Strings.md

Strings parser

Input

The strings parser accepts a strings file, typically Localizable.strings. It will parse each string in this file, including the type information for formatting parameters.

The strings file will be converted into a structured tree version, where each string is separated into components by the . character. We call this the dot syntax, each component representing a level. For example, the following strings:

"some.deep.structure"
"some.deep.something"
"hello.world"

will be parsed into the following structure (not showing the rest of the structure, such as values and types):

[
  "some": [
    "deep": [
      "structure",
      "something"
    ]
  ],
  "hello": [
    "world"
  ]
]

Output

The output context has the following structure:

• tables: Array — List of string tables
  • name : String — name of the .strings file (usually "Localizable")
  • levels: Array — Tree structure of strings (based on dot syntax), each level has:
    • name : String — name of the level (that is, part of the key split by . that we're describing)
    • children: Array — list of sub-levels, repeating the same structure as a level
    • strings : Array — list of strings at this level:
      • name : String — contains only the last part of the key (after the last .) (useful to do recursion when splitting keys against . for structured templates)
      • key : String — the full translation key, as it appears in the strings file
      • translation: String — the translation for that key in the strings file
      • types: Array<String> — defined only if localized string has parameter placeholders like %d and %@ etc. Contains a list of types like "String", "Int", etc