@c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*- @node Documentation work @chapter Documentation work @menu * Introduction to documentation work:: * Documentation suggestions:: * Texinfo introduction and usage policy:: * Documentation policy:: * Tips for writing docs:: * Updating docs with convert-ly:: * Translating the documentation:: @end menu @node Introduction to documentation work @section Introduction to documentation work Our documentation tries to adhere to our @ref{Documentation policy}. This policy contains a few items which may seem odd. One policy in particular is often questioned by potential contributors: we do not repeat material in the Notation Reference, and instead provide links to the @qq{definitive} presentation of that information. Some people point out, with good reason, that this makes the documentation harder to read. If we repeated certain information in relevant places, readers would be less likely to miss that information. That reasoning is sound, but we have two counter-arguments. First, the Notation Reference -- one of @emph{five} manuals for users to read -- is already over 500 pages long. If we repeated material, we could easily exceed 1000 pages! Second, and much more importantly, LilyPond is an evolving project. New features are added, bugs are fixed, and bugs are discovered and documented. If features are discussed in multiple places, the documentation team must find every instance. Since the manual is so large, it is impossible for one person to have the location of every piece of information memorized, so any attempt to update the documentation will invariably omit a few places. This second concern is not at all theoretical; the documentation used to be plagued with inconsistent information. If the documentation were targeted for a specific version -- say, LilyPond 2.10.5 -- and we had unlimited resources to spend on documentation, then we could avoid this second problem. But since LilyPond evolves (and that is a very good thing!), and since we have quite limited resources, this policy remains in place. A few other policies (such as not permitting the use of tweaks in the main portion of NR 1+2) may also seem counter-intuitive, but they also stem from attempting to find the most effective use of limited documentation help. @node Documentation suggestions @section Documentation suggestions @subheading Small additions For additions to the documentation, @enumerate @item Tell us where the addition should be placed. Please include both the section number and title (i.e. "LM 2.13 Printing lyrics"). @item Please write exact changes to the text. @item A formal patch to the source code is @emph{not} required; we can take care of the technical details. Here is an example of a perfect documentation report: @verbatim To: lilypond-devel@gnu.org From: helpful-user@example.net Subject: doc addition In LM 2.13 (printing lyrics), above the last line ("More options, like..."), please add: ---- To add lyrics to a divided part, use blah blah blah. For example, \score { \notes {blah <> } \lyrics {blah <> } blah blah blah } ---- In addition, the second sentence of the first paragraph is confusing. Please delete that sentence (it begins "Users often...") and replace it with this: ---- To align lyrics with something, do this thing. ---- Have a nice day, Helpful User @end verbatim @end enumerate @subheading Larger contributions To replace large sections of the documentation, the guidelines are stricter. We cannot remove parts of the current documentation unless we are certain that the new version is an improvement. @enumerate @item Ask on the lilypond-devel maillist if such a rewrite is necessary; somebody else might already be working on this issue! @item Split your work into small sections; this makes it much easier to compare the new and old documentation. @item Please prepare a formal git patch. @end enumerate Once you have followed these guidelines, please send a message to lilypond-devel with your documentation submissions. Unfortunately there is a strict “no top-posting” check on the mailist; to avoid this, add: > I'm not top posting. (you must include the > ) to the top of your documentation addition. We may edit your suggestion for spelling, grammar, or style, and we may not place the material exactly where you suggested, but if you give us some material to work with, we can improve the manual much faster. Thanks for your interest! @node Texinfo introduction and usage policy @section Texinfo introduction and usage policy @menu * Texinfo introduction:: * Documentation files:: * Sectioning commands:: * LilyPond formatting:: * Text formatting:: * Syntax survey:: * Other text concerns:: @end menu @node Texinfo introduction @subsection Texinfo introduction The language is called Texinfo; you can see its manual here: @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/texinfo/manual/texinfo/} However, you don't need to read those docs. The most important thing to notice is that text is text. If you see a mistake in the text, you can fix it. If you want to change the order of something, you can cut-and-paste that stuff into a new location. @warning{Rule of thumb: follow the examples in the existing docs. You can learn most of what you need to know from this; if you want to do anything fancy, discuss it on @code{lilypond-devel} first.} @node Documentation files @subsection Documentation files The user manuals lives in @file{Documentation/user/}. In particular, the files @file{lilypond-learning.ly} (LM), @file{lilypond.itely} (NR), @file{music-glossary.tely} (MG), and @file{lilypond-program} (AU). Each chapter is written in a separate file (ending in @file{.itely} for files containing lilypond code, and @file{.itexi} for files without lilypond code); see the @qq{main} file for each manual to determine the filename of the specific chapter you wish to modify. Developer manuals live in @file{Documentation/devel}. Currently there is only one; @file{contrib-guide.texi}. Although snippets are part of documentation, they are not (directly) part of the manuals. For information about how to modify them, see @ref{LSR work}. @node Sectioning commands @subsection Sectioning commands Most of the manual operates at the @example @@node Foo @@subsubsection Foo @end example @noindent level. Sections are created with @example @@node Foo @@subsection Foo @end example @itemize @item Please leave two blank lines above a @@node; this makes it easier to find sections in texinfo. @item Sectioning commands (@@node and @@section) must not appear inside an @@ignore. Separate those commands with a space, ie @@n ode. @end itemize @node LilyPond formatting @subsection LilyPond formatting @itemize @item Use two spaces for indentation in lilypond examples. (no tabs) @item All text strings should be prefaced with #. LilyPond does not strictly require this, but it is helpful to get users accustomed to this scheme construct. ie @code{\set Staff.instrumentName = #"cello"} @item All engravers should have double-quotes around them: @example \consists "Spans_arpeggio_engraver" @end example Again, LilyPond does not strictly require this, but it is a useful standard to follow. @item Examples should end with a complete bar if possible. @item If possible, only write one bar per line. The notes on each line should be an independent line -- tweaks should occur on their own line if possible. Bad: @example \override textscript #'padding = #3 c1^"hi" @end example Good: @example \override textscript #'padding = #3 c1^"hi" @end example @item Most LilyPond input should be produced with: @example @@lilypond[verbatim,quote,relative=2] @end example @noindent or @example @@lilypond[verbatim,quote,relative=1] @end example If you want to use \layout@{@} or define variables, use @example @@lilypond[verbatim,quote] @end example In rare cases, other options may be used (or omitted), but ask first. @item Inspirational headwords are produced with @example @@lilypondfile[quote,ragged-right,line-width=16\cm,staffsize=16] @{pitches-headword.ly@} @end example @item LSR snippets are linked with @example @@lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,ragged-right,texidoc,doctitle] @{filename.ly@} @end example @noindent excepted in Templates, where `doctitle' may be omitted. @item Avoid long stretches of input code. Noone is going to read them in print. Please create a smaller example. (the smaller example does not need to be minimal, however) @item Specify durations for at least the first note of every bar. @item If possible, end with a complete bar. @item Comments should go on their own line, and be placed before the line(s) to which they refer. @item Add extra spaces around @{ @} marks; ie @example not: \chordmode @{c e g@} but instead: \chordmode @{ c e g @} @end example @item If you only have one bar per line, omit bar checks. If you put more than one bar per line (not recommended), then include bar checks. @item If you want to work on an example outside of the manual (for easier/faster processing), use this header: @example \paper @{ #(define dump-extents #t) indent = 0\mm line-width = 160\mm - 2.0 * 0.4\in ragged-right = ##t force-assignment = #"" line-width = #(- line-width (* mm 3.000000)) @} \layout @{ @} @end example You may not change any of these values. If you are making an example demonstrating special \paper@{@} values, contact the Documentation Editor. @end itemize @node Text formatting @subsection Text formatting @itemize @item Lines should be less than 72 characters long. (I personally recommend writing with 66-char lines, but don't bother modifying existing material.) @item Do not use tabs. @item Do not use spaces at the beginning of a line (except in @@example or @@verbatim environments), and do not use more than a single space between words. `makeinfo' copies the input lines verbatim without removing those spaces. @item Use two spaces after a period. @item In examples of syntax, use @@var@{musicexpr@} for a music expression. @item Don't use @@rinternals@{@} in the main text. If you're tempted to do so, you're probably getting too close to "talking through the code". If you really want to refer to a context, use @@code@{@} in the main text and @@rinternals@{@} in the @@seealso. @item Variables or numbers which consist of a single character (probably followed by a punctuation mark) should be tied properly, either to the previous or the next word. Example: @example The variable@@tie@{@}@@var@{a@} ... @end example @item To get consistent indentation in the DVI output it is better to avoid the @@verbatim environment. Use the @@example environment instead if possible, but without extraneous indentation. For example, this @example @@example foo @{ bar @} @@end example @end example @noindent should be replaced with @example @@example foo @{ bar @} @@end example @end example @noindent where `@@example' starts the line (without leading spaces). @item Do not compress the input vertically; this is, do not use @example Beginning of logical unit @@example ... @@end example continuation of logical unit @end example @noindent but instead do @example Beginning of logical unit @@example ... @@end example @@noindent continuation of logical unit @end example This makes it easier to avoid forgetting the `@@noindent'. Only use @@noindent if the material is discussing the same material; new material should simply begin without anything special on the line above it. @item in @@itemize use @@item on a separate line like this: @example @@itemize @@item Foo @@item Bar @end example Do not use @@itemize @@bullet. @item To get LilyPond version, use @@version@{@} (this does not work inside LilyPond snippets). If you write "@@version@{@}" (enclosed with quotes), or generally if @@version@{@} is not followed by a space, tere will be an ugly line break in PDF output unless you enclose it with @example @@w@{ ... @} e.g. @@w@{"@@version@{@}"@} @end example @end itemize @node Syntax survey @subsection Syntax survey @itemize @item @@c - single line comments "@@c NOTE:" is a comment which should remain in the final version. (gp only command ;) @item @@ignore ... @@end ignore - multi-line comment @item @@cindex - General index. Please add as many as you can. Don't capitalize the first word. @item @@funindex - is for a \lilycommand. @item @@example ... @@end ignore - example text that should be set as a blockquote. Any @{@} must be escaped with @@@{ @}@@ @item @@itemize @@item A @@item B ... @@end itemize - for bulleted lists. Do not compress vertically like this. @item @@code@{@} - typeset in a tt-font. Use for actual lilypond code or property/context names. If the name contains a space, wrap the entire thing inside @@w@{@@code@{ @}@}. @item @@notation@{@} - refers to pieces of notation, e.g. "@@notation@{cres.@}". Also use to specific lyrics ("the @@notation@{A - men@} is centered"). Only use once per subsection per term. @item @@q@{@} - Single quotes. Used for `vague' terms. @item @@qq@{@} - Double quotes. Used for actual quotes ("he said") or for introducing special input modes. @item @@tie@{@} - Variables or numbers which consist of a single character (probably followed by a punctuation mark) should be tied properly, either to the previous or the next word. Example: "The letter@@tie@{@}@@q@{I@} is skipped" @item @@var - Use for variables. @item @@warning@{@} - produces a "Note: " box. Use for important messages. @item @@bs - Generates a backslash inside @@warning. Any `\' used inside @@warning (and @@q or @@qq) must be written as `@@bs@{@}' (texinfo would also allow \\, but this breaks with PDF output). @item @@ref@{@} - normal references (type the exact node name inside the @{@}). @@ruser@{@} - link to the NR. @@rlearning@{@} - link to the LM. @@rglos@{@} - link to the MG. @@rprogram@{@} - link to the AU. @@rlsr@{@} - link to a Snippet section. @@rinternals@{@} - link to the IR. @end itemize @node Other text concerns @subsection Other text concerns @itemize @item References must occur at the end of a sentence, for more information see @@ref@{the texinfo manual@}. Ideally this should also be the final sentence of a paragraph, but this is not required. Any link in a doc section must be duplicated in the @@seealso section at the bottom. @item Introducing examples must be done with @example . (ie finish the previous sentence/paragaph) : (ie `in this example:') , (ie `may add foo with the blah construct,') @end example The old "sentence runs directly into the example" method is not allowed any more. @item Abbrevs in caps, e.g., HTML, DVI, MIDI, etc. @item Colon usage @enumerate @item To introduce lists @item When beginning a quote: "So, he said,...". This usage is rarer. Americans often just use a comma. @item When adding a defining example at the end of a sentence. @end enumerate @item Non-ASCII characters which are in utf-8 should be directly used; this is, don't say `Ba@@ss@{@}tuba' but `Baßtuba'. This ensures that all such characters appear in all output formats. @end itemize @node Documentation policy @section Documentation policy @menu * Books:: * Section organization:: * Checking cross-references:: * General writing:: * Technical writing style:: @end menu @node Books @subsection Books There are four parts to the documentation: the Learning Manual, the Notation Reference, the Program Reference, and the Music Glossary. @itemize @item Learning Manual: The LM is written in a tutorial style which introduces the most important concepts, structure and syntax of the elements of a LilyPond score in a carefully graded sequence of steps. Explanations of all musical concepts used in the Manual can be found in the Music Glossary, and readers are assumed to have no prior knowledge of LilyPond. The objective is to take readers to a level where the Notation Reference can be understood and employed to both adapt the templates in the Appendix to their needs and to begin to construct their own scores. Commonly used tweaks are introduced and explained. Examples are provided throughout which, while being focussed on the topic being introduced, are long enough to seem real in order to retain the readers' interest. Each example builds on the previous material, and comments are used liberally. Every new aspect is thoroughly explained before it is used. Users are encouraged to read the complete Learning Manual from start-to-finish. @item Notation Reference: a (hopefully complete) description of LilyPond input notation. Some material from here may be duplicated in the Learning Manual (for teaching), but consider the NR to be the "definitive" description of each notation element, with the LM being an "extra". The goal is _not_ to provide a step-by-step learning environment -- do not avoid using notation that has not be introduced previously in the NR (for example, use \break if appropriate). This section is written in formal technical writing style. Avoid duplication. Although users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish, they should be familiar with the material in the Learning Manual (particularly ``Fundamental Concepts''), so do not repeat that material in each section of this book. Also watch out for common constructs, like ^ - _ for directions -- those are explained in NR 3. In NR 1, you can write: DYNAMICS may be manually placed above or below the staff, see @@ref@{Controlling direction and placement@}. Most tweaks should be added to LSR and not placed directly in the .itely file. In some cases, tweaks may be placed in the main text, but ask about this first. Finally, you should assume that users know what the notation means; explaining musical concepts happens in the Music Glossary. @item Application Usage: information about using the program lilypond with other programs (lilypond-book, operating systems, GUIs, convert-ly, etc). This section is written in formal technical writing style. Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish. @item Music Glossary: information about the music notation itself. Explanations and translations about notation terms go here. Users are not expected to read this manual from start to finish. @item Internals Reference: not really a documentation book, since it is automagically generated from the source, but this is its name. @end itemize @node Section organization @subsection Section organization @itemize @item The order of headings inside documentation sections should be: @example main docs @@predefined @@endpredefined @@snippets @@seealso @@knownissues @end example @item You @emph{must} include a @@seealso. @itemize @item The order of items inside the @@seealso section is @example Music Glossary: @@rglos@{foo@}, @@rglos@{bar@}. Learning Manual: @@rlearning@{baz@}, @@rlearning@{foozle@}. Notation Reference: @@ruser@{faazle@}, @@ruser@{boo@}. Application Usage: @@rprogram@{blah@}. Installed Files: @@file@{path/to/dir/blahz@}. Snippets: @@rlsr@{section@}. Internals Reference: @@rinternals@{fazzle@}, @@rinternals@{booar@}. @end example @item If there are multiple entries, separate them by commas but do not include an `and'. @item Always end with a period. @item Place each link on a new line as above; this makes it much easier to add or remove links. In the output, they appear on a single line. ("Snippets" is REQUIRED; the others are optional) @item Any new concepts or links which require an explanation should go as a full sentence(s) in the main text. @item Don't insert an empty line between @@seealso and the first entry! Otherwise there is excessive vertical space in the PDF output. @end itemize @item To create links, use @@ref@{@} if the link is within the same manual. @item @@predefined ... @@endpredefined is for commands in ly/*-init.ly FIXME? @item Do not include any real info in second-level sections (ie 1.1 Pitches). A first-level section may have introductory material, but other than that all material goes into third-level sections (ie 1.1.1 Writing Pitches). @end itemize @node Checking cross-references @subsection Checking cross-references Cross-references between different manuals are heavily used in the documentation, but they are not checked during compilation. However, if you compile the documentation, a script called check_texi_refs can help you with checking and fixing these cross-references; for information on usage, cd into a source tree where documentation has been built, cd into Documentation and look for check-xrefs and fix-xrefs targets in 'make help' output. Note that you have to find yourself the source files to fix cross-references in the generated documentation such as the Internals Reference; e.g. you can grep scm/ and lily/. @node General writing @subsection General writing @itemize @item Do not forget to create @@cindex entries for new sections of text. Enter commands with @@funindex, i.e. @example @@cindex pitches, writing in different octaves @@funindex \relative @end example @noindent do not bother with the @@code@{@} (they are added automatically). These items are added to both the command index and the unified index. Both index commands should go in front of the actual material. @@cindex entries should not be capitalized, ie @example @@cindex time signature @end example @noindent is preferred instead of @qq{Time signature}, Only use capital letters for musical terms which demand them, like D.S. al Fine. For scheme functions, only include the final part, i.e., @example @@funindex modern-voice-cautionary and NOT @@funindex #(set-accidental-style modern-voice-cautionary) @end example @item Preferred terms: @itemize @item In general, use the American spellings. The internal lilypond property names use this spelling. @item List of specific terms: @example canceled simultaneous NOT concurrent measure: the unit of music bar line: the symbol delimiting a measure NOT barline note head NOT notehead chord construct NOT chord (when referring to <>) @end example @end itemize @end itemize @node Technical writing style @subsection Technical writing style These refer to the NR. The LM uses a more gentle, colloquial style. @itemize @item Do not refer to LilyPond in the text. The reader knows what the manual is about. If you do, capitalization is LilyPond. @item If you explicitly refer to @q{lilypond} the program (or any other command to be executed), write @code{@@command@{lilypond@}}. @item Do not explicitly refer to the reader/user. There is no one else besides the reader and the writer. @item Avoid contractions (don't, won't, etc.). Spell the words out completely. @item Avoid abbreviations, except for commonly used abbreviations of foreign language terms such as etc. and i.e. @item Avoid fluff (@qq{Notice that,} @qq{as you can see,} @qq{Currently,}). @item The use of the word @q{illegal} is inappropriate in most cases. Say @q{invalid} instead. @end itemize @node Tips for writing docs @section Tips for writing docs In the NR, I highly recommend focusing on one subsection at a time. For each subsection, @itemize @item check the mundane formatting. Are the headings (@@predefined, @@seealso, etc.) in the right order? @item add any appropriate index entries. @item check the links in the @@seealso section -- links to music glossary, internal references, and other NR sections are the main concern. Check for potential additions. @item move LSR-worthy material into LSR. Add the snippet, delete the material from the .itely file, and add a @@lilypondfile command. @item check the examples and descriptions. Do they still work? @strong{Do not} assume that the existing text is accurate/complete; some of the manual is highly out of date. @item is the material in the @@knownissues still accurate? @item can the examples be improved (made more explanatory), or is there any missing info? (feel free to ask specific questions on -user; a couple of people claimed to be interesting in being @qq{consultants} who would help with such questions) @end itemize In general, I favor short text explanations with good examples -- @qq{an example is worth a thousand words}. When I worked on the docs, I spent about half my time just working on those tiny lilypond examples. Making easily-understandable examples is much harder than it looks. @subsubheading Tweaks In general, any \set or \override commands should go in the @qq{select snippets} section, which means that they should go in LSR and not the .itely file. For some cases, the command obviously belongs in the @qq{main text} (i.e. not inside @@predefined or @@seealso or whatever) -- instrument names are a good example of this. @example \set Staff.instrumentName = #"foo" @end example On the other side of this, @example \override Score.Hairpin #'after-line-breaking = ##t @end example clearly belongs in LSR. I'm quite willing to discuss specific cases if you think that a tweaks needs to be in the main text. But items that can go into LSR are easier to maintain, so I'd like to move as much as possible into there. It would be @qq{nice} if you spent a lot of time crafting nice tweaks for users... but my recommendation is @strong{not} to do this. There's a lot of doc work to do without adding examples of tweaks. Tweak examples can easily be added by normal users by adding them to the LSR. One place where a documentation writer can profitably spend time writing or upgrading tweaks is creating tweaks to deal with known issues. It would be ideal if every significant known issue had a workaround to avoid the difficulty. @seealso @ref{Adding and editing snippets}. @node Updating docs with convert-ly @section Updating doc with @command{convert-ly} cd into Documentation and run @example find . -name '*.itely' | xargs convert-ly -e @end example @noindent This also updates translated documentation. @node Translating the documentation @section Translating the documentation @menu * Getting started with documentation translation:: * Documentation translation details:: * Documentation translation maintenance:: * Translations management policies:: * Technical background:: @end menu @node Getting started with documentation translation @subsection Getting started with documentation translation First, get the sources from the Git repository, see @ref{Documentation translations source code}. @menu * Translation requirements:: * Which documentation can be translated:: * Starting translation in a new language:: @end menu @node Translation requirements @unnumberedsubsubsec Translation requirements Working on LilyPond documentation translations requires the following pieces of software, in order to make use of dedicated helper tools: @itemize @item Python 2.4 or higher, @item GNU Make, @item Gettext. @end itemize It is not required to build LilyPond and the documentation to translate the documentation. However, if you have enough time and motivation and a suitable system, it can be very useful to build at least the documentation so that you can check the output yourself and more quickly; if you are interested, see @ref{Compiling from source}. @menu @end menu @node Which documentation can be translated @unnumberedsubsubsec Which documentation can be translated The makefiles and scripts infrastructure currently supports translation of the following documentation: @itemize @item documentation index (HTML); @item user manual and program usage -- Texinfo source, PDF and HTML output; Info output might be added if there is enough demand for it; @item the News document. @end itemize The following pieces of documentation should be added soon, by descending order of priority: @itemize @item automatically generated documentation: markup commands, predefined music functions; @item the Snippets List; @item the examples page; @item the Internals Reference. @end itemize @node Starting translation in a new language @unnumberedsubsubsec Starting translation in a new language At top of the source directory, do @example ./autogen.sh @end example @noindent or (if you want to install your self-compiled LilyPond locally) @example ./autogen.sh --prefix=$HOME @end example @noindent If you want to compile LilyPond -- which is almost required to build the documentation, but is not required to do translation only -- fix all dependencies and rerun @command{./configure} (with the same options as for @command{autogen.sh}). Then @command{cd} into @file{Documentation} and run @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY-LANGUAGE} new-lang @end example @noindent where @var{MY-LANGUAGE} is the ISO 639 language code. Finally, add a language definition for your language in @file{python/langdefs.py}. Before starting the real translation work, it is recommended to commit changes you made so far to Git, so e.g. you are able to get back to this state of the sources easily if needed; see @ref{Sharing your changes}. @node Documentation translation details @subsection Documentation translation details Please follow all the instructions with care to ensure quality work. All files should be encoded in UTF-8. @menu * Files to be translated:: * Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation:: * Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage:: * Translating the Documentation index index.html.in:: @end menu @node Files to be translated @unnumberedsubsubsec Files to be translated @include doc-translation-list.itexi @node Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Learning Manual and other Texinfo documentation Any title which comes with one of the following commands must not be translated directly in the Texinfo source @example @@node @@majorheading @@chapter @@unnumbered @@appendix @@chapheading @@section @@unnumberedsec @@appendixsec @@heading @@subsection @@unnumberedsubsec @@appendixsubsec @@subheading @@subsubsection @@unnumberedsubsubsec @@appendixsubsubsec @@subsubheading @@ref @@rglos @@ruser @@rlearning @@rprogram @@rlsr @end example The same applies to first argument of @code{@@r@var{manual}named} commands; however, the second argument @var{Bar baz} of @code{@@ref@{@var{Foo},@var{Bar baz},,@var{info-file}@}} and @code{@@r@var{manual}named@{@var{Foo},@var{Bar baz}@}} should be translated. @code{@@uref}'s names are to be translated. In any section which looks like @example @@menu * @var{node1}:: @var{thing1} * @var{node2}:: @var{thing2} ... @@end menu @end example @noindent the node names @var{nodeN} are @emph{not} to be translated, whereas extra title information @var{thingN} is. Every node name or section title must from now on be translated separately in a @file{.po} file (just as well as LilyPond output messages) in @file{Documentation/po}. The Gettext domain is named @code{lilypond-doc}, and unlike @code{lilypond} domain it is not managed through the Free Translation Project. Take care of using typographic rules for your language, especially in @file{user/macros.itexi}. Please keep verbatim copies of music snippets (in @code{@@lilypond} blocs). However, some music snippets containing text that shows in the rendered music, and sometimes translating this text really helps the user to understand the documentation; in this case, and only in this case, you may as an exception translate text in the music snippet, and then you must add a line immediately before the @code{@@lilypond} block, starting with @example @@c KEEP LY @end example @noindent Otherwise the music snippet would be reset to the same content as the English version at next @command{make snippet-update} run -- see @ref{Updating documentation translation}. When you encounter @example @@lilypondfile[,texidoc]@{@var{filename.ly}@} @end example @noindent in the source, open @file{input/lsr/@var{filename}.ly}, translate the @code{texidoc} header field it contains, enclose it with @code{texidoc@var{MY-LANGUAGE} = "} and @code{"}, and write it into @file{input/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc} -- please keep possibly existing translations in other languages! Additionnally, you may translate the snippet's title in @code{doctitle} header field, in case @code{doctitle} is a fragment option used in @code{@@lilypondfile}; you can do this exactly the same way as @code{texidoc}. For instance, @file{input/texidocs/@var{filename}.texidoc} may contain @example doctitlees = "Spanish title baz" texidoces = " Spanish translation blah " doctitlede = "German title bar" texidocde = "German translation foo " @end example @code{@@example} blocs need not be verbatim copies, e.g. variable names, file names and comments should be translated. Index entries (@code{@@cindex} and so on) should be translated. Finally, please carefully apply every rule exposed in @ref{Texinfo introduction and usage policy}, and @ref{Documentation policy}. If one of these rules conflicts with a rule specific to your language, please ask the Translation meister and/or the Documentation Editors on @email{lilypond-devel@@gnu.org}. @node Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Notation Reference and Application Usage Copy @file{user/lilypond.tely} (or @file{user/lilypond-program.tely}, respectively) into @file{@var{MY-LANGUAGE}/user}, then translate this file and run @code{skeleton-update} -- see @ref{Updating documentation translation}. Your are now ready to translate the Notation Reference (Application Usage, respectively) exactly like the Learning Manual. @node Translating the Documentation index index.html.in @unnumberedsubsubsec Translating the Documentation index @file{index.html.in} Unlike almost all HTML pages in this documentation, links in this page are not tweaked by @file{postprocess_html.py}, so links should be manually edited to link to existing translations. @node Documentation translation maintenance @subsection Documentation translation maintenance Several tools have been developed to make translations maintenance easier. These helper scripts make use of the power of Git, the version control system used for LilyPond development. @menu * Check state of translation:: * Updating documentation translation:: @end menu @node Check state of translation @unnumberedsubsubsec Check state of translation First pull from Git, then cd into @file{Documentation/} (or at top of the source tree, replace @command{make} with @command{make -C Documentation}) and run @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation @end example @noindent This presents a diff of the original files since the most recent revision of the translation. To check a single file, cd into @file{Documentation/} and run @example make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE/user/foo.itely} check-translation @end example To see only which files need to be updated, do @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} check-translation | grep 'diff --git' @end example To avoid printing terminal colors control characters, which is often desirable when you redirect output to a file, run @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} NO_COLOR=1 check-translation @end example Global state of the translation is recorded in @file{Documentation/translations.html.in}, which is used to generate Translations status page. To update that page, do from @file{Documentation/} @example make translation-status @end example This will also leave @file{out/translations-status.txt}, which contains up-to-dateness percentages for each translated file, and update word counts of documentation files in this Guide. @seealso @ref{Maintaining without updating translations}. @node Updating documentation translation @unnumberedsubsubsec Updating documentation translation Instead of running @code{check-translation}, you may want to run @code{update-translation}, which will run your favorite text editor to update files. First, make sure environment variable @code{EDITOR} is set to a text editor command, then run from @file{Documentation/} @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} update-translation @end example or to update a single file @example make CHECKED_FILES=@var{MY_LANGUAGE/user/foo.itely} update-translation @end example For each file to be udpated, update-translation will open your text editor with this file and a diff of the file in English; if the diff cannot be generated or is bigger than the file in English itself, the full file in English will be opened instead. Texinfo skeleton files, i.e. @file{.itely} files not yet translated, containing only the Texinfo structure can be updated automatically: whenever @command{make check-translation} shows that such files should be updated, run from @file{Documentation/} @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} skeleton-update @end example @file{.po} message catalogs in @file{Documentation/po/} may be updated by issuing from @file{Documentation/} or @file{Documentation/po/} @example make po-update @end example @warning{if you run po-update and somebody else does the same and pushes before you push or send a patch to be applied, there will be a conflict when you pull. Therefore, it is better that only the Translation meister runs this command.} Updating music snippets can quickly become cumbersome, as most snippets should be identical in all languages. Fortunately, there is a script that can do this odd job for you (run from @file{Documentation/}): @example make ISOLANG=@var{MY_LANGUAGE} snippet-update @end example This script overwrites music snippets in @file{@var{MY_LANGUAGE/user/every.itely}} with music snippets from @file{@var{user/every.itely}}. It ignores skeleton files, and keeps intact music snippets preceded with a line starting with @code{@@c KEEP LY}; it reports an error for each @file{.itely} that has not the same music snippet count in both languages. Always use this script with a lot of care, i.e. run it on a clean Git working tree, and check the changes it made with @command{git diff} before committing; if you don't do so, some @code{@@lilypond} snippets might be broken or make no sense in their context. Finally, a command runs the three update processes above for all enabled languages (from @file{Documentation/}): @example make all-translations-update @end example Use this command with caution, and keep in mind it will not be really useful until translations are stabilized after the end of GDP. @seealso @ref{Maintaining without updating translations}. @node Translations management policies @subsection Translations management policies These policies show the general intent of how the translations should be managed, they aim at helping translators, developers and coordinators work efficiently. @menu * Maintaining without updating translations:: * Managing documentation translation with Git:: @end menu @node Maintaining without updating translations @unnumberedsubsubsec Maintaining without updating translations Keeping translations up to date under heavy changes in the documentation in English may be almost impossible, especially as during the former Grand Documentation Project (GDP) or the Grand Organization Project (GOP) when a lot of contributors brings changes. In addition, transloators may be (and that) involved in these porjects too. it is possible -- and even recommended -- to perform some maintaining that keeps translated documentation usable and eases future translation updating. The rationale below the tasks list motivates this plan. The rationale below the tasks list motivates this plan. The following tasks are listed in decreasing priority order. @enumerate @item Update macros.itexi. For each obsolete macro definition, if it is possible to update macro usage in documentation with an automatic text or regexp substitution, do it and delete the macro definition from macros.itexi; otherwise, mark this macro definition as obsolete with a comment, and keep it in macros.itexi until the documentation translation has been updated and no longer uses this macro. @item Update @file{*.tely} files completely with @command{make check-translation} -- you may want to redirect ouptput to a file because of overwhelming output, or call check-translation.py on individual files, see @ref{Check state of translation}. @item In @file{.itelys}, match sections and .itely file names with those from English docs, which possibly involves moving nodes contents in block between files, without updating contents itself. In other words, the game is catching where has gone each section. In Learning manual, and in Notation Reference sections which have been revised in GDP, there may be completely new sections: in this case, copy @code{@@node} and @code{@@section}-command from English docs, and add the marker for untranslated status @code{@@untranslated} on a single line. Note that it is not possible to exactly match subsections or subsubsections of documentation in English, when contents has been deeply revised; in this case, keep obsolete (sub)subsections in the translation, marking them with a line @code{@@c obsolete} just before the node. Emacs with Texinfo mode makes this step easier: @itemize @item without Emacs AucTeX installed, @key{C-c C-s} shows structure of current Texinfo file in a new buffer *Occur*; to show structure of two files simultaneously, first split Emacs window in 4 tiles (with @key{C-x 1} and @key{C-x 2}), press @key{C-c C-s} to show structure of one file (e.g. the translated file), copy *Occur* contents into *Scratch*, then press @key{C-c C-s} for the other file. If you happen to have installed AucTeX, you can either call the macro by doing @key{M-x texinfo-show-structure} or create a key binding in your @file{~/.emacs}, by adding the four following lines: @example (add-hook 'Texinfo-mode-hook '(lambda () (define-key Texinfo-mode-map "\C-cs" 'texinfo-show-structure))) @end example @noindent and then obtain the structure in the *Occur* buffer with @key{C-c s}. @item Do not bother updating @code{@@menu}s when all menu entries are in the same file, just do @key{C-c C-u C-a} ("update all menus") when you have updated all the rest of the file. @item Moving to next or previous node using incremental search: press @key{C-s} and type @code{node} (or @key{C-s @@node} if the text contains the word @q{node}) then press @key{C-s} to move to next node or @key{C-r} to move to previous node. Similar operation can be used to move to the next/previous section. Note that every cursor move exits incremental search, and hitting @key{C-s} twice starts incremental search with the text entered in previous incremental search. @item Moving a whole node (or even a sequence of nodes): jump to beginning of the node (quit incremental search by pressing an arrow), press @key{C-SPACE}, press @key{C-s node} and repeat @key{C-s} until you have selected enough text, cut it with @key{C-w} or @key{C-x}, jump to the right place (moving between nodes with the previous hint is often useful) and paste with @key{C-y} or @key{C-v}. @end itemize @item Update sections finished in the English documentation; check sections status at @uref{http://lilypondwiki.tuxfamily.org/index.php?title=Documentation_coordination}. @item Update documentation PO. It is recommended not to update strings which come from documentation that is currently deeply revised in English, to avoid doing the work more than once. @item Fix broken cross-references by running (from @file{Documentation/}) @example make ISOLANG=@var{YOUR-LANGUAGE} fix-xrefs @end example @noindent This step requires a sucessful documentation build (with @command{make doc}). Some cross-references are broken because they point to a node that exists in the documentation in English, which has not been added to the translation; in this case, do not fix the cross-reference but keep it "broken", so that the resulting HTML link will point to an existing page of documentation in English. @end enumerate @subsubheading Rationale You may wonder if it would not be better to leave translations as-is until you can really start updating translations. There are several reasons to do these maintenance tasks right now. @itemize @item This will have to be done sooner or later anyway, before updating translation of documentation contents, and this can already be done without needing to be redone later, as sections of documentation in English are mostly revised once. However, note that not all documentation sectioning has been revised in one go, so all this maintenance plan has to be repeated whenever a big reorganization is made. @item This just makes translated documentation take advantage of the new organization, which is better than the old one. @item Moving and renaming sections to match sectioning of documentation in English simplify future updating work: it allows updating the translation by side-by-side comparison, without bothering whether cross-reference names already exist in the translation. @item Each maintenance task except @q{Updating PO files} can be done by the same person for all languages, which saves overall time spent by translators to achieve this task: the node names and section titles are in English, so you can do. It is important to take advantage of this now, as it will be more complicated (but still possible) to do step 3 in all languages when documentation is compiled with @command{texi2html} and node names are directly translated in source files. @end itemize @node Managing documentation translation with Git @unnumberedsubsubsec Managing documentation translation with Git This policy explains how to manage Git branches and commit translations to Git. @itemize @item Translation changes matching master branch are preferably made on @code{lilypond/translation} branch; they may be pushed directly to @code{master} only if they do not break compilation of LilyPond and its documentation, and in this case they should be pushed to @code{lilypond/translation} too. Similarly, changes matching @code{stable/X.Y} are preferably made on @code{lilypond/X.Ytranslation}. @item @code{lilypond/translation} Git branch may be merged into master only if LilyPond (@command{make all}) and documentation (@command{make doc}) compile succesfully. @item @code{master} Git branch may be merged into @code{lilypond/translation} whenever @command{make} and @command{make doc} are succesful (in order to ease documentation compilation by translators), or when significant changes had been made in documentation in English in master branch. @item General maintenance may be done by anybody who knows what he does in documentation in all languages, without informing translators first. General maintenance include simple text substitutions (e.g. automated by sed), compilation fixes, updating Texinfo or lilypond-book commands, updating macros, updating ly code, fixing cross-references, and operations described in @ref{Maintaining without updating translations}. @end itemize @node Technical background @subsection Technical background A number of Python scripts handle a part of the documentation translation process. All scripts used to maintain the translations are located in @file{scripts/auxiliar/}. @itemize @item @file{check_translation.py} -- show diff to update a translation, @item @file{texi-langutils.py} -- quickly and dirtily parse Texinfo files to make message catalogs and Texinfo skeleton files, @item @file{texi-skeleton-update.py} -- update Texinfo skeleton files, @item @file{update-snippets.py} -- synchronize ly snippets with those from English docs, @item @file{translations-status.py} -- update translations status pages and word counts in the file you are reading, @item @file{tely-gettext.py} -- gettext node names, section titles and references in the sources; WARNING only use this script once for each file, when support for "makeinfo --html" has been dropped. @end itemize Other scripts are used in the build process, in @file{scripts/build/}: @itemize @item @file{html-gettext.py} -- translate node names, section titles and cross references in HTML files generated by @command{makeinfo}, @item @file{texi-gettext.py} -- gettext node names, section titles and references before calling @command{texi2pdf}, @item @file{mass-link.py} -- link or symlink files between English documentation and documentation in other languages. @end itemize Python modules used by scripts in @file{scripts/auxiliar/} or @file{scripts/build/} (but not by installed Python scripts) are located in @file{python/auxiliar/}: @itemize @item @file{manuals_definitions.py} -- define manual names and name of cross-reference Texinfo macros, @item @file{buildlib.py} -- common functions (read piped output of a shell command, use Git), @item @file{postprocess_html.py} (module imported by @file{www_post.py}) -- add footer and tweak links in HTML pages. @end itemize And finally @itemize @item @file{python/langdefs.py} -- language definitions module @end itemize