries. 2.3.6.1.1 Index: --------------- The index attribute of the value tag defines the resource to which the translated value does refer. The index attribute can also include multiple resources referrals seperated by commas. In the following example there are 3 resources referred to 1, 2 and 3 which are defined in the index tag of the database. Example: Aç 2.3.6.1.2 Tid: ------------- You can ref the single transaltor by a predefined "tid" attribute which must be already given in the head-section on the tags. Following the example below, we're ref'ing to the tag with the `tid="2"' attr. in the header section. Example: Aç 2.3.6.2 Translator: ------------------ The translator tag is only optional and could be used to assign a translation from different authors in the database message entry by message entry. This translator tag is the same like the global tag, so you can simply go seeing section *2.2.2*. 2.3.6.3 Description: ------------------- The description tag has got the role to crarify the entry's translation and to enlighten the database users with an useful description of the translation. This tag is not mandatory but should be used to easify team-work for more complicated applications like Gnumeric or GIMP where not everything is under- standable at the first glance. Example: This is used here because the Technical Engineers do say xyz to yxs in certain situations like ... 2.3.6.4 Date: ------------ The date tag specifies the date of the translation and is also only optional. It uses the same format like the serial tag's date attribute *2.2.3*. Example: 2000-11-17 16:47:30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Programs/Libraries: -------------------- 3.1 gtranslator: --------------- gtranslator is a very extended gettext po file editing program for the GNOME desktop and offers many useful functions for editing such files and can also handle many subforms of po files (packed, compressed, compiled forms of it and aldo remotely stored forms of it). It does already use UMTF for it's own implementation of learn buffers (=TM) & will also support this new and updated version 0.7 of the UMTF specs soon. You can get gtranslator via GNOME CVS from the module "gtranslator" or via the official homepage for gtranslator at: http://gtranslator.sourceforge.net 3.2 KBabel: ---------- KBabel will possibly support UMTF through a XML plugin so that this format will be usable between at least two apps -- UPDATE: this didn't happen I guess and I didn' hear any interest in joning UMTF from this site anymore, so I can't comment on this anymore :-/ KBabel is available from KDE's CVS in the "kdesdk" module or via web: http://i18n.kde.org/tools/kbabel/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Authors & Contributors: ------------------------ Fatih Demir [ICQ: 64241161] GNOME I18N-list Previously co-worked on this -- read *1.3* Update section for more information: Matthias Kiefer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Version: UMTF version 1.0 as of 19th January 2003 (2003-01-19 15:15:30). --------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Ego perspective/author of the file: Fatih Demir ------------------------------------