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From: pozz <pozzugno@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.arch.embedded
Subject: How to add the second (or other) languages
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2025 17:26:26 +0100
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Xref: csiph.com comp.arch.embedded:32331

I have an embedded project that runs on a platform without a fully OS 
(bare metal). The application can interact with humans with italian 
messages. These messages are displayed on a touch screen, sent in the 
payload of SMS or push notifications.

I used a very stupid approach: sprintf() with hard-coded constant 
strings. For example:

void
display_event(Event *ev)
{
   if (ev->type == EVENT_TYPE_ON) {
     display_printf("Evento %d: accensione", ev->idx);
   } else ...
...
}

Now I want to add a new language.

I could create a new build that replaces the constant strings at 
preprocessor time:

#if LANGUAGE_ITALIAN
#  define STRING123			"Evento %d: accensione"
#elif LANGUAGE_ENGLISH
#  define STRING123			"Event %d: power up"
#endif

void
display_event(Event *ev)
{
   if (ev->type == EVENT_TYPE_ON) {
     display_printf(STRING123, ev->idx);
   } else ...
...
}

This way I can save some space in memory, but I will have two completely 
different production binary for the two languages.


Another approach is giving the user the possibility to change the 
language at runtime, maybe with an option on the display. In some cases, 
I have enough memory to store all the strings in all languages.

I know there are many possible solutions, but I'd like to know some 
suggestions from you. For example, it could be nice if there was some 
tool that automatically extracts all the strings used in the source code 
and helps managing more languages.