1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename wmaker_i18n.info
4 @settitle Window Maker Internationalisation 1.0
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27 @c ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title Page ---
31 This manual is for @sc{Window Maker} window manager, version @value{version}.
33 @noindent Copyright @copyright{} 2015 The Window Maker Team.
36 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
37 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
38 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
39 (at your option) any later version.
41 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
42 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
43 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
44 GNU General Public License for more details.
46 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
47 with this program, see file COPYING for details.
52 @title Window Maker Internationalisation
53 @subtitle A guide to enable support for language translations
54 @subtitle in @sc{Window Maker}.
55 @author Christophe CURIS
58 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
62 Published by The Window Maker team on @today{}.
65 @c ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Content ---
68 @top Window Maker Internationalisation
70 A guide to enable support for language translations
78 This manual is for Window Maker, version @value{version}.
82 * Enabling Languages support:: How to compile Window Maker with i18n support
83 * Choosing the Language:: When installed, how to run wmaker with your language
87 @c ------------------------------------------------------------------ Enabling Languages support ---
89 @node Enabling Languages support
90 @chapter Enabling Languages support
92 @sc{Window Maker} has the possibility to be translated in many languages, but by default none of
93 them will be installed, and the support for translation will not be compiled.
95 To enable the translation capabilities, you have to specify which language(s) you want to be
96 installed: this is done with the variable @env{LINGUAS} when running the @command{configure} script.
97 This variable should contain the space-separated list of languages you want to install.
99 You could for instance enable both French (@code{fr}) and Dutch (@code{nl}) with this:
102 ./configure LINGUAS="fr nl"
105 You can of course add any other option that you want to the @command{configure} command.
106 From the moment you specify the variable, the @command{configure} script will check that you have
107 the appropriate dependencies for this (basically the @code{gettext} function and the @code{libintl}
108 library); when you run @command{make} to compile the project, it will also compile the translation
109 (@code{mo} files) for the language(s) you asked (if available, of course), and during
110 @command{make install} it will install them in the usual directory.
112 The installation directory can be changed with the standard option @option{--localedir} to the
113 @command{configure} script, the default path being
114 @file{@emph{<prefix>}/share/locale/@emph{<lang>}/LC_MESSAGES}).
117 @c --------------------------------------------------------------------- LINGUAS at system level ---
118 @section Setting @env{LINGUAS} at system level
120 As the variable @env{LINGUAS} is quite standard, you also have the possibility to set its value in
121 the @file{config.site} file for @sc{Autoconf}.
122 This file can be placed in one of these paths:
125 @item @file{@emph{<prefix>}/share/config.site}
126 @item @file{@emph{<prefix>}/etc/config.site}
129 This way, the same language list will be used for all the programs that use @sc{Autoconf} that you
131 Please note that if you also specify a value on the command line, it will have precedence over the
135 @c ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Choosing the Language ---
136 @node Choosing the Language
137 @chapter Choosing the Language
139 If you have compiled and installed @sc{Window Maker} with support for your language,
140 the effective translation is done is the very same way as any other application on an @sc{Unix}
141 system, you just have to set the shell variable @env{LANG} to your language before @command{wmaker}
143 In @command{sh} type of shell (@sc{sh}, @sc{ksh}, @sc{bash}, ...), this is done for example with
144 (@code{fr} is for French):
151 There is also a command line option @option{--locale} for @sc{Window Maker} which may be used to set
158 When using this option, @sc{Window Maker} will use the locale you specified, redefining the
159 @env{LANG} environment variable to this value so all program started from @sc{Window Maker} will
163 If your system is using @sc{systemd}, you can also configure the locale at system level using the
167 localectl set-locale LANG=fr
171 You can check if the current value is properly supported with the command:
177 If this does not work, you may need first to activate the support for your locale in the system;
178 you can get the list of currently enabled locales with the command:
184 You should be able to enable a new language support by editing the file @file{/etc/locale.gen} to
185 uncomment the locale(s) you need (by removing the @code{#} character and space(s) in front of it,
186 and by running the command @command{locale-gen} as root.
188 For further information, you may wish to read dedicated documentation, for example from
189 @uref{http://tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html, the Linux Documentation Project}
190 or through pages like
191 @uref{http://www.shellhacks.com/en/HowTo-Change-Locale-Language-and-Character-Set-in-Linux,Shell Hacks' note on Changing Locale}.
194 @c ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The End ---