Translatable strings in .h file -- best way to resolve?

[Jeff Kletsky]

On 3/18/2010 8:04 AM, Derek Atkins wrote:
> Jeff Kletsky<gnucash at allycomm.com>  writes:
>
>    
>> So then when I submit a patch for things like src/business/business-utils/
>> business-utils.scm -- the existing usages of (N_ "some string") probably
>> should be converted to (_ "some string") -- correct? I was puzzled by that as,
>> at least as I understand it, in C N_(string) is a noop marker and _() is the
>> gettext () call.
>>      
> N_ is a noop marker in both C and Scheme
> _ is the gettext call in both C and Scheme
> Where you place the paren is based on the language.
>
>    
>> (define gnc:*business-label* (N_ "Business"))
>> (define gnc:*company-name* (N_ "Company Name"))
>> (define gnc:*company-addy* (N_ "Company Address"))
>> (define gnc:*company-id* (N_ "Company ID"))
>> (define gnc:*company-phone* (N_ "Company Phone Number"))
>> (define gnc:*company-fax* (N_ "Company Fax Number"))
>> (define gnc:*company-url* (N_ "Company Website URL"))
>> (define gnc:*company-email* (N_ "Company Email Address"))
>> (define gnc:*company-contact* (N_ "Company Contact Person"))
>>      
> These are fine here because these string constants are defined in
> Scheme.  This would be a no-op, so it would mark these strings
> are translatable but wouldn't translate them immediately.  This
> is important if you want to use them as a key to a database entry (which
> should always use the untranslated string) but also put it in the UI
> (which should always use the translated string).
>
>    
>> (export gnc:*business-label* gnc:*company-name* gnc:*company-addy*
>> gnc:*company-id*
>>              gnc:*company-phone* gnc:*company-fax* gnc:*company-url*
>>              gnc:*company-email* gnc:*company-contact*)
>>
>> (define gnc:*option-section-accounts* (_ OPTION-SECTION-ACCOUNTS))
>> (define gnc:*option-name-trading-accounts* (_ OPTION-NAME-TRADING-ACCOUNTS))
>>
>> (export gnc:*option-section-accounts* gnc:*option-name-trading-accounts*)
>>
>> (define gnc:*option-section-budgeting* (_ OPTION-SECTION-BUDGETING))
>> (define gnc:*option-name-default-budget* (_ OPTION-NAME-DEFAULT-BUDGET))
>>
>> (export gnc:*option-section-budgeting* gnc:*option-name-default-budget*)
>>      
> These calls would define these options as the translated versions of
> these strings.  I'm not sure this is correct.  So long as the OPTION
> strings are defined as N_ in the C code you don't need to translate them
> here unless you ONLY want access to the translated version of the
> string.
>
> -derek
>
>    

Ah, I didn't realize that the translation was being handled 
transparently in the rendering layer. It was really bothering me that 
the KVP keys seemed to be language-dependent. Looking at 
src/gnome-utils/dialog-options.c a little more carefully I now see 
constructs like _(*raw), _(label), and _(description) sprinkled in there.

Thanks to all for helping me through my first shot at Gnu-style i18n.

Jeff