Unified language code (Patreon)

Language code is a string that is sent to the translator endpoint that describes one language.

For example:

ja for Japanese,

en for English,

...and so on.

Back then when Translator++ only supported a handful of translator endpoints, I thought it was safe to use the language code of each translator. At that time there was rarely any problem with this. Because most of the translators stick to the ISO 369-1 standard. Also, at that time the majority of Translator++ users were Japanese to English users. The language code we’re using was conveniently… or rather coincidentally, mostly the same across translator service providers.

But relying on the uniformity of the language code quickly became a problem.

Here is an example of Chinese Traditional code in some of the translator engine:

And the uniformity in the use of this code has caused a lot of problems in Translator++

For example, Google recognizes traditional Chinese as zh-tw, you can't use the same code zh-tw on Baidu.

This makes the “Translate using…” feature  or Live Translation functions sometimes do not work as expected, because it will translate by using the currently active translator engine’s language code.

Now Translator++ supports more than 20 Translator endpoints. We can't keep expecting that they are using the same standard. It is apparent that we need a unified language code.

That's why since version 4.11 I implemented database language code to Translator++. This database is handcrafted using a combination of several language naming standards. Of course all translator engines need to be updated to be able to use this new feature. I plan to do it gradually.

So please update all your translator engines when there is a new update in the Addon manager.

By updating Translator++ and translator addons to the latest version, you can seamlessly use the “Translate using” feature without changing the default language. Live translation will also work as expected.

Translator++ Ver 4.11.5 is available via auto update.

Cheers,

Dreamsavior.