loctool for Android devs

loctool have plugin for android localization. ilib-loctool-android-resource and iilb-loctool-android-layout. loctool handles text string resources.
ilib-loctool-android-resource is for strings.xml file under res/values,
ilib-loctool-android-layout plugin handles text in layout file under res/layout

Input file type	Output file type	Sample
xml	xml	here

1) Extract localizable Strings

A string resource provides text strings for your application with optional text styling and formatting. There are three types of resources that can provide your application with strings:

String resource
- String
- String Array
- Quantity Strings (Plurals)
Layout resource

a) String

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="hello_world">Hello World!</string>
</resources>

b) String-array

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string-array name="string_array_name">
        <item>text_string</item>
    </string-array>
</resources>

c) Quantity strings (plurals)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <plurals name="plural_name">
        <item
            quantity=["zero" | "one" | "two" | "few" | "many" | "other"]
            >text_string</item>
    </plurals>
</resources>

d) Layout resource

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FrameLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" android:layout_width="match_parent">
  <RelativeLayout android:layout_width="match_parent">
    <com.mycompany.customviews.RobotoRegularTextView
      android:id="@+id/invalidpasswordMsg"
      android:text="This is a test"
      android:textColor="@color/error_red"/>
  </RelativeLayout>
</FrameLayout>

2) Prepre XLIFF files

Prepare multi-language XLIFF files with translation.
With loctool parameter or through a config file, It can set xliff files location.


// a) loctool option
 -x or --xliffs
  Specify the dir where the xliffs files live. Default: "."

// b) set in project.json config file
...
"settings": {
    "xliffsDir": "./xliffs",
...

3) Write config file for loctool

Make sure resourceDirs, resourceFileType and plugin are written correctly in config file.

i.e) project.json

...
"resourceDirs": {
    "java":"res"
},
"resourceFileTypes": {
    "java":"ilib-loctool-android-resource"
},
"plugins": [
    "ilib-loctool-android-resource",
    "ilib-loctool-android-layout"
],
...

4) Run the loctool - Generate localization data

loctool creates a new folder under res with name of values-local which follows androld localization rules.

i.e) Spanish strings (es locale), /values-es/strings.xml:

<resources>
    <string name="hello_world">¡Hola Mundo!</string>
</resources>

Reference

loctool for QML devs

loctool for Markdown devs