Localization Export Tool

Automate exporting localizable strings (XLIFF) from the MullvadVPN iOS project using xcodebuild.

This folder contains a Bash workflow that:

1. Builds the Xcode project (to emit/verify localized resources).
2. Exports and imports localizations for one or more languages.
3. Logs each failed run (timestamped) to a git‑ignored logs/ directory.
4. Uses a throwaway build output directory (build/, also git‑ignored).
5. Cleans up Derived Data artifacts after export (configurable).

Folder Structure

/mullvadvpn-app/ios/translation
├── locales
│   └── en.xliff
└── scripts
    ├── localizations.sh  # Main Bash script
    ├── build                    # Ephemeral DerivedData or build scratch dir (ignored)
    ├── logs                     # Timestamped run logs (ignored)
    └── README.md                # You're here

Quick Start

cd ios/translation/scripts
chmod +x localizations.sh
./localizations.sh import   # To import localizations into code
./localizations.sh export   # To export localizations from code

By default the script uses values set near the top of the file (edit them before first run). You can override most settings via environment variables or CLI flags (see below).

Multi‑Language Export

The script can loop languages. Set EXPORT_LANGUAGES to a comma‑separated list, e.g.:

Note: In most cases, exporting only the base language for translation is sufficient.

EXPORT_LANGUAGES="da,de,en,es,fi,fr,it,ja,ko,my,nb,nl,pl,pt-PT,ru,sv,th,tr,zh-Hans,zh-Hant" ./localizations.sh export

XLIFF output will be placed under:

locales/
  en.xliff
  sv.xliff
  de.xliff
  fr.xliff

(Actual filenames depend on what xcodebuild -exportLocalizations emits.)

Multi-Language Import

You can import translations back into code for multiple languages in one run. Place your translated .xliff files in the locales/ folder, named by their language code:

locales/
  en.xliff
  sv.xliff
  de.xliff
  fr.xliff

Run the import command:

./localizations.sh import

Logs

All stdout/stderr from each run is captured using tee into logs/ with a timestamped filename, e.g.:

logs/
  build_20250723_142915.log
  build_20250724_094401.log