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Translating SwitchDesk

SwitchDesk can show its interface in other languages. The translations are made by people who use it, and every language is welcome. You don't need to know how to program: a translation is one text file.

Pick a language

Settings → Language lists the languages that come with SwitchDesk. Automatic uses your computer's language when SwitchDesk has it, and English otherwise.

Switch output always stays as the switch sends it: configs, command output, log lines, port names and addresses. So do the names you give your switches.

How a translation file looks

Every language is a JSON file named after its language code, such as de.json for German or pt-BR.json for Brazilian Portuguese:

{
  "language": "Deutsch",
  "code": "de",
  "strings": {
    "Add switch": "Switch hinzufügen",
    "{0} of {1} online": "{0} von {1} online",
    "Settings": "Einstellungen"
  }
}
  • The key on the left is the English text, exactly as SwitchDesk shows it. Don't change it.
  • The value on the right is your translation. Leave it empty ("") to keep the English text for now. A half-finished file already helps.
  • {0}, {1}… stand for things that change, such as numbers, switch names and versions. Keep every one of them in your translation, in whatever order your language needs: "{0} of {1} online" can become "{1} 台中 {0} 台在线".
  • language is the name shown in the list, written in the language itself (Deutsch, Français, ქართული).

The full list of texts is frontend/dist/i18n/en.json, with every value empty. Start from a copy of it.

Try it in SwitchDesk

You can try a translation without building anything:

  1. In Settings → Language, click Translation files. This opens the translations folder inside your data folder.
  2. Put your file there, for example fr.json.
  3. Choose it in Settings → Language. It's marked "your file".

Edit the file, then pick the language again to see your changes. A file in this folder also overrides the built-in translation with the same code, which is handy for fixing a word.

Share it

So everyone gets your language:

  • Through GitHub: fork the repository, add or edit frontend/dist/i18n/<code>.json, add your language to frontend/dist/i18n/languages.json, and open a pull request.
  • Without GitHub tools: attach the file to the translation issue or email it to jaba@clihero.com.

You're credited in the changelog and the README.

Reviewing a draft

Some languages are marked draft. A draft was translated without a native speaker yet, so it may have stiff wording or wrong network terms. Reading through it in SwitchDesk and fixing what sounds wrong is one of the most useful things you can do. Many network terms (VLAN, trunk, untagged, uplink) are usually left in English; follow what your colleagues actually say.

For developers

The page is written in English, and frontend/dist/i18n.js swaps in the chosen language as it's drawn, so new code needs nothing special. After changing interface text, update the list for translators:

cd tools/i18n
npm install
npm run extract

Text that Go puts together at run time, which the extractor can't see whole, goes into tools/i18n/extra.txt as a pattern. To find text that still has no translation, open SwitchDesk in a language, use it for a bit, then run I18N.missing() in the developer console of frontend/dev/preview.html.