The document discusses common issues, termed 'gremlins,' that affect internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) processes, which lead to delays and quality impacts in software releases. Examples include embedded strings, character corruption, and non-standard formatting, all of which can undermine the efficiency of global software deployment. It also outlines strategies for early detection and correction of these issues using tools like Globalyzer, continuous i18n detection, and in-context QA processes.

1. Presenters:
Adam Asnes
Olivier Libouban

2. What’s a Gremlin?
• Vexing creature known for sabotage
• i18n & L10n problems - bugs or issues?

3. I18n & L10n Gremlins Sabotage Your Efforts
• Little issues slow down global releases
• Quality impact
• Speed killer – caught in a QA/Bug fixing purgatory
• Distract from sprint focus
• Multiple simultaneous sprints – lots going on!

4. Catching bugs early saves money and time

5. Continuous i18n and L10n
InContext
QA

6. Bug Fixing Steps
• Developer delivers
• i18n or L10n criteria tested
• QA Identifies an issue
• File a bug
• Bugs are reviewed
• Bugs are assigned
• Assigned Developer identify
where the bug exists
• Developer fixes the bug
• Developer unit tests bug fix
• Marks bug as fixed
• QA verifies fixed bug
• QA makes sure no other damage
from bug fix
• Update bug log

7. Common i18n & L10n Gremlins
• Similar gremlins over and over again
• Embedded Strings
• Concatenations
• Date/Time
• Character set issues
• Bad translations
• Misspellings
• Bad file formatting
• Let’s look at Gremlins in detail

8. I18n Gremlin: Embedded Strings
¡ Embedded strings are hard-coded character strings in the source
code
¡ In the example below, some text stays in U.S. English regardless
of the user language

9. I18n Gremlin: Character Corruption
¡ Some characters show up corrupted
¡ Mojibake ( , "character change")

10. I18n Gremlin: Incorrect Date / Time Format
¡ The date or the time shows up with a U.S. English format; here
the date is shown as March 13th, 2013

11. I18n Gremlin: Programming Shortcuts
¡ Developers can take shortcuts in a U.S. English application
that do not transfer to an international audience
¡ Here column names, from a database table, are used to
display a selection

12. I18n Gremlin: Emails
¡ If the application sends email, that part of the software must
be examined carefully
¡ Here there is a mix of Japanese and U.S. English text

13. #7: Parsing and Displaying Numbers
¡ The application fails to parse a number because it was entered
with a comma decimal separator, as in the French “12,50” as
opposed to the U.S. “12.50”

14. I18n Gremlin: Static File References
• Showing or playing a file in the wrong language
• Html Files
• Videos
• Images

15. I18n Gremlin: Currencies
• Currencies need special attention
• Here, the currency symbol is wrong, which makes the
result unusable

16. I18n Gremlin: My Programming Language
‘supports’ i18n and it’s magic.
¡ Written in Java or .NET does not mean internationalized
¡ Here the software does not properly validate entries
static boolean checkString(String argument) {
if (argument == null) return false;
for (int i=0; i<argument.length(); i++) {
char a = argument.charAt(i);
if ((a >= ‘A’ && a <= ‘Z’) || (a >= ‘A’ && a <= ‘Z’))
continue;
else
return false;

17. L10n Gremlin – Duplicate Keys
Example of duplicate keys in the same file:
Msg_welcome: “Hello Mister {0} “
[…]
Msg_welcome: “This application does …”
[…]
Msg_welcome: “Error login in”
The actual message shown may be any one of them, at “random”.

18. L10n Gremlin – Wrong Encoding
Example of a bad encoding in a resource file:

19. L10n Gremlin – Non Standard Process
Example of a non standard process:
• Developers create resource files (say U.S. English .yaml files)
• L10n management transform the resource files into .csv files
• L10n management send .csv files for translation
• Translation return .csv files
• L10n management move the .csv files into a database
-> Friction, time, cost: for what real benefit

20. L10n Gremlin – Non Standard Directory
Structure
Example of a non standard directory structure:
./en/my/deep/path/to/resources.json
Instead of
./my/deep/path/to/en/resources.json
-or-
./my/deep/path/to/resources_en.json
-or-
… other standards.
-> Downstream translation suffers for no clear benefits for developers.

21. L10n Gremlin – Non Standard File Structure
Example of a non standard file structure resources_en.json
{
"en": {
"testKey": "testValue",
"UcsTagEditor.add": "Add",
"UcsTagEditor.key": "Key"
}
}
Instead of:
{
"testKey": "testValue",
"UcsTagEditor.add": "Add",
"UcsTagEditor.key": "Key"
}

22. L10n Gremlin – Misuse of a Format
Example of a mis-use of a format
• YAML used like a XML structure, not a YAML structure:
- key: server_not_valid
translation:
msg: "The server does not exist"
- key: distributable_not_valid
translation:
msg: "The distributable does not exist"
• Instead of
server_not_valid: "The server does not exist"
distributable_not_valid: "The distributable does not
exist"

23. I18n Gremlin Squasher: Globalyzer in IDE
• Expose i18n Gremlins while writing code

24. I18n Gremlin Squasher: Continuous i18n
Detection
• Flush Out Gremlins continuously

25. I18n Gremlin Squasher: Pseudo-Localization
• LRM Automates pseudo-localization
• Don’t wait for L10n to test

26. L10 Gremlin Squasher: LRM Checks
• Continuous Automated Checking

27. L10 Gremlin Squasher: LRM Process

28. L10n Gremlin Squasher: InContext QA

29. Time saved using InContext QA

30. Speed & Validation: Quality Process
Technology Resistance Pitfalls
• A Git connector isn’t enough for i18n and L10n
• Not adding to .JS framework
• Don’t use a Proxy

31. Questions from the Audience?
• Lingoport: https://lingoport.com
• Wiki: https://wiki.lingoport.com
• Sandbox: https://lingoport.com/pd/lingoport-suite-sandbox/
• Blog: https://lingoport.com/blog