XLIFF 2.0

• string
• span

Controls how long strings should be parsed; either as a separate string or as one long string.

string - every segment is ingested as a separate original string.
span - all segments are ingested as part of one string. Each segment is encoded with <span> with attribute t="seg", so they can be reordered in a translation.

<!-- smartling.segment_code_strategy=span -->

Smartling will parse a long string into one long string.

Syntax
smartling.string_format_paths=<JSON_CONFIGURATION>

The directive value must be a JSON object where:

• Keys are format types (case-insensitive):
  • HTML - Parse content as HTML
  • TXT (or plain_text) - Parse content as plain text with strings separated by new lines
  • Markdown (or md) - Parse content as Markdown
• Values are XPath selectors that match specific units

Basic Example

smartling.string_format_paths={"html": "//unit[@type='x-contentful-field-type:RichText']", "txt": "//unit[@type='x-contentful-field-type:Text']"}

This example says:

• Parse units with type="x-contentful-field-type:RichText" as HTML
• Parse units with type="x-contentful-field-type:Text" as plain text

XPath Selector Syntax

The directive uses XPath expressions to match units. Currently, only //unit selectors are supported (you cannot use other XLIFF tags like //group).

The smartling.string_format_paths directive allows you to specify different string parsing formats (HTML, TXT, or Markdown) for different units in your XLIFF 2.0 file based on their attributes.

This is particularly useful when working with content management systems like Contentful that mix different content types in a single XLIFF file.

• Order Matters: When multiple rules match the same unit, the first matching rule wins so it is important to define more specific rules before general ones.
• JSON Escaping: When using the directive in curl commands or API calls, you must properly escape quotes. Example:
  curl --form 'smartling.string_format_paths="{\"html\": \"//unit[@type='\'x-contentful-field-type:RichText\'\']\", \"txt\": \"//unit[@type='\'x-contentful-field-type:Text\'\']\"}"'
• XPath Version: This directive is implemented with XPath 1.0. XPath 2.0 functions like ends-with(), matches(), lower-case(), and upper-case() are not supported.
• Tag Limitation: Only //unit tags are supported in selectors. You cannot use other XLIFF 2.0 tags like //group.
• Replace Global Directive: The string_format_paths directive provides per-unit format selection and should be used instead of the global smartling.string_format directive. The global directive (supported only via API or directive template) applies a single format to an entire file, meaning all units are parsed using the same format.

Basic Attribute Matching:
smartling.string_format_paths={"html": "//unit[@id='123']"}

Multiple Conditions with Logical Operators:
smartling.string_format_paths={"html": "//unit[@type='RichText' or @type='HTML']"}

smartling.string_format_paths={"txt": "//unit[@id='content' and not(@type='skip')]"}

Attribute Presence Check:
smartling.string_format_paths={"html": "//unit[@translate]"}

Currently, supported formats are:

• html - <originalData> elements will be referenced and parsed as HTML.
• none - <originalData> elements will not be referenced.

<!-- smartling.original_data_type = html-->

Smartling references <originalData> elements and parses them as HTML. Please note that in this example, the directive "string_format" should also be set to "html".

• file
• group
• unit (default)
• none

Controls where translator instructions are located in the file.

By default, all notes inside a unit are ingested as translation instructions.

none - disables the ingestion of translator instructions.

<!-- smartling.xliff_notes_to_instruction=group, unit -->

The translator instructions will consist of group-level notes and unit-level notes.

• NONE
• C
• IOS
• PYTHON
• JAVA
• YAML
• QT
• RESX

<!-- smartling.placeholder_format = IOS -->

Specifies iOS-style placeholders for the file.

• Custom (Java Regex)
• NONE - disables any current custom placeholders.

Specifies a custom placeholder format. Any text in your file matching the regular expression you provide will be captured as a placeholder.

See Placeholders in Resource Files for more on placeholders.

<!-- smartling.placeholder_format_custom=\{([^}]+)\} -->

Any characters surrounded by curly brackets, e.g., {first name}, will be treated as a placeholder.

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 manage whitespace trimming.

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.

<!-- smartling.whitespace_trim=on-->
Smartling will trim leading and trailing whitespaces (default)

<!-- smartling.whitespace_trim=off -->
Smartling will not trim leading or trailing whitespaces

<!-- smartling.whitespace_trim=leading -->
Smartling will trim only leading whitespaces

<!-- smartling.whitespace_trim=trailing -->
Smartling will trim only trailing whitespaces