# Colobot data translation The translation of Colobot level titles, level hierarchy and help files is managed through translation files (`*.pot` and `*.po`) as those generated by [gettext](https://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/). This is achieved by a set of Python scripts using [polib library](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/polib). The only requirement for generating translations is standard Python 2.7+ installation (polib library is bundled with other script files). If you don't have Python installed, nothing is generated and only English files are installed. ## Level scene description files Level scene description files have English headers that are used in the Colobot interface to describe the levels. Level scene description files are `levels/$level/scene.txt` and translations are handled in the level-specific `po/` directory: `levels/$levels/po/`. The `*.pot` file is the source translation file, the `*.po` files are the translations. ## Help files Help files are divided in two categories: * Generic help files, about the game, the objects, the syntax, etc. These are stored in `help/`, in four sub-categories: generic, bots, object and bots. * Level-specific help files, about the level, instructions, example programs, etc. These are stored in `levels/$level/help/`. Help files have their source in English, always stored in the `E/` subdirectory. Every other language directory is dynamically generated in the build process from files in level's `po/` directory. ## Colobot syntax Colobot parses a specific syntax to enable some formatting in the game interface. To ease translation, this syntax is transformed into a pseudo-HTML syntax in the gettext files. Here is the table of transformations and their meanings: <table> <thead> <tr> <td>Transformed label</td> <td>Colobot native label</td> <td>Description</td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><tt><button $buttonID/></tt></td> <td><tt>\button $buttonID;</tt></td> <td>Indicates a UI button. <tt>$buttonID</tt> is a number</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><key $keyCode/></tt></td> <td><tt>\key $keyCode;</tt></td> <td>Indicates a keyboard key. <tt>$keyCode</tt> is a code, such as <tt>action</tt></td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><format $formatID>Formatted text</format></tt></td> <td><tt>\$formatID;Formatted text\norm;</tt></td> <td>Changes text formatting in the marker. <tt>$formatID</tt> can be <tt>const</tt>, <tt>type</tt>, <tt>token</tt> or <tt>key</tt>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><$formatID/></tt></td> <td><tt>\$formatID;</tt></td> <td>Toggle text formatting. <tt>$formatID</tt> can be <tt>const</tt>, <tt>type</tt>, <tt>token</tt>, <tt>key</tt> or <tt>norm</tt>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><a $link>Link text</a></tt></td> <td><tt>\l;Link text\u $link;</tt></td> <td>Direct hyper-link. <tt>$link</tt> can be direct or in a category (such as <tt>cbot\abstime</tt>)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><a $linkcat|$link>Link text</a></tt></td> <td><tt>\l;Link text\u $linkcat\$link;</tt></td> <td>In-category hyper-link, <tt>linkcat</tt> can only be <tt>cbot</tt>, <tt>bots</tt> or <tt>object</tt>.</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><code>CBot code</code></tt></td> <td><tt>\c;CBot code\n;</tt></td> <td>Code formatting</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><s/></tt></td> <td><tt>\s;</tt></td> <td>Typewriter line indicator (usually verbatim code)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><t/></tt></td> <td><tt>\t;</tt></td> <td>Title line indicator</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><b/></tt></td> <td><tt>\b;</tt></td> <td>Subtitle line indicator</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><c/></tt></td> <td><tt>\c;</tt></td> <td>Typewriter formatting toggle</td> </tr> <tr> <td><tt><n/></tt></td> <td><tt>\n;</tt></td> <td>Normal formatting toggle</td> </tbody> </table>