Improving the translation of questions with choices (Was: a couple of aptitude queries :))

[Jacob Sparre Andersen <sparre@nbi.dk>]

Clytie Siddall wrote:
> Eugeniy Meshcheryakov wrote:

> >> I've translated "Yes" and "No" separately in this file,
> >> but I haven't yet seen a translation for Y and n. Does
> >> this mean I should not translate this to the equivalent
> >> in my language? [C/k]
> >
> > It looks like aptitude expects answers Y/N/D/V/S/I/C/+/-/=/E/? here 
> > :-).
> > I think you should not translate choices.
> 
> Pity: it's confusing for the user, too, where some apps.
> do translate such a choice, and others don't...

Wouldn't it be better, if the strings _showing_ the choices
were excluded from the .pot msgids?  That way there wouldn't
be so much doubt - and less risk of errors - when
translating.

For example following this pattern:

   # Yes (default, single key)
   msgid "Y"
   msgstr ""

   # No (single key)
   msgid "n"
   msgstr ""

   # Help (single key)
   msgid "?"
   msgstr ""

   msgid "Continue? [%options]"
   msgstr

Then the program could compose the contant of "%options"
based on what is actually the options, and which keys
actually are accepted for these options.

Jacob
-- 
"simply because no one had discovered a cure for the universe as a
 whole - or rather the only one that did exist had been abolished"