Re: [PATCH] l10n: allows to translate diff messages

"Jordi Mas via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:

"allow to translate" would be the right phrasing, but it is too vague to say "diff messages". You are only marking 3 messages for translation when there are probably a handful more.

You need to explain which ones, not just vague "diff messages".

I think you are focusing on the words on the "git diff --stat" and "git diff --shortstat" summary line, so

    i18n: mark "git diff --[short]stat" summary for translation

perhaps? And remember, i18n is the act of making the code capable of being translated, while l10n is the act of actually translating what i18n prepared into a particular language. Here, i18n is more appropriate.

Our log message first explain the current status/behaviour of the code (and highlight the problem in it), and then gives an order to the codebase to "be like so" in imperative mood. Perhaps like this:

    "git diff --[short]stat" summarizes the number of paths touched
    and lines inserted and deleted.  Mark this message for
    translation.

Note that I didn't explicitly say what's wrong with the current behaviour, but "mark for translation" as the order given to the codebase, it should be clear enough from the context that the problem is that it is not marked for translation.

Having said all that, I am not sure if this patch stop at a sensible point. At least "git diff --summary" output should also be updated to match, as they often go hand-in-hand, no?

Also, when showing "git diff --stat" for a binary file, we'd say

	$path | Bin 1234 -> 1236 bytes

I wonder if that should also be translated.

While I am at it, there are a handful things that should NEVER be translated in the "git diff" output.

Between "diff --git" and "--- a/$path", there are metainfo lines that are read by "git apply" (including this "index" line). They should never be translated.

Thanks.