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, tere 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 ignore - example text that should be set as a
543 blockquote. Any @{@} must be escaped with @@@{ @}@@
547 B ... @@end itemize - for bulleted lists.
548 Do not compress vertically like this.
551 @@code@{@} - typeset in a tt-font. Use for actual lilypond code or
552 property/context names. If the name contains a space, wrap
553 the entire thing inside @@w@{@@code@{ @}@}.
555 @@notation@{@} - refers to pieces of notation, e.g.
556 "@@notation@{cres.@}". Also use to specific lyrics ("the
557 @@notation@{A - men@} is centered"). Only use once per subsection
560 @@q@{@} - Single quotes. Used for `vague' terms.
562 @@qq@{@} - Double quotes. Used for actual quotes ("he said") or for
563 introducing special input modes.
566 @@tie@{@} - Variables or numbers which consist of a single character
567 (probably followed by a punctuation mark) should be tied
568 properly, either to the previous or the next word. Example:
569 "The letter@@tie@{@}@@q@{I@} is skipped"
572 @@var - Use for variables.
574 @@warning@{@} - produces a "Note: " box. Use for important messages.
577 @@bs - Generates a backslash inside @@warning.
578 Any `\' used inside @@warning (and @@q or @@qq) must be written as `@@bs@{@}'
579 (texinfo would also allow \\, but this breaks with PDF output).
582 @@ref@{@} - normal references (type the exact node name inside the
585 @@ruser@{@} - link to the NR.
587 @@rlearning@{@} - link to the LM.
589 @@rglos@{@} - link to the MG.
591 @@rprogram@{@} - link to the AU.
593 @@rlsr@{@} - link to a Snippet section.
595 @@rinternals@{@} - link to the IR.
597 @@uref@{@} - link to an external url.
603 @node Other text concerns
604 @subsection Other text concerns
609 References must occur at the end of a sentence, for more
610 information see @@ref@{the texinfo manual@}. Ideally this should
611 also be the final sentence of a paragraph, but this is not
612 required. Any link in a doc section must be duplicated in the
613 @@seealso section at the bottom.
616 Introducing examples must be done with
619 . (ie finish the previous sentence/paragaph)
620 : (ie `in this example:')
621 , (ie `may add foo with the blah construct,')
624 The old @qq{sentence runs directly into the example} method is not
628 Abbrevs in caps, e.g., HTML, DVI, MIDI, etc.
639 When beginning a quote: "So, he said,...".
641 This usage is rarer. Americans often just use a comma.
644 When adding a defining example at the end of a sentence.
649 Non-ASCII characters which are in utf-8 should be directly used;
650 this is, don't say `Ba@@ss@{@}tuba' but `Baßtuba'. This ensures
651 that all such characters appear in all output formats.
658 @node Documentation policy
659 @section Documentation policy
663 * Section organization::
664 * Checking cross-references::
666 * Technical writing style::
672 There are four parts to the documentation: the Learning Manual,
673 the Notation Reference, the Program Reference, and the Music
681 The LM is written in a tutorial style which introduces the most
682 important concepts, structure and syntax of the elements of a
683 LilyPond score in a carefully graded sequence of steps.
684 Explanations of all musical concepts used in the Manual can be
685 found in the Music Glossary, and readers are assumed to have no
686 prior knowledge of LilyPond. The objective is to take readers to
687 a level where the Notation Reference can be understood and
688 employed to both adapt the templates in the Appendix to their
689 needs and to begin to construct their own scores. Commonly used
690 tweaks are introduced and explained. Examples are provided
691 throughout which, while being focussed on the topic being
692 introduced, are long enough to seem real in order to retain the
693 readers' interest. Each example builds on the previous material,
694 and comments are used liberally. Every new aspect is thoroughly
695 explained before it is used.
697 Users are encouraged to read the complete Learning Manual from
702 Notation Reference: a (hopefully complete) description of LilyPond
703 input notation. Some material from here may be duplicated in the
704 Learning Manual (for teaching), but consider the NR to be the
705 "definitive" description of each notation element, with the LM
706 being an "extra". The goal is _not_ to provide a step-by-step
707 learning environment -- do not avoid using notation that has not
708 be introduced previously in the NR (for example, use \break if
709 appropriate). This section is written in formal technical writing
712 Avoid duplication. Although users are not expected to read this
713 manual from start to finish, they should be familiar with the
714 material in the Learning Manual (particularly ``Fundamental
715 Concepts''), so do not repeat that material in each section of
716 this book. Also watch out for common constructs, like ^ - _ for
717 directions -- those are explained in NR 3. In NR 1, you can
718 write: DYNAMICS may be manually placed above or below the staff,
719 see @@ref@{Controlling direction and placement@}.
721 Most tweaks should be added to LSR and not placed directly in the
722 .itely file. In some cases, tweaks may be placed in the main
723 text, but ask about this first.
725 Finally, you should assume that users know what the notation
726 means; explaining musical concepts happens in the Music Glossary.
730 Application Usage: information about using the program lilypond
731 with other programs (lilypond-book, operating systems, GUIs,
732 convert-ly, etc). This section is written in formal technical
735 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
739 Music Glossary: information about the music notation itself.
740 Explanations and translations about notation terms go here.
742 Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish.
745 Internals Reference: not really a documentation book, since it is
746 automagically generated from the source, but this is its name.
751 @node Section organization
752 @subsection Section organization
757 The order of headings inside documentation sections should
770 You @emph{must} include a @@seealso.
774 The order of items inside the @@seealso section is
783 @@rlearning@{foozle@}.
793 @@file@{path/to/dir/blahz@}.
795 Snippets: @@rlsr@{section@}.
798 @@rinternals@{fazzle@},
799 @@rinternals@{booar@}.
803 If there are multiple entries, separate them by commas but do not
807 Always end with a period.
810 Place each link on a new line as above; this makes it much easier
811 to add or remove links. In the output, they appear on a single
814 ("Snippets" is REQUIRED; the others are optional)
817 Any new concepts or links which require an explanation should go
818 as a full sentence(s) in the main text.
821 Don't insert an empty line between @@seealso and the first entry!
822 Otherwise there is excessive vertical space in the PDF output.
827 To create links, use @@ref@{@} if the link is within the same
831 @@predefined ... @@endpredefined is for commands in ly/*-init.ly
835 Do not include any real info in second-level sections (ie 1.1
836 Pitches). A first-level section may have introductory material,
837 but other than that all material goes into third-level sections
838 (ie 1.1.1 Writing Pitches).
843 @node Checking cross-references
844 @subsection Checking cross-references
846 Cross-references between different manuals are heavily used in the
847 documentation, but they are not checked during compilation.
848 However, if you compile the documentation, a script called
849 check_texi_refs can help you with checking and fixing these
850 cross-references; for information on usage, cd into a source tree
851 where documentation has been built, cd into Documentation and look
852 for check-xrefs and fix-xrefs targets in 'make help' output. Note
853 that you have to find yourself the source files to fix
854 cross-references in the generated documentation such as the
855 Internals Reference; e.g. you can grep scm/ and lily/.
858 @node General writing
859 @subsection General writing
864 Do not forget to create @@cindex entries for new sections of text.
865 Enter commands with @@funindex, i.e.
868 @@cindex pitches, writing in different octaves
873 do not bother with the @@code@{@} (they are added automatically).
874 These items are added to both the command index and the unified
877 Both index commands should go in front of the actual material.
879 @@cindex entries should not be capitalized, ie
882 @@cindex time signature
886 is preferred instead of @qq{Time signature}, Only use capital
887 letters for musical terms which demand them, like D.S. al Fine.
889 For scheme functions, only include the final part, i.e.,
892 @@funindex modern-voice-cautionary
894 @@funindex #(set-accidental-style modern-voice-cautionary)
903 In general, use the American spellings. The internal lilypond
904 property names use this spelling.
907 List of specific terms:
911 simultaneous NOT concurrent
912 measure: the unit of music
913 bar line: the symbol delimiting a measure NOT barline
914 note head NOT notehead
915 chord construct NOT chord (when referring to <>)
923 @node Technical writing style
924 @subsection Technical writing style
926 These refer to the NR. The LM uses a more gentle, colloquial
932 Do not refer to LilyPond in the text. The reader knows what the
933 manual is about. If you do, capitalization is LilyPond.
936 If you explicitly refer to @q{lilypond} the program (or any other
937 command to be executed), write @code{@@command@{lilypond@}}.
940 Do not explicitly refer to the reader/user. There is no one else
941 besides the reader and the writer.
944 Avoid contractions (don't, won't, etc.). Spell the words out completely.
947 Avoid abbreviations, except for commonly used abbreviations of foreign
948 language terms such as etc. and i.e.
951 Avoid fluff (@qq{Notice that,} @qq{as you can see,}
955 The use of the word @q{illegal} is inappropriate in most cases.
956 Say @q{invalid} instead.
961 @node Tips for writing docs
962 @section Tips for writing docs
964 In the NR, I highly recommend focusing on one subsection at a
965 time. For each subsection,
970 check the mundane formatting. Are the headings (@@predefined,
971 @@seealso, etc.) in the right order?
974 add any appropriate index entries.
977 check the links in the @@seealso section -- links to music
978 glossary, internal references, and other NR sections are the main
979 concern. Check for potential additions.
982 move LSR-worthy material into LSR. Add the snippet, delete the
983 material from the .itely file, and add a @@lilypondfile command.
986 check the examples and descriptions. Do they still work?
987 @strong{Do not} assume that the existing text is
988 accurate/complete; some of the manual is highly out of date.
991 is the material in the @@knownissues still accurate?
994 can the examples be improved (made more explanatory), or is there
995 any missing info? (feel free to ask specific questions on -user;
996 a couple of people claimed to be interesting in being
997 @qq{consultants} who would help with such questions)
1001 In general, I favor short text explanations with good examples --
1002 @qq{an example is worth a thousand words}. When I worked on the
1003 docs, I spent about half my time just working on those tiny
1004 lilypond examples. Making easily-understandable examples is much
1005 harder than it looks.
1008 @subsubheading Tweaks
1010 In general, any \set or \override commands should go in the
1011 @qq{select snippets} section, which means that they should go in
1012 LSR and not the .itely file. For some cases, the command
1013 obviously belongs in the @qq{main text} (i.e. not inside
1014 @@predefined or @@seealso or whatever) -- instrument names are a
1015 good example of this.
1018 \set Staff.instrumentName = #"foo"
1021 On the other side of this,
1024 \override Score.Hairpin #'after-line-breaking = ##t
1027 clearly belongs in LSR.
1029 I'm quite willing to discuss specific cases if you think that a
1030 tweaks needs to be in the main text. But items that can go into
1031 LSR are easier to maintain, so I'd like to move as much as
1032 possible into there.
1035 It would be @qq{nice} if you spent a lot of time crafting nice
1036 tweaks for users@dots{} but my recommendation is @strong{not} to do
1037 this. There's a lot of doc work to do without adding examples of
1038 tweaks. Tweak examples can easily be added by normal users by adding
1041 One place where a documentation writer can profitably spend time writing
1042 or upgrading tweaks is creating tweaks to deal with known issues. It
1043 would be ideal if every significant known issue had a workaround to avoid
1047 @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1050 @node Updating docs with convert-ly
1051 @section Updating doc with @command{convert-ly}
1053 cd into @file{Documentation/} and run
1056 find . -name '*.itely' | xargs convert-ly -e
1060 This also updates translated documentation.
1064 @node Translating the documentation
1065 @section Translating the documentation
1067 The mailing list @code{translations@@lilynet.net} is dedicated to
1068 LilyPond web site and documentation translation; on this list, you will
1069 get support from the Translations Meister and experimented translators,
1070 and we regularly discuss translations issues common to all languagues.
1071 All people interested in LilyPond translations are invited to subscribe
1072 to this list regardless of the amount of their contribution, by sending
1073 an email to @code{translations-request@@lilynet.net} with subject
1074 @code{subscribe} and an empty message body.
1077 * Getting started with documentation translation::
1078 * Documentation translation details::
1079 * Documentation translation maintenance::
1080 * Translations management policies::
1081 * Technical background::
1084 @node Getting started with documentation translation
1085 @subsection Getting started with documentation translation
1087 First, get the sources from the Git repository, see @ref{Documentation
1088 translations source code}.
1091 * Translation requirements::
1092 * Which documentation can be translated::
1093 * Starting translation in a new language::
1096 @node Translation requirements
1097 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translation requirements
1099 Working on LilyPond documentation translations requires the following
1100 pieces of software, in order to make use of dedicated helper tools:
1103 @item Python 2.4 or higher,
1109 It is not required to build LilyPond and the documentation to
1110 translate the documentation. However, if you have enough time and
1111 motivation and a suitable system, it can be very useful to build at
1112 least the documentation so that you can check the output yourself and
1113 more quickly; if you are interested, see @ref{Compiling from source}.
1116 @node Which documentation can be translated
1117 @unnumberedsubsubsec Which documentation can be translated
1119 FIXME: take into account the new web site integration in main sources.
1121 The makefiles and scripts infrastructure currently supports translation
1122 of the following documentation:
1125 @item documentation index (HTML);
1126 @item the Learning Manual, the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1127 -- Texinfo source, PDF and HTML output; Info output might be added if
1128 there is enough demand for it;
1129 @item the Changes document.
1132 Support for translating the following pieces of documentation should be
1133 added soon, by decreasing order of priority:
1136 @item automatically generated documentation: markup commands,
1137 predefined music functions;
1138 @item the Snippets List;
1139 @item the Internals Reference.
1143 @node Starting translation in a new language
1144 @unnumberedsubsubsec Starting translation in a new language
1146 At top of the source directory, do
1153 or (if you want to install your self-compiled LilyPond locally)
1156 ./autogen.sh --prefix=$HOME
1160 If you want to compile LilyPond -- which is almost required to build
1161 the documentation, but is not required to do translation only -- fix
1162 all dependencies and rerun @command{./configure} (with the same
1163 options as for @command{autogen.sh}).
1165 Then @command{cd} into @file{Documentation/} and run
1168 make ISOLANG=@var{MY-LANGUAGE} new-lang
1172 where @var{MY-LANGUAGE} is the ISO 639 language code.
1174 Finally, add a language definition for your language in
1175 @file{python/langdefs.py}.
1177 Before starting the real translation work, it is recommended to commit
1178 changes you made so far to Git, so e.g. you are able to get back to
1179 this state of the sources easily if needed; see @ref{Sharing your
1183 @node Documentation translation details
1184 @subsection Documentation translation details
1186 Please follow all the instructions with care to ensure quality work.
1188 All files should be encoded in UTF-8.
1191 * Files to be translated::
1192 * Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation::
1193 * Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage::
1194 * Translating the Documentation index index.html.in::
1197 @node Files to be translated
1198 @unnumberedsubsubsec Files to be translated
1200 @include contributor/doc-translation-list.itexi
1202 @node Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation
1203 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation
1209 @b{Note:} node names and section titles are now translated directly in
1210 Texinfo source files. In case you have files in your working tree that
1211 have not been converted, please pull first, then run
1214 make -C Documentation/po doc
1215 export LYDOC_LOCALEDIR=Documentation/po/out-www
1216 export PYTHONPATH=python:python/auxiliar
1217 scripts/auxiliar/tely-gettext.py @var{manual.tely}
1221 This will also update files included in @file{@var{manual}.tely}, and of
1222 course this script can be used for individual @file{@var{foo}.itely}
1226 Every piece of text should be translated in the source file, except
1227 Texinfo comments, text in @code{@@lilypond} blocks and a few cases
1230 Node names are translated, but the original node name in English should
1231 be kept as the argument of @code{@@translationof} put after the section
1232 title; that is, every piece in the original file like
1236 @@@var{section_command} Bar baz
1240 should be translated as
1243 @@node @var{translation of Foo bar}
1244 @@@var{section_command} @var{translation of Bar baz}
1245 @@translationof Foo bar
1248 The argument of @code{@@rglos} commands and the first argument of
1249 @code{@@rglosnamed} commands must not be translated, as it is the node
1250 name of an entry in Music Glossary.
1252 Every time you translate a node name in a cross-reference, i.e. the
1253 argument of commands @code{@@ref, @@rprogram, @@rlearning, @@rlsr,
1254 @@ruser} or the first argument of their @code{@var{*}named} variants,
1255 you should make sure the target node is defined in the correct source
1256 file; if you do not intend to translate the target node right now, you
1257 should at least write the node definition (that is, the @code{@@node
1258 @@@var{section_commmand} @@translationof} trio mentioned above) in the
1259 expected source file and define all its parent nodes; for each node you
1260 have defined this way but have not translated, insert a line that
1261 contains @code{@@untranslated} and append @code{ @@c external} to the
1262 line that contains @code{@@translationof}. That is, you should end up
1263 for each untranslated node with something like
1266 @@node @var{translation of Foo bar}
1267 @@@var{section_command} @var{translation of Bar baz}
1268 @@translationof Foo bar @@c external
1274 Finally, press in Emacs @key{C-c C-u C-a} to update or generate
1275 menus. This process should be made easier in the future, when the helper
1276 script @command{texi-langutils.py} and the makefile target are updated.
1278 Some pieces of text manipulated by build scripts that appear in the
1279 output are translated in a @file{.po} file -- just like LilyPond output
1280 messages -- in @file{Documentation/po}. The Gettext domain is named
1281 @code{lilypond-doc}, and unlike @code{lilypond} domain it is not managed
1282 through the Free Translation Project.
1285 Take care of using typographic rules for your language, especially in
1286 @file{macros.itexi}.
1289 Please keep verbatim copies of music snippets (in @code{@@lilypond}
1290 blocs). However, some music snippets containing text that shows in
1291 the rendered music, and sometimes translating this text really helps
1292 the user to understand the documentation; in this case, and only in
1293 this case, you may as an exception translate text in the music
1294 snippet, and then you must add a line immediately before the
1295 @code{@@lilypond} block, starting with
1302 Otherwise the music snippet would be reset to the same content as the
1303 English version at next @command{make snippet-update} run -- see
1304 @ref{Updating documentation translation}.
1309 @@lilypondfile[<number of fragment options>,texidoc]@{@var{filename.ly}@}
1313 in the source, open @file{Documentation/snippets/@var{filename}.ly},
1314 translate the @code{texidoc} header field it contains, enclose it with
1315 @code{texidoc@var{MY-LANGUAGE} = "} and @code{"}, and write it into
1316 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc}.
1317 Additionnally, you may translate the snippet's title in @code{doctitle}
1318 header field, in case @code{doctitle} is a fragment option used in
1319 @code{@@lilypondfile}; you can do this exactly the same way as
1320 @code{texidoc}. For instance,
1321 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc}
1325 doctitlees = "Spanish title baz"
1327 Spanish translation blah
1332 Then, you should get these translated strings into compiled snippets in
1333 @file{Documentation/snippets}, see @q{General guidelines} in @ref{Adding
1334 and editing snippets}.
1336 @code{@@example} blocs need not be verbatim copies, e.g. variable
1337 names, file names and comments should be translated.
1339 Finally, please carefully apply every rule exposed in @ref{Texinfo
1340 introduction and usage policy}, and @ref{Documentation policy}. If one
1341 of these rules conflicts with a rule specific to your language, please
1342 ask the Translation meister on @email{translations@@lilynet.net} list
1343 and/or the Documentation Editors on @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}
1347 @node Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1348 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage
1350 Copy @file{notation.tely} (or @file{application.tely},
1351 respectively) into @file{@var{MY-LANGUAGE}}, then translate this
1352 file and run @code{skeleton-update} -- see @ref{Updating documentation
1353 translation}. Your are now ready to translate the Notation Reference
1354 (Application Usage, respectively) exactly like the Learning Manual.
1357 @node Translating the Documentation index index.html.in
1358 @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Documentation index @file{index.html.in}
1360 Unlike almost all HTML pages in this documentation, links in this page
1361 are not tweaked by @file{postprocess_html.py}, so links should be
1362 manually edited to link to existing translations.
1365 @node Documentation translation maintenance
1366 @subsection Documentation translation maintenance
1368 Several tools have been developed to make translations maintenance
1369 easier. These helper scripts make use of the power of Git, the
1370 version control system used for LilyPond development.
1373 * Check state of translation::
1374 * Updating documentation translation::
1377 @node Check state of translation
1378 @unnumberedsubsubsec Check state of translation
1380 First pull from Git, then cd into @file{Documentation/} (or at top of
1381 the source tree, replace @command{make} with @command{make -C
1382 Documentation}) and run
1385 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation
1389 This presents a diff of the original files since the most recent
1390 revision of the translation. To check a single file, cd into
1391 @file{Documentation/} and run
1394 make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE}/@var{manual}/@var{foo}.itely check-translation
1398 In case this file has been renamed since you last updated the
1399 translation, you should specify both old and new file names,
1400 e.g. @code{CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE}/@{@var{manual},user@}/@var{foo}.itely}.
1402 To see only which files need to be updated, do
1405 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation | grep 'diff --git'
1408 To avoid printing terminal colors control characters, which is often
1409 desirable when you redirect output to a file, run
1412 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} NO_COLOR=1 check-translation
1415 Global state of the translation is recorded in
1416 @file{Documentation/translations.html.in}, which is used to generate
1417 Translations status page. To update that page, do from
1418 @file{Documentation/}
1421 make translation-status
1424 This will also leave @file{out/translations-status.txt}, which contains
1425 up-to-dateness percentages for each translated file, and update word
1426 counts of documentation files in this Guide.
1429 @ref{Maintaining without updating translations}.
1432 @node Updating documentation translation
1433 @unnumberedsubsubsec Updating documentation translation
1435 Instead of running @code{check-translation}, you may want to run
1436 @code{update-translation}, which will run your favorite text editor to
1437 update files. First, make sure environment variable @code{EDITOR} is
1438 set to a text editor command, then run from @file{Documentation/}
1441 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} update-translation
1445 or to update a single file
1448 make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE/@var{manual}/foo.itely} update-translation
1451 For each file to be udpated, @code{update-translation} will open your
1452 text editor with this file and a diff of the file in English; if the
1453 diff cannot be generated or is bigger than the file in English itself,
1454 the full file in English will be opened instead.
1456 Texinfo skeleton files, i.e. @file{.itely} files not yet translated,
1457 containing only the Texinfo structure can be updated automatically:
1458 whenever @command{make check-translation} shows that such files should
1459 be updated, run from @file{Documentation/}
1462 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} skeleton-update
1465 @file{.po} message catalogs in @file{Documentation/po/} may be updated
1466 by issuing from @file{Documentation/} or @file{Documentation/po/}
1472 @warning{if you run po-update and somebody else does the same and
1473 pushes before you push or send a patch to be applied, there will be a
1474 conflict when you pull. Therefore, it is better that only the
1475 Translation meister runs this command.}
1477 Updating music snippets can quickly become cumbersome, as most
1478 snippets should be identical in all languages. Fortunately, there is
1479 a script that can do this odd job for you (run from
1480 @file{Documentation/}):
1483 make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} snippet-update
1486 This script overwrites music snippets in
1487 @file{@var{MY_LANGUAGE/foo/every.itely}} with music snippets from
1488 @file{@var{foo/every.itely}}. It ignores skeleton files, and keeps
1489 intact music snippets preceded with a line starting with @code{@@c
1490 KEEP LY}; it reports an error for each @file{.itely} that has not the
1491 same music snippet count in both languages. Always use this script
1492 with a lot of care, i.e. run it on a clean Git working tree, and check
1493 the changes it made with @command{git diff} before committing; if you
1494 don't do so, some @code{@@lilypond} snippets might be broken or make
1495 no sense in their context.
1497 When you have updated texidocs in
1498 @file{Documentation/@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/texidocs}, you can get these
1499 changes into compiled snippets in @file{Documentation/snippets}, see
1500 @q{General guidelines} in @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1502 Finally, a command runs the three update processes above for all
1503 enabled languages (from @file{Documentation/}):
1506 make all-translations-update
1509 Use this command with caution, and keep in mind it will not be really
1510 useful until translations are stabilized after the end of GDP and GOP.
1513 @ref{Maintaining without updating translations},
1514 @ref{Adding and editing snippets}.
1517 @node Translations management policies
1518 @subsection Translations management policies
1520 These policies show the general intent of how the translations should
1521 be managed, they aim at helping translators, developers and
1522 coordinators work efficiently.
1525 * Maintaining without updating translations::
1526 * Managing documentation translation with Git::
1529 @node Maintaining without updating translations
1530 @unnumberedsubsubsec Maintaining without updating translations
1532 Keeping translations up to date under heavy changes in the documentation
1533 in English may be almost impossible, especially as during the former
1534 Grand Documentation Project (GDP) or the Grand Organization Project
1535 (GOP) when a lot of contributors brings changes. In addition,
1536 translators may be --- and that is a very good thing --- involved in
1539 it is possible --- and even recommended --- to perform some maintenance
1540 that keeps translated documentation usable and eases future translation
1541 updating. The rationale below the tasks list motivates this plan.
1543 The following tasks are listed in decreasing priority order.
1546 @item Update macros.itexi.
1547 For each obsolete macro definition, if it is possible to update macro
1548 usage in documentation with an automatic text or regexp substitution,
1549 do it and delete the macro definition from macros.itexi; otherwise,
1550 mark this macro definition as obsolete with a comment, and keep it in
1551 macros.itexi until the documentation translation has been updated and
1552 no longer uses this macro.
1554 @item Update @file{*.tely} files completely with
1555 @command{make check-translation} -- you may want to redirect ouptput
1556 to a file because of overwhelming output, or call check-translation.py
1557 on individual files, see @ref{Check state of translation}.
1559 @item In @file{.itelys}, match sections and .itely file names with those from
1560 English docs, which possibly involves moving nodes contents in block
1561 between files, without updating contents itself. In other words, the
1562 game is catching where has gone each section. In Learning manual, and
1563 in Notation Reference sections which have been revised in GDP, there may
1564 be completely new sections: in this case, copy @code{@@node} and
1565 @code{@@section}-command from English docs, and add the marker for
1566 untranslated status @code{@@untranslated} on a single line. Note that
1567 it is not possible to exactly match subsections or subsubsections of
1568 documentation in English, when contents has been deeply revised; in this
1569 case, keep obsolete (sub)subsections in the translation, marking them
1570 with a line @code{@@c obsolete} just before the node.
1572 Emacs with Texinfo mode makes this step easier:
1575 @item without Emacs AucTeX installed, @key{C-c C-s} shows structure of current
1576 Texinfo file in a new buffer @code{*Occur*}; to show structure of two files
1577 simultaneously, first split Emacs window in 4 tiles (with @key{C-x 1}
1578 and @key{C-x 2}), press @key{C-c C-s} to show structure of one file
1579 (e.g. the translated file), copy @code{*Occur*} contents into
1580 @code{*Scratch*}, then press @key{C-c C-s} for the other file.
1582 If you happen to have installed AucTeX, you can either call the macro
1583 by doing @key{M-x texinfo-show-structure} or create a key binding in your
1584 @file{~/.emacs}, by adding the four following lines:
1587 (add-hook 'Texinfo-mode-hook
1589 (define-key Texinfo-mode-map "\C-cs"
1590 'texinfo-show-structure)))
1594 and then obtain the structure in the @code{*Occur*} buffer with @key{C-c
1597 @item Do not bother updating @code{@@menu}s when all menu entries are in the same
1598 file, just do @key{C-c C-u C-a} (@qq{update all menus}) when you have
1599 updated all the rest of the file.
1601 @item Moving to next or previous node using incremental search: press
1602 @key{C-s} and type @code{node} (or @key{C-s @@node} if the text
1603 contains the word @q{node}) then press @key{C-s} to move to next node
1604 or @key{C-r} to move to previous node. Similar operation can be used
1605 to move to the next/previous section. Note that every cursor move
1606 exits incremental search, and hitting @key{C-s} twice starts
1607 incremental search with the text entered in previous incremental
1610 @item Moving a whole node (or even a sequence of nodes): jump to beginning
1611 of the node (quit incremental search by pressing an arrow), press
1612 @key{C-SPACE}, press @key{C-s node} and repeat @key{C-s} until you
1613 have selected enough text, cut it with @key{C-w} or @key{C-x}, jump to
1614 the right place (moving between nodes with the previous hint is often
1615 useful) and paste with @key{C-y} or @key{C-v}.
1618 @item Update sections finished in the English documentation; check
1620 @uref{http://lilypondwiki.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=Documentation_coordination}.
1622 @item Update documentation PO. It is recommended not to update
1623 strings which come from documentation that is currently deeply revised
1624 in English, to avoid doing the work more than once.
1626 @item Fix broken cross-references by running (from @file{Documentation/})
1629 make ISOLANG=@var{YOUR-LANGUAGE} fix-xrefs
1633 This step requires a sucessful documentation build (with @command{make
1634 doc}). Some cross-references are broken because they point to a node
1635 that exists in the documentation in English, which has not been added
1636 to the translation; in this case, do not fix the cross-reference but
1637 keep it "broken", so that the resulting HTML link will point to an
1638 existing page of documentation in English.
1641 @subsubheading Rationale
1643 You may wonder if it would not be better to leave translations as-is
1644 until you can really start updating translations. There are several
1645 reasons to do these maintenance tasks right now.
1648 @item This will have to be done sooner or later anyway, before updating
1649 translation of documentation contents, and this can already be done
1650 without needing to be redone later, as sections of documentation in
1651 English are mostly revised once. However, note that not all
1652 documentation sectioning has been revised in one go, so all this
1653 maintenance plan has to be repeated whenever a big reorganization is
1656 @item This just makes translated documentation take advantage of the new
1657 organization, which is better than the old one.
1659 @item Moving and renaming sections to match sectioning of documentation in
1660 English simplify future updating work: it allows updating the
1661 translation by side-by-side comparison, without bothering whether
1662 cross-reference names already exist in the translation.
1664 @item Each maintenance task except @q{Updating PO files} can be done by
1665 the same person for all languages, which saves overall time spent by
1666 translators to achieve this task: the node names and section titles
1667 are in English, so you can do. It is important to take advantage of
1668 this now, as it will be more complicated (but still possible) to do
1669 step 3 in all languages when documentation is compiled with
1670 @command{texi2html} and node names are directly translated in source
1675 @node Managing documentation translation with Git
1676 @unnumberedsubsubsec Managing documentation translation with Git
1678 This policy explains how to manage Git branches and commit
1679 translations to Git.
1682 @item Translation changes matching master branch are preferably made on
1683 @code{lilypond/translation} branch; they may be pushed directly to
1684 @code{master} only if they do not break compilation of LilyPond and
1685 its documentation, and in this case they should be pushed to
1686 @code{lilypond/translation} too. Similarly, changes matching
1687 @code{stable/X.Y} are preferably made on
1688 @code{lilypond/X.Ytranslation}.
1690 @item @code{lilypond/translation} Git branch may be merged into
1691 master only if LilyPond (@command{make all}) and documentation
1692 (@command{make doc}) compile succesfully.
1694 @item @code{master} Git branch may be merged into
1695 @code{lilypond/translation} whenever @command{make} and @command{make
1696 doc} are succesful (in order to ease documentation compilation by
1697 translators), or when significant changes had been made in
1698 documentation in English in master branch.
1700 @item General maintenance may be done by anybody who knows what he does
1701 in documentation in all languages, without informing translators
1702 first. General maintenance include simple text substitutions
1703 (e.g. automated by sed), compilation fixes, updating Texinfo or
1704 lilypond-book commands, updating macros, updating ly code, fixing
1705 cross-references, and operations described in @ref{Maintaining
1706 without updating translations}.
1710 @node Technical background
1711 @subsection Technical background
1713 A number of Python scripts handle a part of the documentation
1714 translation process. All scripts used to maintain the translations
1715 are located in @file{scripts/auxiliar/}.
1718 @item @file{check_translation.py} -- show diff to update a translation,
1719 @item @file{texi-langutils.py} -- quickly and dirtily parse Texinfo files to
1720 make message catalogs and Texinfo skeleton files,
1721 @item @file{texi-skeleton-update.py} -- update Texinfo skeleton files,
1722 @item @file{update-snippets.py} -- synchronize ly snippets with those
1724 @item @file{translations-status.py} -- update translations status pages and word
1725 counts in the file you are reading,
1726 @item @file{tely-gettext.py} -- gettext node names, section titles and references
1727 in the sources; WARNING only use this script once for each file, when support for
1728 "makeinfo --html" has been dropped.
1731 Other scripts are used in the build process, in @file{scripts/build/}:
1734 @item @file{mass-link.py} -- link or symlink files between English documentation
1735 and documentation in other languages.
1738 Python modules used by scripts in @file{scripts/auxiliar/} or @file{scripts/build/} (but
1739 not by installed Python scripts) are located in @file{python/auxiliar/}:
1741 @item @file{manuals_definitions.py} -- define manual names and name of
1742 cross-reference Texinfo macros,
1743 @item @file{buildlib.py} -- common functions (read piped output
1744 of a shell command, use Git),
1745 @item @file{postprocess_html.py} (module imported by @file{www_post.py}) -- add footer and
1746 tweak links in HTML pages.
1751 @item @file{python/langdefs.py} -- language definitions module