1 @c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
2 @node Documentation work
3 @chapter Documentation work
6 * Introduction to documentation work::
7 * Documentation suggestions::
8 * Texinfo introduction and usage policy::
9 * Documentation policy::
10 * Tips for writing docs::
11 * Updating docs with convert-ly::
12 * Translating the documentation::
16 @node Introduction to documentation work
17 @section Introduction to documentation work
19 Our documentation tries to adhere to our @ref{Documentation
20 policy}. This policy contains a few items which may seem odd.
21 One policy in particular is often questioned by potential
22 contributors: we do not repeat material in the Notation Reference,
23 and instead provide links to the @qq{definitive} presentation of
24 that information. Some people point out, with good reason, that
25 this makes the documentation harder to read. If we repeated
26 certain information in relevant places, readers would be less
27 likely to miss that information.
29 That reasoning is sound, but we have two counter-arguments.
30 First, the Notation Reference -- one of @emph{five} manuals for
31 users to read -- is already over 500 pages long. If we repeated
32 material, we could easily exceed 1000 pages! Second, and much
33 more importantly, LilyPond is an evolving project. New features
34 are added, bugs are fixed, and bugs are discovered and documented.
35 If features are discussed in multiple places, the documentation
36 team must find every instance. Since the manual is so large, it
37 is impossible for one person to have the location of every piece
38 of information memorized, so any attempt to update the
39 documentation will invariably omit a few places. This second
40 concern is not at all theoretical; the documentation used to be
41 plagued with inconsistent information.
43 If the documentation were targeted for a specific version -- say,
44 LilyPond 2.10.5 -- and we had unlimited resources to spend on
45 documentation, then we could avoid this second problem. But since
46 LilyPond evolves (and that is a very good thing!), and since we
47 have quite limited resources, this policy remains in place.
49 A few other policies (such as not permitting the use of tweaks in
50 the main portion of NR 1+2) may also seem counter-intuitive, but
51 they also stem from attempting to find the most effective use of
52 limited documentation help.
55 @node Documentation suggestions
56 @section Documentation suggestions
58 @subheading Small additions
60 For additions to the documentation,
65 Tell us where the addition should be placed. Please include both
66 the section number and title (i.e. "LM 2.13 Printing lyrics").
69 Please write exact changes to the text.
72 A formal patch to the source code is @emph{not} required; we can
73 take care of the technical details. Here is an example of a
74 perfect documentation report:
77 To: lilypond-devel@gnu.org
78 From: helpful-user@example.net
81 In LM 2.13 (printing lyrics), above the last line ("More options,
82 like..."), please add:
85 To add lyrics to a divided part, use blah blah blah. For example,
88 \notes {blah <<blah>> }
89 \lyrics {blah <<blah>> }
94 In addition, the second sentence of the first paragraph is
95 confusing. Please delete that sentence (it begins "Users
96 often...") and replace it with this:
98 To align lyrics with something, do this thing.
108 @subheading Larger contributions
110 To replace large sections of the documentation, the guidelines are
111 stricter. We cannot remove parts of the current documentation
112 unless we are certain that the new version is an improvement.
117 Ask on the lilypond-devel maillist if such a rewrite is necessary;
118 somebody else might already be working on this issue!
121 Split your work into small sections; this makes it much easier to
122 compare the new and old documentation.
125 Please prepare a formal git patch.
129 Once you have followed these guidelines, please send a message to
130 lilypond-devel with your documentation submissions. Unfortunately
131 there is a strict “no top-posting” check on the mailist; to avoid
134 > I'm not top posting.
136 (you must include the > ) to the top of your documentation
139 We may edit your suggestion for spelling, grammar, or style, and
140 we may not place the material exactly where you suggested, but if
141 you give us some material to work with, we can improve the manual
142 much faster. Thanks for your interest!
145 @node Texinfo introduction and usage policy
146 @section Texinfo introduction and usage policy
149 * Texinfo introduction::
150 * Documentation files::
151 * Sectioning commands::
152 * LilyPond formatting::
155 * Other text concerns::
159 @node Texinfo introduction
160 @subsection Texinfo introduction
162 The language is called Texinfo; you can see its manual here:
164 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/manual/texinfo/}
166 However, you don't need to read those docs. The most important
167 thing to notice is that text is text. If you see a mistake in the
168 text, you can fix it. If you want to change the order of
169 something, you can cut-and-paste that stuff into a new location.
171 @warning{Rule of thumb: follow the examples in the existing docs.
172 You can learn most of what you need to know from this; if you want
173 to do anything fancy, discuss it on @code{lilypond-devel} first.}
176 @node Documentation files
177 @subsection Documentation files
179 All manuals live in @file{Documentation/}.
181 In particular, there are four user manuals, their respective master
182 source files are @file{learning.tely} (LM, Learning Manual),
183 @file{notation.tely} (NR, Notation Reference),
184 @file{music-glossary.tely} (MG, Music Glossary), and
185 @file{lilypond-program} (AU). Each chapter is written in a separate
186 file, ending in @file{.itely} for files containing lilypond code, and
187 @file{.itexi} for files without lilypond code, located in a subdirectory
188 associated to the manual (@file{learning/} for @file{learning.tely}, and
189 so on); list the subdirectory of each manual to determine the filename
190 of the specific chapter you wish to modify.
192 Developer manuals live in @file{Documentation/} too. Currently there is
193 only one: the Contributors' Guide @file{contrib-guide.texi} you are
196 Snippet files are part of documentation, and the Snippet List (SL) lives
197 in @file{Documentation/} just like the manuals. For information about
198 how to modify the snippet files and SL, see @ref{LSR work}.
201 @node Sectioning commands
202 @subsection Sectioning commands
204 Most of the manual operates at the
212 level. Sections are created with
221 Please leave two blank lines above a @@node; this makes it
222 easier to find sections in texinfo.
225 Sectioning commands (@@node and @@section) must not appear
226 inside an @@ignore. Separate those commands with a space, ie @@n
231 Nodes must be included inside a
241 construct. These are easily constructed with the emacs
242 @code{M-x texinfo-all-menus-update} construct, or by this
247 emacs $1 -batch -f texinfo-all-menus-update -f save-buffer
251 (save the above as something like @command{texinfo-menus.sh}, make
252 it executable, then run @command{texinfo-menus.sh foo.itely})
255 @node LilyPond formatting
256 @subsection LilyPond formatting
261 Use two spaces for indentation in lilypond examples. (no
265 All text strings should be prefaced with #. LilyPond does
266 not strictly require this, but it is helpful to get users
267 accustomed to this scheme construct. ie @code{\set
268 Staff.instrumentName = #"cello"}
271 All engravers should have double-quotes around them:
274 \consists "Spans_arpeggio_engraver"
277 Again, LilyPond does not strictly require this, but it is a useful
281 Examples should end with a complete bar if possible.
284 If possible, only write one bar per line. The notes on each
285 line should be an independent line -- tweaks should occur on their
286 own line if possible. Bad:
289 \override textscript #'padding = #3 c1^"hi"
295 \override textscript #'padding = #3
300 Most LilyPond input should be produced with:
303 @@lilypond[verbatim,quote,relative=2]
310 @@lilypond[verbatim,quote,relative=1]
313 If you want to use \layout@{@} or define variables, use
316 @@lilypond[verbatim,quote]
319 In rare cases, other options may be used (or omitted), but ask first.
322 Inspirational headwords are produced with
325 @@lilypondfile[quote,ragged-right,line-width=16\cm,staffsize=16]
326 @{pitches-headword.ly@}
330 LSR snippets are linked with
333 @@lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,ragged-right,texidoc,doctitle]
338 excepted in Templates, where `doctitle' may be omitted.
341 Avoid long stretches of input code. Noone is going to read
342 them in print. Please create a smaller example. (the smaller
343 example does not need to be minimal, however)
346 Specify durations for at least the first note of every bar.
349 If possible, end with a complete bar.
352 Comments should go on their own line, and be placed before
353 the line(s) to which they refer.
356 Add extra spaces around @{ @} marks; ie
359 not: \chordmode @{c e g@}
360 but instead: \chordmode @{ c e g @}
364 If you only have one bar per line, omit bar checks. If you
365 put more than one bar per line (not recommended), then include bar
369 If you want to work on an example outside of the manual (for
370 easier/faster processing), use this header:
375 line-width = 160\mm - 2.0 * 0.4\in
377 force-assignment = #""
378 line-width = #(- line-width (* mm 3.000000))
385 You may not change any of these values. If you are making an
386 example demonstrating special \paper@{@} values, contact the
387 Documentation Editor.
392 @node Text formatting
393 @subsection Text formatting
398 Lines should be less than 72 characters long. (I personally
399 recommend writing with 66-char lines, but don't bother modifying
406 Do not use spaces at the beginning of a line (except in
407 @@example or @@verbatim environments), and do not use more than a
408 single space between words. `makeinfo' copies the input lines
409 verbatim without removing those spaces.
412 Use two spaces after a period.
415 In examples of syntax, use @@var@{musicexpr@} for a music
419 Don't use @@rinternals@{@} in the main text. If you're
420 tempted to do so, you're probably getting too close to "talking
421 through the code". If you really want to refer to a context, use
422 @@code@{@} in the main text and @@rinternals@{@} in the @@seealso.
425 Variables or numbers which consist of a single character
426 (probably followed by a punctuation mark) should be tied properly,
427 either to the previous or the next word. Example:
430 The variable@@tie@{@}@@var@{a@} ...
434 To get consistent indentation in the DVI output it is better
435 to avoid the @@verbatim environment. Use the @@example
436 environment instead if possible, but without extraneous
437 indentation. For example, this
448 should be replaced with
459 where `@@example' starts the line (without leading spaces).
462 Do not compress the input vertically; this is, do not use
465 Beginning of logical unit
469 continuation of logical unit
476 Beginning of logical unit
483 continuation of logical unit
486 This makes it easier to avoid forgetting the `@@noindent'. Only
487 use @@noindent if the material is discussing the same material;
488 new material should simply begin without anything special on the
492 in @@itemize use @@item
493 on a separate line like this:
504 Do not use @@itemize @@bullet.
507 To get LilyPond version, use @@version@{@} (this does not work
508 inside LilyPond snippets). If you write "@@version@{@}" (enclosed
509 with quotes), or generally if @@version@{@} is not followed by a
510 space, there will be an ugly line break in PDF output unless you
518 @@w@{"@@version@{@}"@}
525 @subsection Syntax survey
529 @@c - single line comments
530 "@@c NOTE:" is a comment which should remain in the final
531 version. (gp only command ;)
533 @@ignore ... @@end ignore - multi-line comment
536 @@cindex - General index. Please add as many as you can. Don't
537 capitalize the first word.
539 @@funindex - is for a \lilycommand.
542 @@example ... @@end example - example text that should be set as a
543 blockquote. Any @{@} must be escaped with @@@{ @}@@
548 B ... @@end itemize - for bulleted lists.
549 Do not compress vertically like this.
552 @@code@{@} - typeset in a tt-font. Use for actual lilypond code or
553 property/context names. If the name contains a space, wrap
554 the entire thing inside @@w@{@@code@{ @}@}.
557 @@notation@{@} - refers to pieces of notation, e.g.
558 "@@notation@{cres.@}". Also use to specific lyrics ("the
559 @@notation@{A - men@} is centered"). Only use once per subsection
563 @@q@{@} - Single quotes. Used for `vague' terms.
566 @@qq@{@} - Double quotes. Used for actual quotes ("he said") or for
567 introducing special input modes.
570 @@tie@{@} - Variables or numbers which consist of a single character
571 (probably followed by a punctuation mark) should be tied
572 properly, either to the previous or the next word. Example:
573 "The letter@@tie@{@}@@q@{I@} is skipped"
576 @@var - Use for variables.
579 @@warning@{@} - produces a "Note: " box. Use for important messages.
582 @@bs - Generates a backslash inside @@warning.
583 Any `\' used inside @@warning (and @@q or @@qq) must be written as `@@bs@{@}'
584 (texinfo would also allow \\, but this breaks with PDF output).
587 @@ref@{@} - normal references (type the exact node name inside the
591 @@ruser@{@} - link to the NR.
594 @@rlearning@{@} - link to the LM.
597 @@rglos@{@} - link to the MG.
600 @@rprogram@{@} - link to the AU.
603 @@rlsr@{@} - link to a Snippet section.
606 @@rinternals@{@} - link to the IR.
609 @@uref@{@} - link to an external url.
615 @node Other text concerns
616 @subsection Other text concerns
621 References must occur at the end of a sentence, for more
622 information see @@ref@{the texinfo manual@}. Ideally this should
623 also be the final sentence of a paragraph, but this is not
624 required. Any link in a doc section must be duplicated in the
625 @@seealso section at the bottom.
628 Introducing examples must be done with
631 . (ie finish the previous sentence/paragaph)
632 : (ie `in this example:')
633 , (ie `may add foo with the blah construct,')
636 The old @qq{sentence runs directly into the example} method is not
640 Abbrevs in caps, e.g., HTML, DVI, MIDI, etc.
651 When beginning a quote: "So, he said,...".
653 This usage is rarer. Americans often just use a comma.
656 When adding a defining example at the end of a sentence.
661 Non-ASCII characters which are in utf-8 should be directly used;
662 this is, don't say `Ba@@ss@{@}tuba' but `Baßtuba'. This ensures
663 that all such characters appear in all output formats.
670 @node Documentation policy
671 @section Documentation policy
675 * Section organization::
676 * Checking cross-references::
678 * Technical writing style::
684 There are four parts to the documentation: the Learning Manual,
685 the Notation Reference, the Program Reference, and the Music
693 The LM is written in a tutorial style which introduces the most
694 important concepts, structure and syntax of the elements of a
695 LilyPond score in a carefully graded sequence of steps.
696 Explanations of all musical concepts used in the Manual can be
697 found in the Music Glossary, and readers are assumed to have no
698 prior knowledge of LilyPond. The objective is to take readers to
699 a level where the Notation Reference can be understood and
700 employed to both adapt the templates in the Appendix to their
701 needs and to begin to construct their own scores. Commonly used
702 tweaks are introduced and explained. Examples are provided
703 throughout which, while being focussed on the topic being
704 introduced, are long enough to seem real in order to retain the
705 readers' interest. Each example builds on the previous material,
706 and comments are used liberally. Every new aspect is thoroughly
707 explained before it is used.
709 Users are encouraged to read the complete Learning Manual from
714 Notation Reference: a (hopefully complete) description of LilyPond
715 input notation. Some material from here may be duplicated in the
716 Learning Manual (for teaching), but consider the NR to be the
717 "definitive" description of each notation element, with the LM
718 being an "extra". The goal is _not_ to provide a step-by-step
719 learning environment -- do not avoid using notation that has not
720 be introduced previously in the NR (for example, use \break if
721 appropriate). This section is written in formal technical writing
724 Avoid duplication. Although users are not expected to read this
725 manual from start to finish, they should be familiar with the
726 material in the Learning Manual (particularly ``Fundamental
727 Concepts''), so do not repeat that material in each section of
728 this book. Also watch out for common constructs, like ^ - _ for
729 directions -- those are explained in NR 3. In NR 1, you can
730 write: DYNAMICS may be manually placed above or below the staff,
731 see @@ref@{Controlling direction and placement@}.
733 Most tweaks should be added to LSR and not placed directly in the
734 .itely file. In some cases, tweaks may be placed in the main
735 text, but ask about this first.
737 Finally, you should assume that users know what the notation
738 means; explaining musical concepts happens in the Music Glossary.
742 Application Usage: information about using the program lilypond
743 with other programs (lilypond-book, operating systems, GUIs,
744 convert-ly, etc). This section is written in formal technical
747 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
751 Music Glossary: information about the music notation itself.
752 Explanations and translations about notation terms go here.
754 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
757 Internals Reference: not really a documentation book, since it is
758 automagically generated from the source, but this is its name.
763 @node Section organization
764 @subsection Section organization
769 The order of headings inside documentation sections should
782 You @emph{must} include a @@seealso.
786 The order of items inside the @@seealso section is
795 @@rlearning@{foozle@}.
805 @@file@{path/to/dir/blahz@}.
807 Snippets: @@rlsr@{section@}.
810 @@rinternals@{fazzle@},
811 @@rinternals@{booar@}.
815 If there are multiple entries, separate them by commas but do not
819 Always end with a period.
822 Place each link on a new line as above; this makes it much easier
823 to add or remove links. In the output, they appear on a single
826 ("Snippets" is REQUIRED; the others are optional)
829 Any new concepts or links which require an explanation should go
830 as a full sentence(s) in the main text.
833 Don't insert an empty line between @@seealso and the first entry!
834 Otherwise there is excessive vertical space in the PDF output.
839 To create links, use @@ref@{@} if the link is within the same
843 @@predefined ... @@endpredefined is for commands in ly/*-init.ly
847 Do not include any real info in second-level sections (ie 1.1
848 Pitches). A first-level section may have introductory material,
849 but other than that all material goes into third-level sections
850 (ie 1.1.1 Writing Pitches).
855 @node Checking cross-references
856 @subsection Checking cross-references
858 Cross-references between different manuals are heavily used in the
859 documentation, but they are not checked during compilation.
860 However, if you compile the documentation, a script called
861 check_texi_refs can help you with checking and fixing these
862 cross-references; for information on usage, cd into a source tree
863 where documentation has been built, cd into Documentation and look
864 for check-xrefs and fix-xrefs targets in 'make help' output. Note
865 that you have to find yourself the source files to fix
866 cross-references in the generated documentation such as the
867 Internals Reference; e.g. you can grep scm/ and lily/.
870 @node General writing
871 @subsection General writing
876 Do not forget to create @@cindex entries for new sections of text.
877 Enter commands with @@funindex, i.e.
880 @@cindex pitches, writing in different octaves
885 do not bother with the @@code@{@} (they are added automatically).
886 These items are added to both the command index and the unified
889 Both index commands should go in front of the actual material.
891 @@cindex entries should not be capitalized, ie
894 @@cindex time signature
898 is preferred instead of @qq{Time signature}, Only use capital
899 letters for musical terms which demand them, like D.S. al Fine.
901 For scheme functions, only include the final part, i.e.,
904 @@funindex modern-voice-cautionary
906 @@funindex #(set-accidental-style modern-voice-cautionary)
915 In general, use the American spellings. The internal lilypond
916 property names use this spelling.
919 List of specific terms:
923 simultaneous NOT concurrent
924 measure: the unit of music
925 bar line: the symbol delimiting a measure NOT barline
926 note head NOT notehead
927 chord construct NOT chord (when referring to <>)
935 @node Technical writing style
936 @subsection Technical writing style
938 These refer to the NR. The LM uses a more gentle, colloquial
944 Do not refer to LilyPond in the text. The reader knows what the
945 manual is about. If you do, capitalization is LilyPond.
948 If you explicitly refer to @q{lilypond} the program (or any other
949 command to be executed), write @code{@@command@{lilypond@}}.
952 Do not explicitly refer to the reader/user. There is no one else
953 besides the reader and the writer.
956 Avoid contractions (don't, won't, etc.). Spell the words out completely.
959 Avoid abbreviations, except for commonly used abbreviations of foreign
960 language terms such as etc. and i.e.
963 Avoid fluff (@qq{Notice that,} @qq{as you can see,}
967 The use of the word @q{illegal} is inappropriate in most cases.
968 Say @q{invalid} instead.
973 @node Tips for writing docs
974 @section Tips for writing docs
976 In the NR, I highly recommend focusing on one subsection at a
977 time. For each subsection,
982 check the mundane formatting. Are the headings (@@predefined,
983 @@seealso, etc.) in the right order?
986 add any appropriate index entries.
989 check the links in the @@seealso section -- links to music
990 glossary, internal references, and other NR sections are the main
991 concern. Check for potential additions.
994 move LSR-worthy material into LSR. Add the snippet, delete the
995 material from the .itely file, and add a @@lilypondfile command.
998 check the examples and descriptions. Do they still work?
999 @strong{Do not} assume that the existing text is
1000 accurate/complete; some of the manual is highly out of date.
1003 is the material in the @@knownissues still accurate?
1006 can the examples be improved (made more explanatory), or is there
1007 any missing info? (feel free to ask specific questions on -user;
1008 a couple of people claimed to be interesting in being
1009 @qq{consultants} who would help with such questions)
1013 In general, I favor short text explanations with good examples --
1014 @qq{an example is worth a thousand words}. When I worked on the
1015 docs, I spent about half my time just working on those tiny
1016 lilypond examples. Making easily-understandable examples is much
1017 harder than it looks.
1020 @subsubheading Tweaks
1022 In general, any \set or \override commands should go in the
1023 @qq{select snippets} section, which means that they should go in
1024 LSR and not the .itely file. For some cases, the command
1025 obviously belongs in the @qq{main text} (i.e. not inside
1026 @@predefined or @@seealso or whatever) -- instrument names are a
1027 good example of this.
1030 \set Staff.instrumentName = #"foo"
1033 On the other side of this,
1036 \override Score.Hairpin #'after-line-breaking = ##t
1039 clearly belongs in LSR.
1041 I'm quite willing to discuss specific cases if you think that a
1042 tweaks needs to be in the main text. But items that can go into
1043 LSR are easier to maintain, so I'd like to move as much as
1044 possible into there.
1047 It would be @qq{nice} if you spent a lot of time crafting nice
1048 tweaks for users@dots{} but my recommendation is @strong{not} to do
1049 this. There's a lot of doc work to do without adding examples of
1050 tweaks. Tweak examples can easily be added by normal users by adding
1053 One place where a documentation writer can profitably spend time writing
1054 or upgrading tweaks is creating tweaks to deal with known issues. It
1055 would be ideal if every significant known issue had a workaround to avoid
1059 @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1062 @node Updating docs with convert-ly
1063 @section Updating doc with @command{convert-ly}
1065 cd into @file{Documentation/} and run
1068 find . -name '*.itely' | xargs convert-ly -e
1072 This also updates translated documentation.
1076 @node Translating the documentation
1077 @section Translating the documentation
1079 The mailing list @code{translations@@lilynet.net} is dedicated to
1080 LilyPond web site and documentation translation; on this list, you will
1081 get support from the Translations Meister and experimented translators,
1082 and we regularly discuss translations issues common to all languagues.
1083 All people interested in LilyPond translations are invited to subscribe
1084 to this list regardless of the amount of their contribution, by sending
1085 an email to @code{translations-request@@lilynet.net} with subject
1086 @code{subscribe} and an empty message body.
1089 * Getting started with documentation translation::
1090 * Documentation translation details::
1091 * Documentation translation maintenance::
1092 * Translations management policies::
1093 * Technical background::
1096 @node Getting started with documentation translation
1097 @subsection Getting started with documentation translation
1099 First, get the sources from the Git repository, see @ref{Documentation
1100 translations source code}.
1103 * Translation requirements::
1104 * Which documentation can be translated::
1105 * Starting translation in a new language::
1108 @node Translation requirements
1109 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translation requirements
1111 Working on LilyPond documentation translations requires the following
1112 pieces of software, in order to make use of dedicated helper tools:
1115 @item Python 2.4 or higher,
1121 It is not required to build LilyPond and the documentation to
1122 translate the documentation. However, if you have enough time and
1123 motivation and a suitable system, it can be very useful to build at
1124 least the documentation so that you can check the output yourself and
1125 more quickly; if you are interested, see @ref{Compiling from source}.
1128 @node Which documentation can be translated
1129 @unnumberedsubsubsec Which documentation can be translated
1131 FIXME: take into account the new web site integration in main sources.
1133 The makefiles and scripts infrastructure currently supports translation
1134 of the following documentation:
1137 @item documentation index (HTML);
1138 @item the Learning Manual, the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1139 -- Texinfo source, PDF and HTML output; Info output might be added if
1140 there is enough demand for it;
1141 @item the Changes document.
1144 Support for translating the following pieces of documentation should be
1145 added soon, by decreasing order of priority:
1148 @item automatically generated documentation: markup commands,
1149 predefined music functions;
1150 @item the Snippets List;
1151 @item the Internals Reference.
1155 @node Starting translation in a new language
1156 @unnumberedsubsubsec Starting translation in a new language
1158 At top of the source directory, do
1165 or (if you want to install your self-compiled LilyPond locally)
1168 ./autogen.sh --prefix=$HOME
1172 If you want to compile LilyPond -- which is almost required to build
1173 the documentation, but is not required to do translation only -- fix
1174 all dependencies and rerun @command{./configure} (with the same
1175 options as for @command{autogen.sh}).
1177 Then @command{cd} into @file{Documentation/} and run
1180 make ISOLANG=@var{MY-LANGUAGE} new-lang
1184 where @var{MY-LANGUAGE} is the ISO 639 language code.
1186 Finally, add a language definition for your language in
1187 @file{python/langdefs.py}.
1189 Before starting the real translation work, it is recommended to commit
1190 changes you made so far to Git, so e.g. you are able to get back to
1191 this state of the sources easily if needed; see @ref{Sharing your
1195 @node Documentation translation details
1196 @subsection Documentation translation details
1198 Please follow all the instructions with care to ensure quality work.
1200 All files should be encoded in UTF-8.
1203 * Files to be translated::
1204 * Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation::
1205 * Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage::
1206 * Translating the Documentation index index.html.in::
1209 @node Files to be translated
1210 @unnumberedsubsubsec Files to be translated
1212 @include contributor/doc-translation-list.itexi
1214 @node Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation
1215 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation
1221 @b{Note:} node names and section titles are now translated directly in
1222 Texinfo source files. In case you have files in your working tree that
1223 have not been converted, please pull first, then run
1226 make -C Documentation/po doc
1227 export LYDOC_LOCALEDIR=Documentation/po/out-www
1228 export PYTHONPATH=python:python/auxiliar
1229 scripts/auxiliar/tely-gettext.py @var{manual.tely}
1233 This will also update files included in @file{@var{manual}.tely}, and of
1234 course this script can be used for individual @file{@var{foo}.itely}
1238 Every piece of text should be translated in the source file, except
1239 Texinfo comments, text in @code{@@lilypond} blocks and a few cases
1242 Node names are translated, but the original node name in English should
1243 be kept as the argument of @code{@@translationof} put after the section
1244 title; that is, every piece in the original file like
1248 @@@var{section_command} Bar baz
1252 should be translated as
1255 @@node @var{translation of Foo bar}
1256 @@@var{section_command} @var{translation of Bar baz}
1257 @@translationof Foo bar
1260 The argument of @code{@@rglos} commands and the first argument of
1261 @code{@@rglosnamed} commands must not be translated, as it is the node
1262 name of an entry in Music Glossary.
1264 Every time you translate a node name in a cross-reference, i.e. the
1265 argument of commands @code{@@ref, @@rprogram, @@rlearning, @@rlsr,
1266 @@ruser} or the first argument of their @code{@var{*}named} variants,
1267 you should make sure the target node is defined in the correct source
1268 file; if you do not intend to translate the target node right now, you
1269 should at least write the node definition (that is, the @code{@@node
1270 @@@var{section_commmand} @@translationof} trio mentioned above) in the
1271 expected source file and define all its parent nodes; for each node you
1272 have defined this way but have not translated, insert a line that
1273 contains @code{@@untranslated} and append @code{ @@c external} to the
1274 line that contains @code{@@translationof}. That is, you should end up
1275 for each untranslated node with something like
1278 @@node @var{translation of Foo bar}
1279 @@@var{section_command} @var{translation of Bar baz}
1280 @@translationof Foo bar @@c external
1286 Finally, press in Emacs @key{C-c C-u C-a} to update or generate
1287 menus. This process should be made easier in the future, when the helper
1288 script @command{texi-langutils.py} and the makefile target are updated.
1290 Some pieces of text manipulated by build scripts that appear in the
1291 output are translated in a @file{.po} file -- just like LilyPond output
1292 messages -- in @file{Documentation/po}. The Gettext domain is named
1293 @code{lilypond-doc}, and unlike @code{lilypond} domain it is not managed
1294 through the Free Translation Project.
1297 Take care of using typographic rules for your language, especially in
1298 @file{macros.itexi}.
1301 Please keep verbatim copies of music snippets (in @code{@@lilypond}
1302 blocs). However, some music snippets containing text that shows in
1303 the rendered music, and sometimes translating this text really helps
1304 the user to understand the documentation; in this case, and only in
1305 this case, you may as an exception translate text in the music
1306 snippet, and then you must add a line immediately before the
1307 @code{@@lilypond} block, starting with
1314 Otherwise the music snippet would be reset to the same content as the
1315 English version at next @command{make snippet-update} run -- see
1316 @ref{Updating documentation translation}.
1321 @@lilypondfile[<number of fragment options>,texidoc]@{@var{filename.ly}@}
1325 in the source, open @file{Documentation/snippets/@var{filename}.ly},
1326 translate the @code{texidoc} header field it contains, enclose it with
1327 @code{texidoc@var{MY-LANGUAGE} = "} and @code{"}, and write it into
1328 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc}.
1329 Additionnally, you may translate the snippet's title in @code{doctitle}
1330 header field, in case @code{doctitle} is a fragment option used in
1331 @code{@@lilypondfile}; you can do this exactly the same way as
1332 @code{texidoc}. For instance,
1333 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc}
1337 doctitlees = "Spanish title baz"
1339 Spanish translation blah
1344 Then, you should get these translated strings into compiled snippets in
1345 @file{Documentation/snippets}, see @q{General guidelines} in @ref{Adding
1346 and editing snippets}.
1348 @code{@@example} blocs need not be verbatim copies, e.g. variable
1349 names, file names and comments should be translated.
1351 Finally, please carefully apply every rule exposed in @ref{Texinfo
1352 introduction and usage policy}, and @ref{Documentation policy}. If one
1353 of these rules conflicts with a rule specific to your language, please
1354 ask the Translation meister on @email{translations@@lilynet.net} list
1355 and/or the Documentation Editors on @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}
1359 @node Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1360 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1362 Copy @file{notation.tely} (or @file{application.tely},
1363 respectively) into @file{@var{MY-LANGUAGE}}, then translate this
1364 file and run @code{skeleton-update} -- see @ref{Updating documentation
1365 translation}. Your are now ready to translate the Notation Reference
1366 (Application Usage, respectively) exactly like the Learning Manual.
1369 @node Translating the Documentation index index.html.in
1370 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Documentation index @file{index.html.in}
1372 Unlike almost all HTML pages in this documentation, links in this page
1373 are not tweaked by @file{postprocess_html.py}, so links should be
1374 manually edited to link to existing translations.
1377 @node Documentation translation maintenance
1378 @subsection Documentation translation maintenance
1380 Several tools have been developed to make translations maintenance
1381 easier. These helper scripts make use of the power of Git, the
1382 version control system used for LilyPond development.
1385 * Check state of translation::
1386 * Updating documentation translation::
1389 @node Check state of translation
1390 @unnumberedsubsubsec Check state of translation
1392 First pull from Git, then cd into @file{Documentation/} (or at top of
1393 the source tree, replace @command{make} with @command{make -C
1394 Documentation}) and run
1397 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation
1401 This presents a diff of the original files since the most recent
1402 revision of the translation. To check a single file, cd into
1403 @file{Documentation/} and run
1406 make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE}/@var{manual}/@var{foo}.itely check-translation
1410 In case this file has been renamed since you last updated the
1411 translation, you should specify both old and new file names,
1412 e.g. @code{CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE}/@{@var{manual},user@}/@var{foo}.itely}.
1414 To see only which files need to be updated, do
1417 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation | grep 'diff --git'
1420 To avoid printing terminal colors control characters, which is often
1421 desirable when you redirect output to a file, run
1424 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} NO_COLOR=1 check-translation
1427 Global state of the translation is recorded in
1428 @file{Documentation/translations.html.in}, which is used to generate
1429 Translations status page. To update that page, do from
1430 @file{Documentation/}
1433 make translation-status
1436 This will also leave @file{out/translations-status.txt}, which contains
1437 up-to-dateness percentages for each translated file, and update word
1438 counts of documentation files in this Guide.
1441 @ref{Maintaining without updating translations}.
1444 @node Updating documentation translation
1445 @unnumberedsubsubsec Updating documentation translation
1447 Instead of running @code{check-translation}, you may want to run
1448 @code{update-translation}, which will run your favorite text editor to
1449 update files. First, make sure environment variable @code{EDITOR} is
1450 set to a text editor command, then run from @file{Documentation/}
1453 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} update-translation
1457 or to update a single file
1460 make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE/@var{manual}/foo.itely} update-translation
1463 For each file to be udpated, @code{update-translation} will open your
1464 text editor with this file and a diff of the file in English; if the
1465 diff cannot be generated or is bigger than the file in English itself,
1466 the full file in English will be opened instead.
1468 Texinfo skeleton files, i.e. @file{.itely} files not yet translated,
1469 containing only the Texinfo structure can be updated automatically:
1470 whenever @command{make check-translation} shows that such files should
1471 be updated, run from @file{Documentation/}
1474 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} skeleton-update
1477 @file{.po} message catalogs in @file{Documentation/po/} may be updated
1478 by issuing from @file{Documentation/} or @file{Documentation/po/}
1484 @warning{if you run po-update and somebody else does the same and
1485 pushes before you push or send a patch to be applied, there will be a
1486 conflict when you pull. Therefore, it is better that only the
1487 Translation meister runs this command.}
1489 Updating music snippets can quickly become cumbersome, as most
1490 snippets should be identical in all languages. Fortunately, there is
1491 a script that can do this odd job for you (run from
1492 @file{Documentation/}):
1495 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} snippet-update
1498 This script overwrites music snippets in
1499 @file{@var{MY_LANGUAGE/foo/every.itely}} with music snippets from
1500 @file{@var{foo/every.itely}}. It ignores skeleton files, and keeps
1501 intact music snippets preceded with a line starting with @code{@@c
1502 KEEP LY}; it reports an error for each @file{.itely} that has not the
1503 same music snippet count in both languages. Always use this script
1504 with a lot of care, i.e. run it on a clean Git working tree, and check
1505 the changes it made with @command{git diff} before committing; if you
1506 don't do so, some @code{@@lilypond} snippets might be broken or make
1507 no sense in their context.
1509 When you have updated texidocs in
1510 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs}, you can get these
1511 changes into compiled snippets in @file{Documentation/snippets}, see
1512 @q{General guidelines} in @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1514 Finally, a command runs the three update processes above for all
1515 enabled languages (from @file{Documentation/}):
1518 make all-translations-update
1521 Use this command with caution, and keep in mind it will not be really
1522 useful until translations are stabilized after the end of GDP and GOP.
1525 @ref{Maintaining without updating translations},
1526 @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1529 @node Translations management policies
1530 @subsection Translations management policies
1532 These policies show the general intent of how the translations should
1533 be managed, they aim at helping translators, developers and
1534 coordinators work efficiently.
1537 * Maintaining without updating translations::
1538 * Managing documentation translation with Git::
1541 @node Maintaining without updating translations
1542 @unnumberedsubsubsec Maintaining without updating translations
1544 Keeping translations up to date under heavy changes in the documentation
1545 in English may be almost impossible, especially as during the former
1546 Grand Documentation Project (GDP) or the Grand Organization Project
1547 (GOP) when a lot of contributors brings changes. In addition,
1548 translators may be --- and that is a very good thing --- involved in
1551 it is possible --- and even recommended --- to perform some maintenance
1552 that keeps translated documentation usable and eases future translation
1553 updating. The rationale below the tasks list motivates this plan.
1555 The following tasks are listed in decreasing priority order.
1558 @item Update macros.itexi.
1559 For each obsolete macro definition, if it is possible to update macro
1560 usage in documentation with an automatic text or regexp substitution,
1561 do it and delete the macro definition from macros.itexi; otherwise,
1562 mark this macro definition as obsolete with a comment, and keep it in
1563 macros.itexi until the documentation translation has been updated and
1564 no longer uses this macro.
1566 @item Update @file{*.tely} files completely with
1567 @command{make check-translation} -- you may want to redirect ouptput
1568 to a file because of overwhelming output, or call check-translation.py
1569 on individual files, see @ref{Check state of translation}.
1571 @item In @file{.itelys}, match sections and .itely file names with those from
1572 English docs, which possibly involves moving nodes contents in block
1573 between files, without updating contents itself. In other words, the
1574 game is catching where has gone each section. In Learning manual, and
1575 in Notation Reference sections which have been revised in GDP, there may
1576 be completely new sections: in this case, copy @code{@@node} and
1577 @code{@@section}-command from English docs, and add the marker for
1578 untranslated status @code{@@untranslated} on a single line. Note that
1579 it is not possible to exactly match subsections or subsubsections of
1580 documentation in English, when contents has been deeply revised; in this
1581 case, keep obsolete (sub)subsections in the translation, marking them
1582 with a line @code{@@c obsolete} just before the node.
1584 Emacs with Texinfo mode makes this step easier:
1587 @item without Emacs AucTeX installed, @key{C-c C-s} shows structure of current
1588 Texinfo file in a new buffer @code{*Occur*}; to show structure of two files
1589 simultaneously, first split Emacs window in 4 tiles (with @key{C-x 1}
1590 and @key{C-x 2}), press @key{C-c C-s} to show structure of one file
1591 (e.g. the translated file), copy @code{*Occur*} contents into
1592 @code{*Scratch*}, then press @key{C-c C-s} for the other file.
1594 If you happen to have installed AucTeX, you can either call the macro
1595 by doing @key{M-x texinfo-show-structure} or create a key binding in your
1596 @file{~/.emacs}, by adding the four following lines:
1599 (add-hook 'Texinfo-mode-hook
1601 (define-key Texinfo-mode-map "\C-cs"
1602 'texinfo-show-structure)))
1606 and then obtain the structure in the @code{*Occur*} buffer with @key{C-c
1609 @item Do not bother updating @code{@@menu}s when all menu entries are in the same
1610 file, just do @key{C-c C-u C-a} (@qq{update all menus}) when you have
1611 updated all the rest of the file.
1613 @item Moving to next or previous node using incremental search: press
1614 @key{C-s} and type @code{node} (or @key{C-s @@node} if the text
1615 contains the word @q{node}) then press @key{C-s} to move to next node
1616 or @key{C-r} to move to previous node. Similar operation can be used
1617 to move to the next/previous section. Note that every cursor move
1618 exits incremental search, and hitting @key{C-s} twice starts
1619 incremental search with the text entered in previous incremental
1622 @item Moving a whole node (or even a sequence of nodes): jump to beginning
1623 of the node (quit incremental search by pressing an arrow), press
1624 @key{C-SPACE}, press @key{C-s node} and repeat @key{C-s} until you
1625 have selected enough text, cut it with @key{C-w} or @key{C-x}, jump to
1626 the right place (moving between nodes with the previous hint is often
1627 useful) and paste with @key{C-y} or @key{C-v}.
1630 @item Update sections finished in the English documentation; check
1632 @uref{http://lilypondwiki.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=Documentation_coordination}.
1634 @item Update documentation PO. It is recommended not to update
1635 strings which come from documentation that is currently deeply revised
1636 in English, to avoid doing the work more than once.
1638 @item Fix broken cross-references by running (from @file{Documentation/})
1641 make ISOLANG=@var{YOUR-LANGUAGE} fix-xrefs
1645 This step requires a sucessful documentation build (with @command{make
1646 doc}). Some cross-references are broken because they point to a node
1647 that exists in the documentation in English, which has not been added
1648 to the translation; in this case, do not fix the cross-reference but
1649 keep it "broken", so that the resulting HTML link will point to an
1650 existing page of documentation in English.
1653 @subsubheading Rationale
1655 You may wonder if it would not be better to leave translations as-is
1656 until you can really start updating translations. There are several
1657 reasons to do these maintenance tasks right now.
1660 @item This will have to be done sooner or later anyway, before updating
1661 translation of documentation contents, and this can already be done
1662 without needing to be redone later, as sections of documentation in
1663 English are mostly revised once. However, note that not all
1664 documentation sectioning has been revised in one go, so all this
1665 maintenance plan has to be repeated whenever a big reorganization is
1668 @item This just makes translated documentation take advantage of the new
1669 organization, which is better than the old one.
1671 @item Moving and renaming sections to match sectioning of documentation in
1672 English simplify future updating work: it allows updating the
1673 translation by side-by-side comparison, without bothering whether
1674 cross-reference names already exist in the translation.
1676 @item Each maintenance task except @q{Updating PO files} can be done by
1677 the same person for all languages, which saves overall time spent by
1678 translators to achieve this task: the node names and section titles
1679 are in English, so you can do. It is important to take advantage of
1680 this now, as it will be more complicated (but still possible) to do
1681 step 3 in all languages when documentation is compiled with
1682 @command{texi2html} and node names are directly translated in source
1687 @node Managing documentation translation with Git
1688 @unnumberedsubsubsec Managing documentation translation with Git
1690 This policy explains how to manage Git branches and commit
1691 translations to Git.
1694 @item Translation changes matching master branch are preferably made on
1695 @code{lilypond/translation} branch; they may be pushed directly to
1696 @code{master} only if they do not break compilation of LilyPond and
1697 its documentation, and in this case they should be pushed to
1698 @code{lilypond/translation} too. Similarly, changes matching
1699 @code{stable/X.Y} are preferably made on
1700 @code{lilypond/X.Ytranslation}.
1702 @item @code{lilypond/translation} Git branch may be merged into
1703 master only if LilyPond (@command{make all}) and documentation
1704 (@command{make doc}) compile succesfully.
1706 @item @code{master} Git branch may be merged into
1707 @code{lilypond/translation} whenever @command{make} and @command{make
1708 doc} are succesful (in order to ease documentation compilation by
1709 translators), or when significant changes had been made in
1710 documentation in English in master branch.
1712 @item General maintenance may be done by anybody who knows what he does
1713 in documentation in all languages, without informing translators
1714 first. General maintenance include simple text substitutions
1715 (e.g. automated by sed), compilation fixes, updating Texinfo or
1716 lilypond-book commands, updating macros, updating ly code, fixing
1717 cross-references, and operations described in @ref{Maintaining
1718 without updating translations}.
1722 @node Technical background
1723 @subsection Technical background
1725 A number of Python scripts handle a part of the documentation
1726 translation process. All scripts used to maintain the translations
1727 are located in @file{scripts/auxiliar/}.
1730 @item @file{check_translation.py} -- show diff to update a translation,
1731 @item @file{texi-langutils.py} -- quickly and dirtily parse Texinfo files to
1732 make message catalogs and Texinfo skeleton files,
1733 @item @file{texi-skeleton-update.py} -- update Texinfo skeleton files,
1734 @item @file{update-snippets.py} -- synchronize ly snippets with those
1736 @item @file{translations-status.py} -- update translations status pages and word
1737 counts in the file you are reading,
1738 @item @file{tely-gettext.py} -- gettext node names, section titles and references
1739 in the sources; WARNING only use this script once for each file, when support for
1740 "makeinfo --html" has been dropped.
1743 Other scripts are used in the build process, in @file{scripts/build/}:
1746 @item @file{mass-link.py} -- link or symlink files between English documentation
1747 and documentation in other languages.
1750 Python modules used by scripts in @file{scripts/auxiliar/} or @file{scripts/build/} (but
1751 not by installed Python scripts) are located in @file{python/auxiliar/}:
1753 @item @file{manuals_definitions.py} -- define manual names and name of
1754 cross-reference Texinfo macros,
1755 @item @file{buildlib.py} -- common functions (read piped output
1756 of a shell command, use Git),
1757 @item @file{postprocess_html.py} (module imported by @file{www_post.py}) -- add footer and
1758 tweak links in HTML pages.
1763 @item @file{python/langdefs.py} -- language definitions module