Making a new translation for a-squared

It's easy to create a new translation for a-squared. All texts are stored in plain text files with the file extension ".lng" at the "Languages" subfolder of the a-squared installation folder; e.g.: c:\program files\a-squared Anti-Malware\Languages\

Please run an online update of a-squared to ensure that you have the most recent versions of all translations on your PC. Note, that all a-squared programs use the same lng files. The files contain all texts used in the programs.

To make a new translation, please always use the en-us.lng (English default) or de-de.lng (German) as source. We can only guarantee at those files that they are always up-to-date with all recent changes. Make a copy of the source file and give it a new file name of your language, e.g. nl-nl.lng for Dutch.

Open the file with Notepad or any other plaintext (ASCII) text editor, but don't use MS Word because it would destroy the file structure completely.

At the language files you can see:

[Sections], which should not be translated at all, and

//Comments, which are ignored lines which can, but need not to be translated.

The text stuff has always the format:

Key=Value

Key is the identifier so the software knows where to use the text.
Value is the actual text which must be translated.

Header information

Knowing that, you are ready to make a new translation. But there are some additional tips for making new lng files for a-squared. Let's see the header section of each file which looks like this in German e.g.:

[languageinfo]
version=2.0.0.623
language=German
languagelocal=Deutsch
author=Emsi Software GmbH
email=info@emsisoft.com
date=2006-09-02

The version refers to the latest a-squared Anti-Malware build number which required an update of the lng file. When doing an update of an existing lng file, please always check that you insert the same version number of the source file you are using.

The language key is the English display name for the language at the language selector drop down box in the software.

The languagelocal key is the language name in it's own language, e.g. in German, the word for "German" is "Deutsch".

The author key can be used to write down your name and the email key can be used to store your email address which can be used by other translators to tell you about bugs or translation mistakes.

The date key should always contain the creation or last update date when you changed the file.

General tips

From time to time the language files are growing because of new user interface controls in the software or new features. Then it is needed to update or extend an existing lng file with the most recent changes.

To compare your lng file with the default en-us.lng file, we recommend to use the freeware software WinMerge: http://www.winmerge.org/

It makes it much easier to create or edit a translation.

Once you have finished your new language file, please send it to info@emsisoft.com

A free full version license for you can be guaranteed!