Translation linter work - Rework of #3597 by JaminShanti · Pull Request #3683 · jamulussoftware/jamulus

JaminShanti · 2026-05-09T23:16:54Z

Short description of changes
Rework of #3597

Introduces an extended Python-based Qt .ts translation checker. This tool validates translation files according to Qt Linguist semantics, catching common formatting and syntax issues such as:

Empty translations
Placeholder mismatches (%1, %2, etc.)
Missing HTML tags
Leading/trailing whitespace inconsistencies
Newline mismatches

It features a strict mode (--strict) designed for CI pipeline integration, which exits with a non-zero code when warnings or severe errors are present. It also outputs a detailed test summary organized by language.

CHANGELOG: SKIP

Context: Fixes an issue?

Context: This provides a more robust, automated way to ensure the quality and consistency of internationalization (i18n) files, reducing the manual review overhead required for ongoing translation updates.

Does this change need documentation? What needs to be documented and how?

No end-user documentation is required on the website. A brief note should likely be added to CONTRIBUTING.md or the developer documentation explaining how contributors or CI runners can execute the script against the src/translation directory.

Status of this Pull Request

Working implementation.

What is missing until this pull request can be merged?

Review from the core team on the specific validation rules to ensure the severity levels align with the project's standards.
Integration into the automated GitHub Actions / CI workflow.

Checklist

I've verified that this Pull Request follows the general code principles
I tested my code and it does what I want
My code follows the style guide
I waited some time after this Pull Request was opened and all GitHub checks completed without errors.
I've filled all the content above

Make script executable Add PR commenting logic Add pygithub dependency Fix import Remove GitHub requirements Refactor test suite Fix some errors Add styling Add severity Be closer to qtlinguist semantics

ann0see · 2026-05-10T06:50:12Z

Please rebase this too such that we have no conflicts

ann0see · 2026-05-25T20:20:24Z

+def approximate_message_lines(text: str):
+    """Yield approximate line numbers for <message> elements."""
+    lines = text.splitlines()
+    cursor = 0
+    for _ in range(text.count("<message")):
+        for i in range(cursor, len(lines)):
+            if "<message" in lines[i]:
+                cursor = i + 1
+                yield i + 1
+                break
+        else:
+            yield 0


Maybe add a TODO to think about how to not need to approximate the line numbers. I know it's from the original version and ChatGPT came up with it as hack.

I tired something different. See if you think it's an improvement or I can revert.

ann0see

I'll need to check it myself locally again, but we should be ready soon.

ann0see · 2026-05-25T20:22:47Z

A brief note should likely be added to CONTRIBUTING.md

Maybe. Not sure. Since it'll fail if there's an issue, the translation CI will complain.

ann0see · 2026-05-25T20:24:51Z

@ignotus666 maybe you could also have a look at the general concept of this script. It should find some issues (definitely not everything).

ann0see · 2026-05-25T20:26:08Z

Related: #2902

ignotus666 · 2026-05-26T10:36:25Z

Weblate already does all of these checks. I personally don't see the need for this - it's going to be constantly causing CI failures.

ann0see · 2026-05-26T10:47:00Z

Really? Most of those are based on what I'd check manually on PRs. So we may need to add other things.

ignotus666 · 2026-05-26T11:05:22Z

Weblate flags all those issues plus a few others (inconsistencies, markdown links, references and syntax, multiple capitals...). It just doesn't block anything on that basis, only providing warnings - it's up to translators to address the flagged issues. If they don't bother on Weblate I don't see how flagging them again here is going to change anything. It's often the case that they are false positives and can be ignored (you can tell Weblate to do that) due to particularities of different languages, or in the case of empty translations because that particular segment doesn't need translating. If the script here causes the CI build to fail I can guarantee you'll never see a successful build again.

ann0see · 2026-07-11T19:02:05Z

@JaminShanti could you please have a look at the comments by @softins ?

JaminShanti · 2026-07-11T22:40:08Z

Here's a test.ts example, @softins

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE TS>
<TS version="2.1" language="de_DE">
<context>
    <name>TestContext</name>
    
    <message>
        <source>Please click ok.</source>
        <translation></translation> 
    </message>

    <message>
        <source>Loaded %1 files out of %2.</source>
        <translation>Es wurden %1 Dateien geladen.</translation> 
    </message>

    <message>
        <source>Click &lt;b&gt;here&lt;/b&gt; to continue.</source>
        <translation>Klicken Sie hier to continue.</translation>
    </message>

    <message>
        <source> Welcome to Jamulus </source>
        <translation>Willkommen bei Jamulus</translation>
    </message>

    <message>
        <source>First Line\nSecond Line</source>
        <translation>Erste Zeile Zweite Zeile</translation>
    </message>

    <message>
        <source>Old text</source>
        <translation type="obsolete">Alter Text</translation>
    </message>
</context>
</TS>

pljones · 2026-07-19T12:27:56Z

Moving to 4.1.0 as it's stalled.

ann0see · 2026-07-21T18:48:25Z

I think this could still go into 4.0.0 ?

mcfnord · 2026-07-31T06:04:01Z

MY LLM WROTE:

Ran the checker at this PR's head against the current 16 src/translation/*.ts, exactly as the workflow invokes it:

$ ./tools/check-translations.py --ts-dir src/translation ; echo $?
[ja_JP] Severe: 0, Warnings: 3
[zh_CN] Severe: 0, Warnings: 1
0

Exit 0. Adding --strict to the same run gives exit 1.

Only two paths emit SEVERE: an empty <translation> not marked type="unfinished", and XML parse errors. Placeholder, HTML, whitespace and newline mismatches are all WARNING, and warnings only reach the exit code under --strict, which the workflow doesn't pass. Strings marked unfinished are skipped by every check.

The four review items from May are in the current diff: TTY-aware --color, vanished/obsolete excluded, error message when no .ts files are found, example fixture.

Does this unblock 4.0.0?

pljones · 2026-07-31T15:40:47Z

+#
+##############################################################################
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under


Wrong licence for new code.

JaminShanti · 2026-09-12T13:57:02Z

@ann0see / @pljones - Checking in on this PR. I know you both have been prioritizing the backlog of other AI-generated PRs, so I don't want to add unnecessary pressure. Just gently bumping this one up for whenever you have a moment to review the linter changes. Happy to address any feedback when you get to it!

ann0see · 2026-09-12T14:01:38Z

I'd still like to get this in.

ann0see · 2026-09-14T18:22:01Z

Let's hope this helps us finding issues faster...

ann0see · 2026-09-14T18:22:58Z

Thank you for picking this up @JaminShanti I believe that you can now add yourself as contributor in the about dialog.

ann0see and others added 3 commits February 8, 2026 15:03

Add annotation tests for translations

f38d03c

Make script executable Add PR commenting logic Add pygithub dependency Fix import Remove GitHub requirements Refactor test suite Fix some errors Add styling Add severity Be closer to qtlinguist semantics

Adding 3 fixes

4024c00

Adding whitespace comparison

eedebbb

ann0see reviewed May 10, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread tools/check-translations.py

ann0see added this to Tracking May 10, 2026

github-project-automation Bot moved this to Triage in Tracking May 10, 2026

ann0see added this to the Release 4.0.0 milestone May 10, 2026

Radjammin@gmail.com added 4 commits May 10, 2026 16:45

Resolving Merge conflicts

f56b17e

Reduced output to bring attention to findings

064481c

update to trigger actions

eca14ce

update to trigger actions

b9fad6c

ann0see moved this from Triage to Waiting on Team in Tracking May 18, 2026

ann0see reviewed May 18, 2026

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Comment thread .github/workflows/translation-check.yml Outdated

ann0see reviewed May 18, 2026

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Comment thread tools/check-translations.py Outdated

Radjammin@gmail.com added 3 commits May 19, 2026 19:07

changes requested in PR

6fd3a76

python coding style checker changes

9cdeff0

python coding style checker changes

9e7aace

ann0see self-requested a review May 25, 2026 20:19

ann0see reviewed May 25, 2026

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ann0see requested a review from ignotus666 May 25, 2026 20:24

changes requested in PR

4027304

JaminShanti force-pushed the translation-linter-work branch from cc3fb03 to 4027304 Compare May 25, 2026 22:11

Radjammin@gmail.com added 2 commits July 11, 2026 18:40

Requested changes for PR 3683

a92fc92

pylint error resolved

ef785ea

pljones added the tooling Changes to the automated build system label Jul 19, 2026

pljones modified the milestones: Release 4.0.0, Release 4.1.0 Jul 19, 2026

pljones mentioned this pull request Jul 19, 2026

Ensure correct quoting in translations #2902

Open

pljones moved this from Waiting on Team to Backlog in Tracking Jul 20, 2026

ann0see added the AI AI generated or potentially AI generated label Jul 21, 2026

Radjammin@gmail.com added 2 commits July 21, 2026 20:09

pylint error resolved

c494957

pylint error resolved

8048388

pljones reviewed Jul 31, 2026

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Updated license header

55e532f

pljones reviewed Aug 1, 2026

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Comment thread tools/check-translations.py Outdated

updated per request

4a6d9c0

pljones approved these changes Sep 13, 2026

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ann0see approved these changes Sep 14, 2026

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github-project-automation Bot moved this from Backlog to Waiting on Team in Tracking Sep 14, 2026

ann0see merged commit cc40a8a into jamulussoftware:main Sep 14, 2026
16 checks passed

github-project-automation Bot moved this from Waiting on Team to Done in Tracking Sep 14, 2026

ann0see modified the milestones: Release 4.1.0, Release 4.0.0 Sep 14, 2026

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