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Developer Documentation

Localized Preferences

  • Status: proposed
  • Date: 2021-09-01

Context and Problem Statement

Currently, JabRef uses some localized preferences. We want to remove the Localization-dependency from the JabRefPreferences and move the Localization to where the String is used. The problem is how to store the default values.

Considered Options

  • Localize Defaults (current implementation)
  • Store the Preference only when it was changed by the user. Otherwise, leave it empty. When a consumer gets such an empty preference, it knows that it needs to read the default and localize it. This won’t work if users actually want something to be empty.
  • Store the unlocalized String. Consumers then check the String they got as a preference against the defaults. If it matches, localize it. Otherwise, use it.

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: “Store the unlocalized String. Consumers then check the String they got as a preference against the defaults. If it matches, localize it. Otherwise, use it.”, because Achieves goals without requiring too much refactoring and without (known) downsides.