From 61d69a18d7b8fb7fdedde14ef9b76b2fa18651f2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sylvestre Ledru <sylvestre@debian.org>
Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2025 09:30:48 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] l10n: document a bit how it works (#8102)

* l10n: document a bit how it works

* add a link to fluent

Co-authored-by: Daniel Hofstetter <daniel.hofstetter@42dh.com>

* fix typo

Co-authored-by: Daniel Hofstetter <daniel.hofstetter@42dh.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Daniel Hofstetter <daniel.hofstetter@42dh.com>
---
 docs/src/l10n.md | 187 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 187 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/src/l10n.md

diff --git a/docs/src/l10n.md b/docs/src/l10n.md
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+# 🌍 Localization (L10n) in uutils coreutils
+
+This guide explains how localization (L10n) is implemented in the **Rust-based coreutils project**, detailing the use of [Fluent](https://projectfluent.org/) files, runtime behavior, and developer integration.
+
+---
+
+## 📁 Fluent File Layout
+
+Each utility has its own set of translation files under:
+
+```
+    src/uu/<utility>/locales/<locale>.ftl
+```
+
+Examples:
+
+```
+    src/uu/ls/locales/en-US.ftl
+    src/uu/ls/locales/fr-FR.ftl
+```
+
+These files follow Fluent syntax and contain localized message patterns.
+
+---
+
+## ⚙️ Initialization
+
+Localization must be explicitly initialized at runtime using:
+
+```
+    setup_localization(path)
+```
+
+
+This is typically done:
+- In `src/bin/coreutils.rs` for **multi-call binaries**
+- In `src/uucore/src/lib.rs` for **single-call utilities**
+
+The string parameter determines the lookup path for Fluent files.
+
+---
+
+## 🌐 Locale Detection
+
+Locale selection is automatic and performed via:
+
+```
+    fn detect_system_locale() -> Result<LanguageIdentifier, LocalizationError>
+```
+
+It reads the `LANG` environment variable (e.g., `fr-FR.UTF-8`), strips encoding, and parses the identifier.
+
+If parsing fails or `LANG` is not set, it falls back to:
+
+```
+    const DEFAULT_LOCALE: &str = "en-US";
+```
+
+You can override the locale at runtime by running:
+
+```
+    LANG=ja-JP ./target/debug/ls
+```
+
+---
+
+## 📥 Retrieving Messages
+
+Two APIs are available:
+
+### `get_message(id: &str) -> String`
+
+Returns the message from the current locale bundle.
+
+```
+    let msg = get_message("id-greeting");
+```
+
+If not found, falls back to `en-US`. If still missing, returns the ID itself.
+
+---
+
+### `get_message_with_args(id: &str, args: HashMap<String, String>) -> String`
+
+Supports variable interpolation and pluralization.
+
+```
+    let msg = get_message_with_args(
+        "error-io",
+        HashMap::from([
+            ("error".to_string(), std::io::Error::last_os_error().to_string())
+        ])
+    );
+```
+
+Fluent message example:
+
+```
+    error-io = I/O error occurred: { $error }
+```
+
+Variables must match the Fluent placeholder keys (`$error`, `$name`, `$count`, etc.).
+
+---
+
+## 📦 Fluent Syntax Example
+
+```
+    id-greeting = Hello, world!
+    welcome = Welcome, { $name }!
+    count-files = You have { $count ->
+        [one] { $count } file
+       *[other] { $count } files
+    }
+```
+
+Use plural rules and inline variables to adapt messages dynamically.
+
+---
+
+## 🧪 Testing Localization
+
+Run all localization-related unit tests with:
+
+```
+    cargo test --lib -p uucore
+```
+
+Tests include:
+- Loading bundles
+- Plural logic
+- Locale fallback
+- Fluent parse errors
+- Thread-local behavior
+- ...
+
+---
+
+## 🧵 Thread-local Storage
+
+Localization is stored per thread using a `OnceLock`.
+Each thread must call `setup_localization()` individually.
+Initialization is **one-time-only** per thread — re-initialization results in an error.
+
+---
+
+## 🧪 Development vs Release Mode
+
+During development (`cfg(debug_assertions)`), paths are resolved relative to the crate source:
+
+```
+    $CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR/../uu/<utility>/locales/
+```
+
+In release mode, **paths are resolved relative to the executable**:
+
+```
+    <executable_dir>/locales/<utility>/
+```
+
+If both fallback paths fail, an error is returned during `setup_localization()`.
+
+---
+
+## 🔤 Unicode Isolation Handling
+
+By default, the Fluent system wraps variables with Unicode directional isolate characters (`U+2068`, `U+2069`) to protect against visual reordering issues in bidirectional text (e.g., mixing Arabic and English).
+
+In this implementation, isolation is **disabled** via:
+
+```
+    bundle.set_use_isolating(false);
+```
+
+This improves readability in CLI environments by preventing extraneous characters around interpolated values:
+
+Correct (as rendered):
+
+```
+    "Welcome, Alice!"
+```
+
+Fluent default (disabled here):
+
+```
+    "\u{2068}Alice\u{2069}"
+```