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Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2006 14:53:10 +0400
From: "Ilya Okomin" <ilya.okomin@gmail.com>
To: harmony-dev@incubator.apache.org
Subject: [classlib]strings externalization
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Hi falks!

I would like to open discussion about the way to extract messages for
internationalization from the source files (as the continuation of the
[classlib]internationalization thread [1]).

The task is to scan modules source files, find exception messages, extract
them into the resource bundle  and replace these messages in the source
files with corresponding Messages.getString() call by key parameter from the
resource bundle.

I see three ways to solve this task:
1) Do it manually - the less attractive because of the huge amount of manual
work.
2) Use Eclipse externalization tool. This tool provide us a possibility to
scan source files and to check strings you would like to externalize. Sounds
reasonable except several issues:

   - At first, there is a manual work to choose from the source files
   only messages related to exceptions throwing and avoid duplication of
   messages at list in one class file.(however, this work is much more easier
   than one mentioned at 1) point:))
   - Eclipse tool creates resource bundle with messages and Messages
   class to get access to this resources in every package. Also this tool
   suggests to use <classname>.id as the key of the message. In our previous
   discussion [1] it was decided to use <modulename>.id as the key and keep all
   messages in one resource file per module. Good news: during processing
   source file with Eclipse tool we can set the same resource file for all
   source files from the module and every time set the prefix of key names to
   the module name, also our Messages class implementation can be used after
   adding corresponding import statement into a source. Bad news: following
   this way of processing sources one can see that there is no tracking system
   for key indices numeration, in case of mistakes there can be generated
   different messages with the same keys!!
   - And at last, Eclipse tool processes only separated strings.
   And according to the discussion [1] these messages with arguments supposed
   to be converted to strings with places for substitution by parameters being
   arguments in Messages.getString() method. E.g. code:

 int param;
...
NullPointerException("foo " + param + " bar");

supposed to be formatted as

NullPointerException(Messages.getString("<module>.1", param));

where "<module>.1=foo {0} bar" in the resource bundle.
I have an optitmistic thought that there are not so many messages with
parameters to process them manually after the rest of work with just strings
is done.

3)Write own parser that will do all implement tasks automatic. In my opinion
it's quite a non-trivial task, only if there is no tools that resolves
similar tasks.

The 2) approach seems to me more reasonable, despite some manual work.
Parser will help us to easily update bundles and sources after future
changes, but it will be not so easy to implement it.

Any thoughts on this topic?

Tim, if I'm not mistaken you dealt with strings externalization for SQL
module, it would be interesting to hear anything about the way you'd chosen.


[1] http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/incubator-harmony-dev/200607.mbox/%3cc79906b30607100414j7e135b50tc4d725c0df740673@mail.gmail.com%3e

-- 
--
Ilya Okomin
Intel Middleware Products Division

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