egroupware/doc/lang_files.txt

For language translation, please read these rules:


Format of a lang file:

{phrase}{TAB}{appname}{TAB}{LANG_CODE}{TAB}{translation}

e.g:

first name	common	en	First Name
first name	common	de	Vorname


Filenames:
egw_{LANG_CODE}.lang

e.g.
English	egw_en.lang
German	egw_de.lang

Please look at the content of the 'languages' table for the correct
setting of the {LANG_CODE}.


Rules:

1.  Phrases that are 'common' are loaded for all apps!  This includes
  admin and preferences.

2.  The appname 'common' is reserved for the API and for application names in
  each application.  Please DO NOT place more than a few phrases in 'common'.
  These should be only enough for the appname to display correctly in the navbar
  for the most part.  Please set the appname field to your application name.

3.  Consult an API developer prior to adding or editing files in the
  phpgwapi/lang language files, and prior to adding a lot of phrases
  to 'common' within an application/lang dir.

4.  TRANSLATION to other languages MUST be based upon the english language
  files (egw_en.lang in each app/setup directory).  Since most of the
  developers are using English as their primary language, those should
  have the most complete list.

5.  Language files for other than English should NOT have additional
  phrases.  If some phrase needs to be added to the English file, please
  consult the API or application developer to let them know before you
  add missing phrases.

6. Please be careful not to conflict with or duplicate any lang entry.
  Conflicts should be checked for by using setup to load the language you are
  working with.  Also, if more than a couple of apps are using the same or
  similar lang entry, it should most likely be moved to the API lang files.
  This is so that the size of the db is kept as small as possible.

7.  Please do not have multiple copies of an entry for different apps when
  it can be avoided.  e.g. the phrase 'add widget' set to 'preferences',
  'admin', 'common' and the 'appname'.  When in doubt use common, so that
  it will show in prefs/admin, etc.

8.  Please sort the file when you add new entries.  This makes it easier to
  read and will help to locate duplicates.