Custom column fails after switching language

[Wiggo]

It's not a problem for me I only noticed that switching calibre's language causes problems.

My native language is german and switching to english doesn't translate ja/yes, nein/no in the template.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Wiggo

It's not a problem for me I only noticed that switching calibre's language causes problems.

My native language is german and switching to english doesn't translate ja/yes, nein/no in the template.

No it doesn't, and it never will. Working out what requires auto-translation in a template is a nightmare.

In this case you can use the check_yes_no() function. It doesn't depend on language.

{:'if check_yes_no('#read', 1, 1, 0) then 'Nicht Gelesen' else 'Gelesen' fi'}

You could also use a column "Text but with a fixed set of permitted values" with "Show Checkmarks" checked. In this case calibre knows to look at translations to choose the checkmark icon but the values remain unchanged for the template.

[thiago.eec]

Aren't translators supposed not to translate such strings?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by thiago.eec

Aren't translators supposed not to translate such strings?

I don't understand. Translators won't see strings in user-defined templates, so there is no opportunity to make the choice.

Templates operate on displayed (formatted) values. For something like a Yes/No column, calibre displays the translated value for the column. You probably would see the same for "Unknown" in authors & titles. That is one reason the check_yes_no() function was added -- to remove dependency on displayed values for yes/no columns in a template. But your question did remind me of another workaround. The template could use raw_field() to get an untranslated value ('true', 'false', 'none'), as in

{:'switch($$#read, 'true', 'Gelesen', 'false', 'Nicht Gelesen', 'Nicht Gelesen')'}

You might see similar problems with localized dates. If the date display format contains string days or months then the template will see them translated. If one is not careful then the locale order can also be a problem, where the template must know about mm/dd and dd/mm. The template writer can work around this by formatting the raw value and checking that.

[Wiggo]

I thought it would be a translation nightmare.
I'll try out your suggestions later for future proof

Thanks as always, chaley.
I want to stress again how great it is that you always help us out.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by chaley

I don't understand. Translators won't see strings in user-defined templates, so there is no opportunity to make the choice.

Templates operate on displayed (formatted) values.

Sorry, I didn't know that. I was under the impression that words like "true", "false", "none", "yes", "no", "or", "and", etc, should always remain untranslated on the template. I looked at my templates and they all use raw_filed values. That's why I had that in my mind.

Also, there is really nothing to do with translators.