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List:       kde-i18n-doc
Subject:    Re: clarification of a string
From:       Chusslove Illich <caslav.ilic () gmx ! net>
Date:       2010-12-22 12:00:28
Message-ID: 201012221300.28292.caslav.ilic () gmx ! net
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> [: Dimitrios Glentadakis :]
> The "Contact Owner" is translated in greek as: "The owner of the contact" .
> I think the real meaning is "Contact the owner". It is right my thought ?

You are right.

But this example should be viewed more systematically. In the PO file alone,
one can observe the following sequence of messages:

  #: messageactions.cpp:334
  msgid "Go to Archive"
  msgstr ""

  #: messageactions.cpp:336
  msgid "Request Help"
  msgstr ""

  #: messageactions.cpp:338
  msgid "Contact Owner"
  msgstr ""

  #: messageactions.cpp:340 mailinglistpropertiesdialog.cpp:160
  msgid "Subscribe to List"
  msgstr ""

  #: messageactions.cpp:342
  msgid "Unsubscribe from List"
  msgstr ""

All the messages above and below the problematic one are actions ("do
something with something"), and all of them come from the same source file
in which they are tightly packed two lines apart.

If this were not sufficient, the code could be aditionally checked (since it
is both simply available and properly referenced), and there one would see:

      if ( mailList.features() & MessageCore::MailingList::Archive )
        addMailingListActions( i18n( "Go to Archive" ), mailList.archiveUrls() );
      if ( mailList.features() & MessageCore::MailingList::Help )
        addMailingListActions( i18n( "Request Help" ), mailList.helpUrls() );
      if ( mailList.features() & MessageCore::MailingList::Owner )
        addMailingListActions( i18n( "Contact Owner" ), mailList.ownerUrls() );
      if ( mailList.features() & MessageCore::MailingList::Subscribe )
        addMailingListActions( i18n( "Subscribe to List" ), mailList.subscribeUrls() );
      if ( mailList.features() & MessageCore::MailingList::Unsubscribe )
        addMailingListActions( i18n( "Unsubscribe from List" ), mailList.unsubscribeUrls() );

It does not take to know about programming to see that all messages follow
the same pattern and are being added as maling list actions.

In summary, in my opinion, the message "Contact Owner" does not require
explicit context (msgctxt). Rather, it requires the translator to closely
follow the *positional context*, which means always keeping in sight
messages above and below the current one, and their source references in
relation to one another. This is the reason why PO extraction and processing
tools carefully preserve the order of messages and provide source
references, although neither is technically necessary.

Unfortunatelly, dedicated PO editors are in sum detrimental to following the
positional context. They usually make the currently translated message much
more prominent than the messages before and after, to the effect that the
translator can easily ignore them (that more problematic when updating a PO
file instead of translating it from scratch), and to put source references
in a peripheral part of the window (or even not show them at all).


-- 
Chusslove Illich (Часлав Илић)

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