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List:       kde-i18n-doc
Subject:    Re: qDebug messages i18n'ed?
From:       Pino Toscano <pino () kde ! org>
Date:       2016-04-15 14:53:55
Message-ID: 5225008.5J7IAnPd43 () pendragon ! usersys ! redhat ! com
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Hi,

On Friday 15 April 2016 10:55:57 Frederik Schwarzer wrote:
> in kfilemetadata (git repo of the same name) there are messages like 
> these:
> qDebug() << i18n("Plugin could not be converted to a WriterPlugin");
> qDebug() << i18n("Plugin could not create instance") << pluginPath;
> 
> Is it common to use qDebug() to bring messages to the user? I mean, can 
> qDebug() not be disabled and then the user does not see the messages?
> Although these messages read rather technical, so maybe they are not 
> meant for mere users and should be de-i18n'ed?

qDebug/qWarning/etc messages should simply not translated, for few
reasons:
- with GUI-based applications, users won't simply see them unless
  launching them from a console
- debug messages (depending on kdelibs/qt version, and API used) can be
  enabled/disabled from outside the application, so they can be even
  "missed" by users
- in general, using debug messages is a poor user feedback for GUI
  applications

So yes, please remove i18n() from the aforementioned debug messages.
This is what I usually do when reviewing strings in some
application/library.

Thanks,
-- 
Pino Toscano
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