[Freecats-Dev] early proof of concept implementations?

[Simos Xenitellis]

Summary:
1. Need for 'quick n dirty' implementation for translators to get going.
2. Use scripts for this, keep work under FreeCATS ombrella.
3. Get blessing/advice/feedback from this list.

Dear All,
I was thinking about the creation of some early proof of concept
implementations of document translation programs.
To be precise, I would also describe them as 'quick and dirty'
implementations so that to get at least the translators working.
There is a big need to have some documents translated.

Instead of having these small projects being independent, I would rather
see them under the FreeCats ombrela of early developments.
They should not require development effort from the FreeCats developers,
rather some consultation on decisions to make.

To be more precise, the first 'quick 'n dirty' solution is to write 
a set of scripts to convert between XML and the .po format. Then, use
KBabel, poEdit, gtranslator et al. to translate.
Such scripts exist with different levels of correctness.
In addition, if script languages such as Perl are used, then one can use
'XML::Twig' and 'XML::Parse' to have some good degree of correctness.
(See for example, GNOME CVS: gnome-i18n/el/)
Malcolm Tredinnick is currently working on such a set of scripts and
some results are expected soon.

An issue that is currently unsolved is how to maintain consistency
between updates of the original document. One way to do it is to attach
with the translated document the original document that it was based
from. Thus, if changes in the original document take place, then they
can be traced back through the different versions of the 'master'
(english) document. Some advice on this would be appreciated.

simos