iOS Strings
| Extension | .strings |
| Smartling Identifier | ios |
| Resources | String Resources |
When downloading translated iOS Strings files via the File API, setting the parameter includeOriginalStrings=false will strip untranslated elements from the file.
Keys/Variants
Every string is created with key/variant metadata based on the keys in the file. If the keys are different for two strings with the same value, Smartling will create two strings using the key as context metadata.
String Instructions
Smartling will automatically ingest and display file comments as instructions for translators. The comments must immediately precede the string. For example, for the following comment, the text “Back button label” will be captured as a file instruction
Text/* Back button label */"Back" = "Back";
If the comment contains the following text: ~ / No comment provided by engineer. / ~
or if a line separates the comment and string, such as:
Text/* Back button label */"Back" = "Back";
Smartling will not create an instruction.
Standard Placeholder Format
By default, Smartling recognizes ios-style placeholders in iOS String files.
See Placeholders in Resource Files for more on placeholders.
Placeholders in iOS files are numbered when downloaded from Smartling. Placeholder numbering follows the guidelines set by Apple
iOS Placeholder Numbering
One problem that often occurs during translation is that the translator may need to reorder parameters inside translated strings to account for differences in the source and target languages. If a string contains multiple arguments, the translator can insert special tags of the form n$ (where n specifies the position of the original argument) in between the formatting characters. These tags let the translator reorder the arguments that appear in the original string. The following example shows a string whose two arguments are reversed in the translated string:
/ Message in alert dialog when something fails /
"%@ Error! %@ failed!" = "%2$@ blah blah, %1$@ blah!";
Directives
Format
| // smartling.[directive_name] = [value] |
entity_escaping
Exact delivery depends on file type.
| Values | auto (default) true (or yes) false (or no) |
| Description | Can control whether or not characters will be "escaped" into entities when delivering translations. This can be set universally for the whole file via API, or by setting the directive at the top/start of the file. The directive can also be placed inline to control the behavior of specific strings. |
| Examples |
(Note: Exact delivery depends on file type.) To use inline: String:
|
For example, your translation might look like this:Smartling HTML escaping < > & " example string4
By default, using the "auto" setting, we would assume this is HTML from the <hr> tag and it would be converted to:Smartling HTML escaping < > & " example string4
Using // smartling.entity_escaping = false would allow Smartling HTML escaping < > & " example string4 to appear as it should.
placeholder_format
| Values | NONE; C; IOS; PYTHON; JAVA; YAML; QT; RESX |
| Description | Used to specify a standard placeholder format. |
| Examples |
// smartling.placeholder_format = IOS Specifies iOS-style placeholders for the file. |
placeholder_format_custom
| Values |
1) Custom Java compatible regular expression. 2) NONE - disables any current custom placeholders |
| Description | Specifies a custom placeholder format. Any text in your file matching the regular expression you provide will be captured as a placeholder. |
| Examples |
// smartling.placeholder_format_custom=\{([^}]+)\} Any characters surrounded by curly brackets, e.g., {first name}, will be treated as a placeholder. |
See Placeholders in Resource Files for more on placeholders.
pseudo_inflation
| Values | integer - Accepted values are 0 - 100 |
| Description | Sets the percentage by which original strings are inflated when downloading pseudo translations. If this directive is not set, pseudo translations are 30 percent longer than the original strings. |
| Examples |
// smartling.pseudo_inflation = 80 Downloaded pseudo translations will increase the length of original strings by 80 percent. |
character_limit
| Values | integer or NONE |
| Description | Sets or removes the maximum characters allowed for a translation. If NONE is specified, character limits will be removed. |
| Examples |
// smartling.character_limit = 25 The directive should go directly before the string where the character limit should be applied. This will apply a character limit of 25 to the string on the line after the directive. // smartling.character_limit = NONE This will remove any character limits set for a string even if the character limit was set manually in the Dashboard |
whitespace_trim
| Values |
on|yes|true or off|no|false or leading|trailing The default value is on |
| Description |
A whitespace is any character or series of characters that represent horizontal or vertical space in typography. When rendered, a whitespace character is not a visible mark, but does occupy an area or space on a page. Although whitespaces are necessary within a string (typically to separate words), unnecessary whitespaces can be found at the start of a string (leading) and at the end of a string (trailing). With this directive, you can trim whitespaces, as it enables or disables whitespace trim management for the ingested strings. Whitespace is optionally trimmed from content then re-inserted on download for convenience so that translators do not have to manage the extra spaces. However, content owners may want to retain surrounding whitespace so that translators can manipulate it during translation. By default, the leading and trailing whitespaces are trimmed. You can choose to disable trimming or specify trimming for leading or trailing whitespaces. The directive can be used inline or as the API request parameter. |
| Examples |
Smartling will trim leading and trailing whitespaces (default)
Smartling will not trim leading or trailing whitespaces
Smartling will trim only leading whitespaces
Smartling will trim only trailing whitespaces |
