XLIFF Sync

A VSCode extension to keep XLIFF translation files in sync with an automatically generated base-XLIFF file.

Note that there is also an "XLIFF Sync" PowerShell module!

Summary

The "XLIFF Sync" extension for Visual Studio Code can help you work more efficiently with XLIFF translation files in various ways. It is specifically targeted at easing translation of extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, by allowing you to more easily keep .xlf translation files of your extensions in sync with the .g.xlf files that are automatically generated by the AL Language extension. However, it can also be used in combination with other software projects that use XLIFF translation files for translation, supporting both XLIFF 1.2 and XLIFF 2.0. Apart from synchronizing trans-units from a base-XLIFF file, this extension contributes various other features, including commands to check for missing translations, detect problems in translations and import translations from external XLIFF files.

View the demo in the Areopa webinar recording: VS Code AL Extensions - XLIFF Sync (starts at 6:16)

More information: XLIFF Sync: Time for a complete overview

• XLIFF Sync
  • Summary
  • Features
  • Contributions
    • Commands
    • Settings
  • Usage
    • Create New Target File(s)
      • Using the Command Palette
    • Synchronize to Single File
      • Using the Command Palette
      • Using keyboard shortcut
    • Synchronize Translation Units
      • Using the Command Palette
      • Using keyboard shortcut
      • From the Explorer
    • Check for Missing Translations
      • Using the Command Palette
    • Check for Need Work Translations
      • Using the Command Palette
    • Find Next Missing Translation in XLIFF File
      • Using the Command Palette
      • Using keyboard shortcut
    • Find Next Needs Work Translation in XLIFF File
      • Using the Command Palette
      • Using keyboard shortcut
    • Import Translations from File(s)
      • Using the Command Palette
    • Build with Translations
      • Using the Command Palette
      • Using keyboard shortcut
    • Parse from Developer Note
  • Known Issues
  • Contributors

Features

• Merge new translations from a generated, base-XLIFF file into existing XLIFF files.
  • Merge from the base-XLIFF file into a manually specified target XLIFF file.
  • Merge from the base-XLIFF file into all XLIFF files in the open workspace.
• Search and highlight missing translations in an open XLIFF file.
• Run technical validations to check for problems in the translations of target XLIFF files.
• Import/Copy translations for matching sources from external XLIFF files to target XLIFF files.
• Support for XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0
• Convert between XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0 format.

Contributions

Commands

Settings

Usage

The extension will try to find corresponding trans-units and translations within an existing file as follows:

1. Finding trans-units:

   1. By Id

   2. By XLIFF Generator Note & Source (enabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.findByXliffGeneratorNoteAndSource)

   3. By XLIFF Generator Note & Developer Note (enabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.findByXliffGeneratorAndDeveloperNote)

   4. By XLIFF Generator Note (enabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.findByXliffGeneratorNote)

2. Finding translations:

   5. By Source & Developer Note (disabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.findBySourceAndDeveloperNote)

   6. By Source (disabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.findBySource)

3. Initial translation:

   7. Parse from Developer Note (disabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.parseFromDeveloperNote)

   8. Copy from Source, if applicable/configured for target language (disabled by default, configurable with xliffSync.copyFromSourceFor...)

If no trans-unit or translation is found, the unit is added and its target node is tagged with state="needs-translation".

Create New Target File(s)

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Create New Target File(s)

This command will let you create one or more new target files, using the languages specified in the xliffSync.defaultLanguages setting or when empty letting you choose from a set of RFC 4646 or RFC 5646 language tags depending on the XLIFF file type (i.e., xlf or xlf2). The new file is automatically synced with the base file; if it is not known you will be prompted to specify the file to use as the base file first.

More detailed instruction: Create New Target Files

Synchronize to Single File

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Synchronize to Single File

Using keyboard shortcut

1. Alt + X, S (default shortcut)

By default, the extension expects the base-XLIFF file to end with .g.xlf. If no matching file is found, you are prompted to identify the base file. This setting will be saved for future use. If the extension is invoked from a localization file, that file will be updated, otherwise the extension will prompt you for the file to update.

You can also use this command to create a new XLIFF file for a language. For this, choose the "New File..." option and choose the language tag for the new target language.

Synchronize Translation Units

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Synchronize Translation Units

NOTE: This command will merge new translations into all XLIFF files in your workspace folder (with, obviously, excluding the base-XLIFF file itself).

Using keyboard shortcut

1. Alt + X, M (default shortcut)

From the Explorer

1. Right-click on a file with the .xlf extension.
2. Select: Synchronize Translation Units

If you select the base-XLIFF file, then translation units will be synced to all other XLIFF files in the workspace. If you select any other XLIFF file, then translation units will be synced from the base-XLIFF file to the selected file.

Here's a small demo:

More detailed instruction: Synchronize Translation Files

Check for Missing Translations

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Check for Missing Translations

This will check all XLIFF files in the workspace and notify about any missing translations in the files. You also have the option to open files with missing translations with your default XLIFF editor using the Open Externally button from the informational message.

More detailed instruction: Check Translation Files

Check for Need Work Translations

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Check for Need Work Translations

This will run technical validation/checks for all XLIFF files in the workspace and notify about any translations that need work in the files. You also have the option to open files containing problems with your default XLIFF editor using the Open Externally button from the informational message.

The target node of the trans-units containing problems will be tagged with state="needs-adaptation". Additionally, a note will be added to the trans-unit to explain which problem was detected. When you run the command again after resolving the issue, then this note will be automatically removed.

You can configure the checks that need to be run with the xliffSync.needWorkTranslationRules setting. The currently implemented checks are the following:

Hello  World

Note: You may want to use rule SourceEqualsTarget in combination with setting xliffSync.copyFromSourceForSameLanguage set to true.

More detailed instruction: Check Translation Files

Find Next Missing Translation in XLIFF File

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or CMD + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Next Missing Translation

Using keyboard shortcut

1. Alt + X, N (default shortcut)

Missing translations are tagged and highlighted. You can use the extension to navigate between missing translations. On a Macbook Pro, this command appears on the touchbar within XLIFF files.

Find Next Needs Work Translation in XLIFF File

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or CMD + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Next Needs Work Translation

Using keyboard shortcut

1. Alt + X, W (default shortcut)

Translations that need work are tagged and highlighted. You can use this command to navigate between translations that need work. On a Macbook Pro, this command appears on the touchbar within XLIFF files.

Import Translations from File(s)

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Import Translations from File(s)

This will open a file dialog in which you can select one or more XLIFF files (.xlf). The command will copy translations from the selected files to trans-units in the XLIFF files in your project folder with the same target-language for matching sources. It will try first to merge translations for trans-units with a matching combination of source-text and Developer note, and only after that try to merge translations to trans-units with matching source-text. That way you could utilize the Developer note to have the import perform a more precise merge of the translations (e.g., based on tags in the Developer notes).

More detailed instruction: Import Translations from Files

Build with Translations

Using the Command Palette

1. F1 or Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P to open the command palette
2. XLIFF: Build with Translations

Using keyboard shortcut

1. Ctrl + Shift + T (default shortcut)

This command combines multiple actions into one command:

1. Build the project of the currently open project folder using the build command defined in the xliffSync.buildCommandToExecute setting.
2. If no .xlf translation files exists, then create new translation files (for the languages specified in the xliffSync.defaultLanguages setting).
3. Merge new translations into all XLIFF files in your workspace folder

Default Build Task

If you would like to make XLIFF: Build with Translations your default build task, then this is one of the ways you can do that:

1. Run the command Tasks: Open Workspace/User Tasks via the command palette, or add/edit a tasks.json file at workspace/project folder level.

2. Add the following task as default build task:

   {
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "tasks": [
           {
               "label": "XLIFF: Build with Translations",
               "command": "${command:xliffSync.buildWithTranslations}",
               "problemMatcher": [],
               "group": {
                   "kind": "build",
                   "isDefault": true
               }
           }
       ]
   }
   

Parse from Developer Note

An approach that is taken by some developers is to have the initial translation provided by the developers themselves (that is, for languages that they are proficient in, typically their mother tongue). This can be done by adding translations as a developer note/comment in the source code, e.g.:

procedure MyProcedure()
var
    DissapointDaveErr: Label 'I am afraid I can not do that, Dave', Comment = 'en-US=I am trepidacious I can not do that, Dave|nl-NL=Ik ben bang dat ik dat niet kan doen, Dave';
    ExtremeMathMsg: Label 'One plus one = two', Comment = 'en-US=One plus one = TWO|nl-NL=Een plus een is twee|nl-BE=Een plus een is twee';
    SatisfySamMsg: Label 'I hope you are satisfied, Sam', Comment = 'This is just a regular comment';
    TerminateTimErr: Label 'Hasta la vista, Tim', Comment = 'nl-BE=Salut, Tim';
    WorshipWillemMsg: Label 'Thank you Willem';
begin
    Error(DissapointDaveErr);
end;

If you want to utilize this, the "XLIFF Sync" extension for Visual Studio code can help you to automatically get the translations provided by the developer in the comments to your target XLIFF translation files. To let "XLIFF Sync" extract/parse translations from the Developer notes, you will need to set the xliffSync.parseFromDeveloperNote setting to true. If you synchronize with this setting enabled, then the translations will be parsed from the Developer notes and added to the translation units in your target translation files.

If you would like the translations from the Developer notes to always overwrite the existing translations in the target translation files, then you can additionally set the xliffSync.parseFromDeveloperNoteOverwrite setting to true. This is typically used in combination with xliffSync.detectSourceTextChanges set to false, if you wish that the translation states do not change to needs-adaptation when the source text of translation units change.

On top of that, you can also enable snippets that help you adding captions, labels and tooltips with translation comments in your AL source code. For this, you can set the xliffSync.enableSnippetsForLanguages setting to ["al"] and set xliffSync.snippetTargetLanguage to your preferred language, e.g.:

{
    "xliffSync.enableSnippetsForLanguages": ["al"],
    "xliffSync.snippetTargetLanguage": "nl-NL"
}

You can then use snippets tcaptionwithtranslation, tcommentwithtranslation, toptioncaptionwithtranslation, tpromotedactioncategorieswithtranslation, tlabelwithtranslation and ttooltipwithtranslation to add translations in comments in your AL source code as follows:

For an extensive example, you can also check GitHub issue #37 "[Feature Request] Parsing Target from Comment".

Known Issues

• Automatically inserting new groups into target files is not implemented.
• The NAV2018 XLIFF generator creates Xliff Generator Notes without any identifiers, therefore it is recommended to change the xliffSync.findBy... settings to not synchronize trans-units based on Xliff Generator notes.
• Files larger than 50 MB cannot be processed at the moment. For now, please use the "XLIFF Sync" PowerShell module instead.

Contributors

• dannoe
• FlorianNoeverGOB
• manux54
• rvanbekkum
• warlof

You can find the contributions in the Changelog. Thank you all! 🤍