New strings with multiple variables on Transifex

enozkan

The new strings on transifex include multiple variables (%S) with different meanings and no way to differentiate them. For example,

%S could not make a secure connection to %S.

or

Are you sure you want to change the file extension from “%S” to “%S”?.

Those %S appear to mean different things. We used to have them as %1$S, %2$S, etc.

I also don't think each instance gets the next variable. Given that I help with translating for a language with a very different word order than English, the order of variables get reversed often, anyway. I must be missing something. Some clarity would be useful.

dstillman

There've always been strings with multiple %S — e.g., this one from 2017.

%1$S/%2$S/etc. is usually used when the same placeholder is used multiple times in a string.

But if the above string would be a problem in your language, we can certainly adjust it. (It's saying, e.g., Zotero could not make a secure connection to https://example.com..)

enozkan

I may have misunderstood what the numbered variables mean. I thought that means the variables are different.

Regardless, the string you linked to above (from 2017) would definitely be translated in a different order in my language. That's bound to be a problem at some point in some language.

enozkan

(OK, it appears I translated that 2017 string in a way to preserve %S order, and it does not sound tortured. This will require extra attention.)

dstillman

I've updated the two strings above to use numbered placeholders.