Use HTML entities in translation files

[sandakersmann]

Use HTML entities in translation files

[sandakersmann]

I used this script:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
escape_translations.py

Replaces, ONLY inside the translated text of <entry>...</entry> elements
of VeraCrypt language XML files:

    "->"  ->  "&gt;"
    "<"   ->  "&lt;"
    ">"   ->  "&gt;"

Usage:
    python escape_translations.py /path/to/VeraCrypt/Translations
"""

import sys
import re
from pathlib import Path

# Matches:  <entry ...attributes...>  CONTENT  </entry>
# group 1 = opening tag, group 2 = inner text, group 3 = closing tag
ENTRY_RE = re.compile(r'(<entry\b[^>]*>)(.*?)(</entry>)', re.DOTALL)

def escape_content(text: str) -> str:
    """Escape <, > and -> inside a translated string."""
    # 1) Handle the arrow first so its '>' isn't touched again below.
    text = text.replace('->', '&gt;')
    # 2) Escape any remaining angle brackets.
    text = text.replace('<', '&lt;')
    text = text.replace('>', '&gt;')
    return text

def process_file(path: Path) -> bool:
    """Process a single file. Returns True if it was modified."""
    original = path.read_text(encoding='utf-8')

    def repl(match: re.Match) -> str:
        opening, content, closing = match.group(1), match.group(2), match.group(3)
        return opening + escape_content(content) + closing

    updated = ENTRY_RE.sub(repl, original)

    if updated != original:
        path.write_text(updated, encoding='utf-8')
        return True
    return False

def main():
    if len(sys.argv) != 2:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} /path/to/Translations")
        sys.exit(1)

    folder = Path(sys.argv[1])
    if not folder.is_dir():
        print(f"Error: '{folder}' is not a directory.")
        sys.exit(1)

    files = sorted(folder.rglob('*'))
    changed = 0
    for f in files:
        if f.is_file() and f.suffix.lower() == '.xml':
            if process_file(f):
                changed += 1
                print(f"Updated: {f}")

    print(f"\nDone. {changed} file(s) modified.")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

[idrassi]

Thanks.

Most of the change is display neutral but there is one issue: the script converts -> to >, which changes the user visible text from -> to > in a few Czech, Norwegian Bokmål, and Thai strings. Since the goal is only XML entity escaping, these should be preserved as ->.

Can you please address this?

[sandakersmann]

It looks like > was preferred over -> earlier, so think the correct thing to do is phasing out ->.

Edit: This way we can have a uniform standard in all the translation files.

[idrassi]

Indeed, I missed this point.
All is ok then. Thanks.