Why did I develop this plugin?

Previously, when developing international software, I encountered some problems, such as:

1. Whenever I wanted to add a new piece of text, I had to open multiple files for editing. I needed to use t('title') in the code, and then add the matching translation in both zh-CN.json and en-US.json files respectively. Such frequent switching between different files greatly reduced my work efficiency.

2. On the other hand, if I was to use machine translation, I had to copy and paste the original text into chatgpt, then move the translated text word for word back into my code. This operation was not only tedious but also prone to errors.

Later, while reading the vscode source code, I discovered their solution. They use localize('key',"Default Text") in the code and then automatically generate all language files through a script.

So, taking this idea, I developed a vscode plugin called i18nEase that solves the two problems mentioned above.

What is i18nEase used for?

1. Automatically extract localization files from the source code for you
2. Use gpt4 to translate all the localization files with one command.

Dynamic Updates	GPT translate

How to use i18nease

Install the i18nease plugin in vscode

You can search for i18nease in the VS Code extension marketplace and download it. The store address is here.

Write a localize function.

You can write a very simple localization function based on the i18n library you used before the project.

function localize(key, defaultMessage) {
  // call your i18n function
  return t(key);
}

localize("key", "default message");

You don't need to modify the source code t('key') you wrote before, i18nease will handle the situation where there is no default message.

• if the key doesn't exist in the translation file, i18nease will automatically add an empty translation.

{
  "key": ""
}

• If the original code's t('key') already has a translation, i18nease will automatically ignore it.

{
  "key": "message"
}

Currently, i18nease recognizes the following translation functions.

• localize('key', 'default message")
• t('key')
• $t('key')

Generate locale config

run the i18nease: Generate locale config command, and i18nEase will automatically parse your source code and generate the localization files.

if you want to automatically generate the localization file when you save the file, you can run i18nease: Enable auto generate locale config when source changed command.

Translate

run the i18nease: Translate command, and i18nEase will automatically translate all the localization files.

your should set your openai api key in the i18nease.openai_api_key config.