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:
https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/LoadingResources/Strings/Strings.html

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: <!-- smartling.entity_escaping = false --> String: <!-- smartling.entity_escaping = auto -->

 

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 Perl 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 square brackets will be treated as a placeholder.

 

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