Software localization and translation of .RESX files in Wordbee

In a previous software localization blog post, we discussed Wordbee's ability to parse and process PO files for translation and localization. Today, we will introduce the translation of the .resx file.

What is a .RESX file?

The .Net resource (.resx) file consists of the monolingual file format used in the Microsoft.Net application. They contain menus, dialogs, error messages, other description strings, and dialog resizing.

The syntax of the .resx resource file format consists of XML entries that specify objects and strings within the XML tag. Entries in the resource are described by <data> and <value> pairs.

Here is an example of a .resx file:

Comments are added to the string using the optional <comment> field. Comments provide a description of the message text and more context. End users do not see comments, so no translation is required. When you create translation specifications, budgets, and timelines, they are removed from the word count.

Here is an example of a commented .resx file:

Benefits of .RESX localization on the Wordbee platform

When Wordbee parses the .resx file, it only displays the "value" text for each entry to the translation. Wordbee will extract all the value text and display it in the editor for translation. As a result, translators can translate strings in a user-friendly environment without worrying about inadvertently missing or destroying any XML code. Here is an example of .resx content:

Note that Wordbee keeps the strings in the same order as they appear in the .resx file. If strings are interdependent, their interdependencies are not lost. This can be very useful in future updates using text in the translation memory, especially the 110% matching feature provided by Wordbee.

By hiding all the XML code and properly training the translator how to handle the variables, the translated .resx file can be exported after the translation is complete without any coding errors. This saves a lot of testing and debugging time. However, if the translator can view the comments in protected mode for their reference, it would be great. This will help them better understand the context of short strings for a more accurate and faster translation.

If there is a string length limit on the dialog or menu (which may occur due to limited screen space), the QA inspector in Wordbee can be configured to warn the translation when its suggested translation text length exceeds the allowed limit. By.

.RESX file localization challenges

Wordbee provides limited control over the text to be translated. Since most .resx file variables (in {0} and {1} formats) are embedded in the Value string, translators must be careful not to inadvertently remove them. Therefore, you should train translators to handle variables correctly, making sure they are placed in the correct location in each string.

Wordbee does offer the option to exclude the entire value of the content from the translation. It can look up regular expressions and mark the found expression as a non-translatable segment.

After translating .RESX files

.resx files are usually associated with forms and dialogs. After translation, the size of the translated string will increase or decrease. Therefore, extra effort is required outside of Wordbee to adjust the size of the dialog or abbreviated text to fit the buttons and labels of the form components.

As mentioned earlier, if the Wordbee QA is pre-configured to warn translators when this happens, the translator makes these changes before submitting the translation to the engineering team. This will ensure that the correct abbreviated translations are stored in Wordbee's translation memory for future version updates. However, we recommend that engineering inspection steps be performed outside of the Wordbee platform. This is to ensure that all translated text meets the size limits set by the localization translation.

Convert .RESX strings to vocabulary

Wordbee has released a new terminology management tool that is useful for translating software applications and their supporting documentation, such as online help, reference manuals, user guides, and tutorials.

For software applications, it is important that translators maintain consistency between the translation of the software user interface and its supporting materials. This will simplify the use of applications by international end users and facilitate learning of the software.

For example, you don't want the user interface strings mentioned in the online help to be different from the way they are displayed in the running software.

To maintain consistency, translators need to use all user interface terms and strings correctly throughout the product line.