Ongenet
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Internationalization (i18n)

Ongenet uses Avalonia resource dictionaries for UI strings. English is the source locale; additional languages are parallel .axaml files with identical keys.

File layout

File Purpose
Ongenet.App/Localization/Loc.cs C# string lookup (Loc.Get, Loc.Format)
Ongenet.App/Localization/LocalizationService.cs Loads/swaps locale dictionaries at runtime
Ongenet.App/Resources/Strings.en.axaml English (master catalog)
Ongenet.App/Resources/Strings.ja.axaml Japanese

Using strings in XAML

Bind user-visible text with DynamicResource so language changes apply without reopening windows:

<TextBlock Text="{DynamicResource Main_Open}"/>
<Button ToolTip.Tip="{DynamicResource Main_OpenTip}"/>

Do not localize icon glyphs (↶, ▸), bindings, version numbers, or user/project data.

Using strings in C#

View models inherit L() from ViewModelBase:

public string Title => L("Settings_Title");
public string Status => L("ProjectClips_Detail", kind, length, count);

Elsewhere:

Loc.Get("Dialog_OK");
Loc.Format("Menu_RemoveMidiMapping", ccNumber);

Subscribe to ILocalizationService.CultureChanged when you build dynamic menus or need to refresh many properties.

Key naming

Flat PascalCase with area prefix:

  • Main_Open, Main_OpenTip
  • Settings_TabGeneral, Settings_Language
  • Dialog_OK, Dialog_Cancel
  • Guide_GettingStarted_Title, Guide_GettingStarted_Body
  • Main_Scripting, Scripting_* — Scripting centre tab, IDE, and export buttons (Scripting_ExportProject, Scripting_ExportPreset, …) (scripting.md)
  • Scripts_* — scripting panel toolbar and output (scripting.md)
  • AudioEditor_* — standalone Audio Editor (audio-editor.md)
  • PolyPitch_* / Timeline_Open_Pitch_Editor — pitch editor (polyphonic-pitch.md)
  • Settings_PluginIsolation* — plugin sandbox toggle (plugin-isolation.md)
  • Guide_AudioEditor_*, Guide_PitchEditor_*, Guide_Scripting_* — in-app Guide sections

Suffix Tip for tooltips, Title for window titles, A11yName / A11yHelp for accessibility.

Changing language in the app

Settings → General → Language — choose System default, English, or 日本語. The choice is stored in AppSettings.UiCulture and applied immediately.

Adding a new language

  1. Copy Strings.en.axaml to Strings.<culture>.axaml (e.g. Strings.de.axaml).
  2. Translate values only — never rename keys.
  3. Register the culture in LocalizationService.SupportedCultureIds and add a display label to SupportedLocales and the General settings combo in GeneralSettingsViewModel.
  4. Extend LocalizationKeyParityTests to include the new file.
  5. If the script exists, add phrase hints to scripts/i18n_translate_ja.py as a reference for DAW terminology, then translate manually or regenerate.
  6. Smoke-test dense UI (transport bar, track inspector) for overflow; add CJK/Cyrillic font fallbacks in App.axaml if needed.

Maintenance scripts

Script Purpose
scripts/i18n_extract.py Scan AXAML for hardcoded literals → update Strings.en.axaml and {DynamicResource} bindings
scripts/i18n_translate_ja.py Bootstrap Strings.ja.axaml from English (review with a native speaker before release)

After adding new English keys manually, re-run the Japanese script and fix any awkward machine translations.

CI

LocalizationKeyParityTests fails if Strings.ja.axaml (and other registered locales) are missing keys present in English or contain empty values.