Adding new interface languages

[tshering]

The whole thing is still a little experimental. I describe the work flow:

1. extract a qm file from nickel
2. create a ts file based on the qm file with Qt Linguist (boriar, thank you for this information)
3. replace the translations in the ts file by the new translations
4. run lrelease against the new ts file in order to create a qm file (or do it from Qt linguist: files > release.)
5. rename the new qm file after the language you intend to replace, e.g. trans_it.qm. Edit: It is also possible to introduce new languages, cf. this post
6. copy the new qm file to usr/local/Kobo/translations

Be aware that the language you replace defines how date and time are formatted, and may have further effects.

I should also mention that after loading nickel only three system fonts are available. And none of them might include the characters needed for your language. In such cases, the required font will be available to the interface only after you open a book (and maybe open the font menu).

For now, I have done steps 1 and 2. The resulting ts files are in the uploaded archive. The archive contains two ts files one with English translations, and one with Japanese translations. Use the English ts file for languages that distinguish grammatically between singular and plural, and Japanese for languages that do not. (Correction: Take any of the two files, and select the target language via the menu in Qt linguist. This will provide the correct slots for singular, dual, plural, or what ever is appropriate for the language.) Please use utf-8 encoding.

If you like I can do points 4 and 5 for you if you upload your ts files.

The current ts files concern FW 3.16.0 (Edit: I am adding newer versions). Future firmwares might require updating these files.

If you upload your ts files, I will list them in post #2 with links, and will provide updates if required by new firmwares (you still will have to provide the translations).

Uninstall: Extract KoboRoot.tgz from uninstall_qms.zip, copy it to .kobo, and restart the reader. This will delete all trans_*.qm files in usr/local/Kobo/translations.

New: Pipcat provides Python Tools for Kobo Translation, which can help you preparing the necessary files.

[tshering]

Links to ts files provided by users:

Catalan 3.16.0 (by surquizu)

Catalan 3.17.3 (by surquizu)

Catalan 3.18.0 (updated version of 3.17.3, not yet containing the new translations)

Catalan 4.3.8842 (by surquizu)

Hungarian 3.19.5761 (by kido.resuri)

Hungarian 4.3.8945 (by wincepinter)

Hungarian 4.4.9298 and 4.4.9344 (by kido.resuri)

Slovak 3.19.5761 (by helour)

Slovak 4.4.9344 (by helour)

Slovak 4.6.9995 and 4.6.10075 (by helour)

Slovak 4.7.10413 (by helour)

[barobach_so]

hi

great work congratulation

I have 2 question
1. if a language is not selectable at first time kobo installation ( not listed in ready languages) is it possible for it to change ui ?
specifically I mean Persian is not listed there, and for epubs and .. we copy fonts in fonts directory
is it possible to translate ui for Persian ?

2. does it work for previous fw ? 3.15 ?


edit : how access usr/local/Kobo ? in windows there is no address in kobo drive

[tshering]

Originally Posted by barobach_so

hi

great work congratulation

I have 2 question
1. if a language is not selectable at first time kobo installation ( not listed in ready languages) is it possible for it to change ui ?
specifically I mean Persian is not listed there, and for epubs and .. we copy fonts in fonts directory
is it possible to translate ui for Persian ?

2. does it work for previous fw ? 3.15 ?


edit : how access usr/local/Kobo ? in windows there is no address in kobo drive

at 1) You would have to select the new language by calling the one you replaced. Instead of Persian you would have to select for instance Italian or whichever language you replaced. Yes, the title of the thread should read "replacing interface languages by other languages".

at 2) Yes, but only partially, since many things have changed. You would see the strings not covered by the translations in English.

A problem with Persian is that the interface would not display Persian script before opening a book (or even the font dialog).

[lav89]

I tried to make Russian translate
this is my draft, could you made for me points 4 and 5?
I want to see how it will looks on ereader, and if everything is ok I will complete translation
kobo_3.16.0_trans_RU.zip

[tshering]

Originally Posted by lav89

I tried to make Russian translate
this is my draft, could you made for me points 4 and 5?
I want to see how it will looks on ereader, and if everything is ok I will complete translation
Attachment 139333

Welcome lav89,

I should have mentioned that we need to encode in utf-8. I converted your file to utf-8 and added one translation (home : домой). I am not sure whether this translation makes sense in this context, but since it is on the first screen of nickel, you see immediately whether it works.

I put the qm file into a KoboRoot.tgz so that you can easily install it, or extract it and copy it manually. Since you did not mention which language you would like to replace, I settled for Italian (but you can easily change this later). After installing, please select Italian language. The interface will than be a mixture of English and Russian.
Since I do not have my reader with me today, I could not test the file myself.

Edit:

This modification will survive a firmware update. To remove it you have to have access to the system partition. There is of course the possibility to replace trans_it.qm by an empty file with the help of a KoboRoot.tgz, but to my mind this way is not very "clean."

I attach an image for the curious ones, so that they do not have to install this modification themselves to see the effect. I re-uploaded the archive too, since in the first version the only translation that I added did not work (I confused source language and target language.)

[lav89]

Originally Posted by tshering

Welcome lav89,

I should have mentioned that we need to encode in utf-8. I converted your file to utf-8 and added one translation (home : домой). I am not sure whether this translation makes sense in this context, but since it is on the first screen of nickel, you see immediately whether it works.

I put the qm file into a KoboRoot.tgz so that you can easily install it, or extract it and copy it manually. Since you did not mention which language you would like to replace, I settled for Italian (but you can easily change this later). After installing, please select Italian language. The interface will than be a mixture of English and Russian.
Since I do not have my reader with me today, I could not test the file myself.

thank you, I understand about encoding utf-8, but this file I made at work PC (there are only WordPad and Notepad), I will check your file at the evening

[lav89]

I found the programm QtLinguist-4.6.0-Win32 - can I use it?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by lav89

I found the programm QtLinguist-4.6.0-Win32 - can I use it?

I had a look at QtLinguist last night. You should be able to use it to do the translating. I was looking at the 5.4 version which is the latest, but the format of the file produced doesn't look like it has changed.

[kaznelson]

tshering
1. How to extract a qm-file from nickel?
2. How to create a ts-file from qm-file?
I use Qt version 4.8.6 (for Windows)...


lav89
Download qt-opensource-windows-x86-vs2008-4.8.6.exe (with included QtLinguist and lrelease) from here:
http://download.qt.io/archive/qt/4.8/4.8.6/

[tshering]

Originally Posted by lav89

thank you, I understand about encoding utf-8, but this file I made at work PC (there are only WordPad and Notepad), I will check your file at the evening

Notepad is ok. I also inserted the "home" translation with Notepad. You just have to "save as ... " and then change the encoding to UTF-8 once. The ts file I sent you is already UTF-8 encoded. Notepad will now save it always as UTF-8 file.

Originally Posted by lav89

I found the programm QtLinguist-4.6.0-Win32 - can I use it?

I guess this should work. But I am not sure, since I tested only 4.8.4.
If you have already downloaded 4.6.0, and linguist.exe can read the ts file without error message, it should be ok.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by kaznelson

tshering
1. How to extract a qm-file from nickel?

Please have a look at this thread.

Originally Posted by kaznelson

2. How to create a ts-file from qm-file?
I use Qt version 4.8.6 (for Windows)...

I guess there should already be a tool available, but I was unable to find one. But that does not mean much, since I am not very familiar with Qt. Currently I am trying to interpret the binary data of the qm file and convert it to the ts format, which actually is xml, as you already know.

[lav89]

tshering
I tested on my Glo it works fine
kaznelson
I have found 4.8.5 and translated more points, you can continue

[tshering]

Originally Posted by lav89

tshering
I tested on my Glo it works fine

Thank you for the confirmation!

Maybe I should add one piece of information for other people who like to test kobo_3.16.0_trans_RU_qm.zip. This modification will survive a firmware update. To remove it you have to have access to the system partition. There is of course the possibility to replace trans_it.qm by an empty file with the help of a KoboRoot.tgz, but to my mind this way is not very "clean."

[kaznelson]

Originally Posted by tshering

Please have a look at this thread.

This link is broken...