Translations of bzr-explorer

[Philippe Lhoste]

On 14/10/2009 00:41, Algis Kabaila wrote:
> The instructions to the translators say that whenever symbols like & and % 
> occur, they should be faithfully copied.  I noticed in the French translation 
> a couple of examples of this:
> 
> E&xit  ---> &Quitter
> Bazaar Explorer &Help ---> &Aid de Bazaar Explorer
> 
> What does the special character & mean?  

In Windows at least, when the right option is checked (it was by default 
before XP), the character preceded by this symbol is underlined.
If this option isn't activated, the underline appears only when pressing 
Alt.
The idea is that if you hit Alt+character, eg. Alt+Q in the first French 
example, the corresponding item is selected: the menu is selected, the 
field associated to the label gains the focus, the button is pressed.
In short, the point is to make visible keyboard accelerators...

They are often overlooked by developers, but I find them useful so I 
carefully add them.

In general, I try and keep the same letter (character) than the English 
one, if I can. But one should also avoid conflicts, ie. identical 
shortcuts in the same menu or dialog. I think Windows manages these 
conflicts, but it needs more keystrokes to activate, then.

We can also see sentences like: "Delete file %s?"
The %s will be replaced by the filename (or other parameters elsewhere), 
so must be kept as is. Idem for %d (numerical value).
Also saw "Repositories found below this repository: %(rows)d"
Not sure of exact meaning, but %(rows)d is to be kept as is.

PS.: I copy the question & answer to the list, as I think they can 
interest other translators as well.

-- 
Philippe Lhoste
--  (near) Paris -- France
--  http://Phi.Lho.free.fr
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