Workflow · Zing

In this section we will show you how Zing works with files and the prerequisites it involves. Knowing all of that, you will be ready to setup your own projects and workflows.

Prerequisites

Interchange File Format

For interchange purposes between external processes/workflows and the Zing translation database, Zing by design only uses Gettext PO files. This fits perfectly when integrating with Serge.

File Location

Interchange translation files will be looked under the directory specified by the ZING_TRANSLATION_DIRECTORY setting.

You should make sure the OS process running Zing has enough rights to access this directory.

Directory Structure

Under the translation directory, Zing expects a specific directory structure where it can find project- and language-specific files.

At the root there will be directories named after the project code. Under project directories, there will be directories named after the locale code. The combination of a project and a locale is a translation project.

An example structure would be as follows:

myproject/
|-- eu
|   |-- subfolder
|   |   `-- bar.po
|   `-- foo.po
|-- ca
|   `-- foo.po
`-- ru
    `-- foo.po

Note how individual translation projects can contain arbitrary files. In other words, under translation projects, the structure of the filesystem can be freely laid out.

Likewise, translation files and directories can differ across languages within the same project.

Locale Codes

The locale codes used for filesystem synchronization as well as for browsing URLs are defined in the Administration -> Languages section of the Zing User Interface.

By default, a set of common pre-defined locale codes is included, which should be enough for most cases. Should you need to use different locale codes, this is the place to adjust them as needed.

Project Creation

Setting up projects enables separation of work and allows Zing to match files to projects. The mapping of filesystem and database projects is done via the project code.

Projects need to be explicitly created in the Zing User Interface before using any file synchronization commands. This can be done in the Administration -> Projects section of Zing, by clicking the Add Project button and filling in the project code and display name.

File Synchronization

Synchronization between the file system and the Zing database occurs via the update_stores and sync_stores commands.

By default, these commands work across the entire server but at will, they can work selectively to synchronize files only to specific projects, languages or translation projects.

`update_stores`

The update_stores command will take translation interchange files, and import them to the Zing database, effectively reflecting in the database the state of the files on disk.

New languages added on disk will be auto-discovered, whereas languages that ceased to exist will be disabled.

To learn more, please refer to the update_stores command reference.

`sync_stores`

The sync_stores command will take the state of the database and reflect it in the files on disk. This is the opposite of update_stores.

To learn more, please refer to the sync_stores command reference.

Automating the Workflow

Knowing all of this, you are now ready to insert Zing as part of your localization workflow.

The level of automation is really up to you — from bash scripts to cron jobs. The more automated and robust, the fastest and cheapest the entire localization workflow will be.

We are particularly fond of automating all parts of the process in what we call continuous localization, which is a recommended option to consider next.

Reference

Commands:

Settings: