[Gretl-devel] Handling of translated strings (argument labels) for function packages

Hi, since we're going to meet up at the conference in two days, we don't have to discuss this here on the list, but I thought I'll describe and document the proposal anyway. The situation: When you execute a function package in the GUI, in the window where you enter the function arguments, the descriptive labels for the arguments sometimes come up translated to the local language, even though the package itself "only" has English labels (as it should). AFAIK this happens when gretl recognizes the label string as something where there's already a translation present from another context. (This already presupposes two things: First you're running gretl in non-English, secondly the function package author has actually added labels to the function arguments, which is optional.) The automatic translation has pros and cons. Pros: You get it for free and it's good for users who don't know enough English. Cons: Most of the times the result is a mish-mash of English and the local language, so the question is if it actually helps enough to be valuable in practice. The suggestion: First of all, the translation is not predictable for me as a package author. I think we need a clear "lexicon" of labels that will be translated. Next, I think a package author should be given control over whether anything is translated. For some packages it's probably better to keep them English only; for example given the fact that the output is never going to be translated (and we actually made it a policy to not include other languages in public packages, which had caused some disagreement). Perhaps the translation control might be as simple as telling the author: If you don't want it translated, add a  blank at the start or at the end of your label. (?) More sophisticated solutions of course also exist. So much for the idea; as I said, perhaps we want to discuss it at the conference. OTOH not everybody will be there. cheers sven