How to create your own localization

All the file paths in the text below are for the desktop UNIX version, on other platforms these paths can be different.

In order to localize FBReader for your language, you need to translate:

  • Interface strings
  • FBReader help files

Interface strings

The first thing you can change for your preferred language is the set of the strings used in dialogs, tooltips, etc. All these strings are placed in 2 files: /usr/share/zlibrary/resources/{lang}.xml and /usr/share/FBReader/resources/{lang}.xml. If you want to create, for example, German interface for FBReader, just copy en.xml to de.xml, transate all "value" values in the de.xml file and start FBReader.

FBReader help files

The second thing to be localized is the help file bundled with FBReader. Just create the file /usr/share/FBReader/help/MiniHelp.{lang}.fb2. You can use English version of this document (/usr/share/FBReader/help/MiniHelp.en.fb2) as a template. Please note that MiniHelp file is slightly different for Unix and Windows platforms.

How to start FBReader with your preferred interface language

FBReader determines interface language from the system locale settings. Alternatively you can start program from command line with '-lang {lang}' argument. E.g., 'FBReader -lang ru' forces Russian interface language.

Existing localizations

FBReader includes localizations for 20 languages. You can find them in the respective archives: