[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Multiple patches

[Jed Davis <jldavis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

--On Thursday, 27 July 2000 22:56 +0200 Thue <thue@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> Den tor, 27 jul 2000 skrev Jeff Mallatt:
> > At 2000/07/27 11:45 , Thue wrote:
> > > Den fre, 26 maj 2000 skrev Robert Rendell:
> > >> wonders.diff
> > >>
> > >>        * Wonders that are currently under construction come up in the
> > >>                wonders display (F7)
> > >
> > > Why the use of "Q_", and not just "_"?
> >
> > I took a _very_ quick look at the patch.  It seems Robert has chopped the
> > strings up into small bits, and is using Q_("?wonder:...") to try to glue
> > them back together.  This is probably a bad idea.  Each concept should be
> > embodied in a single, complete sentence, so that the translators are
> > given some idea as to what the program is trying to say.  Also, the
> > translators may need to alter word order, which is impossible if the
> > program glues strings together in a pre-determined order.  I know that
> > some existing code is full of sentence fragments, but new code should be
> > written with the translators in mind.  Also, if complete sentences are
> > used, there will likely be no need for Q_().
> >
> > jjm
> But there seems to be no way to put a variable length list into a single
> sentence - I can't think of it anyway!
> I like the patch, so I think I would like to apply it anyway unless
> someone tell me a way to do it nicer. (you are hereby warned)
>
> -Thue
Maybe put a %s where the list goes (I guess you'd need separate forms of 
the sentence for 0 items, 1 item, and >1 items), then use strcat or 
something to concatenate the list together, internationalizing the "and" or 
", and" or even plain commas, then sprintf or whatever it into the %s.  I 
haven't seen the patch, so this might be either irrelevant or what the 
patch already does for all I know...
--Jed