Flutter ARB Extractor

A Visual Studio Code extension that simplifies the internationalization workflow for Flutter applications by extracting strings to ARB files.

Features

• Quick String Extraction: Select text in your Dart files and extract it to ARB files with a single command
• Smart Key Generation: Automatically suggests appropriate keys based on the selected text
• Variable Detection: Automatically detects variables in your strings and configures them as placeholders in ARB
• Type Inference: Intelligently infers Dart types for variables in your strings
• Code Replacement: Automatically replaces the selected text with the appropriate localization code
• Context Menu Integration: Access the extraction feature directly from the editor context menu

Installation

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X or Cmd+Shift+X on macOS)
3. Search for "Flutter ARB Extractor"
4. Click Install

Usage

1. Select a string in your Dart file that you want to internationalize
2. Right-click and select "Extract to ARB" from the context menu, or:
3. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and run "Extract Text to ARB"
4. Select the target ARB file from the dropdown
5. Enter a key name for the string (a suggestion will be provided)
6. Optionally add a description for translators
7. The string will be added to the ARB file and replaced with the appropriate localization code in your Dart file

Example

Before:

Text('Hello, ${username}!')

After extraction:

Text(context.l10n.hello(username))

And in your ARB file:

{
  "hello": "Hello, {username}!",
  "@hello": {
    "description": "Greeting message with username",
    "placeholders": {
      "username": {
        "type": "String"
      }
    }
  }
}

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.103.0 or higher
• Flutter project with ARB files for internationalization

Extension Settings

Configure the extension to match your project’s style and workflow:

• flutterArbExtractor.l10nAccessor: Expression used to access localization strings (e.g. context.l10n or S.of(context)). Default: context.l10n
• flutterArbExtractor.keyCase: Naming style to use when generating ARB keys. Options: snake_case, camelCase, or PascalCase. Default: snake_case
• flutterArbExtractor.promptForDescription: Whether to prompt for description when extracting text. Default: true

Known Issues

None at this time.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License. Copyright (c) 2025 Rexford Asamoah