Localization Error Messages

When a translation is loaded, the log.txt file will contain warnings about it. This page contains a list of some of the errors that can be printed out.

How to find localization errors

Every time X-Plane loads a translation, it will log all errors found with that translation. These errors are logged to the file Log.txt, which can be found in the same folder as the X-Plane executable.

The basic process is:

1. Replace the translation file (E.g. Resources/text/French.txt) with the newest, best translation.

2. Launch the sim.

2a. If the sim is not running in the desired language, go to settings->rendering options and pick a new language.

WARNING: if you must change languages, there may be log messages from BOTH the language you started up with AND the language you want in the Log.txt file!

3. Quit.

When the sim quits, Log.txt will be finished, and you can then view this file in WordPad and find translation error strings.

Errors with the entire file

These errors are printed when there is a fundamental problem with a translation file:

Could not find translation file: xxxxx; using English.

This means that the localized file is not on disk. Make sure the translation file is in Resources/text and has the right file name. xxxx is the file name that x-plane needs.

Translation file xxxxxx is not version 900 or has a bad header.

This means that the translation file is mis-formatted. This usually means the file has been saved in the wrong fundamental format. Translation files MUST be .txt files (NOT .doc or .rtf!!!) and they must be UTF8. The BOM character is optional. The header must be:

A
900
TRANSLATION
or

I
900
TRANSLATION

You may use any type of line endings, but Unix endings are preferred.

Translation line errors

These errors are printed when there is a problem with one line. They all begin:
ERROR: language file line XXXX YYYYY
where XXXX is the exact text in the language file and YYYY is the actual message.

ERROR: language file line XXXXX missing ==== splitter.
This means that the translation line does not have the four equal signs (====) that divide the English from the localized string, and is mis-formatted. Translation files CANNOT have carriage returns mid-line. If the ==== is moved to the next line by a carriage return, this can come up.

ERROR: language file line XXXX missing right side translation.
This means that the translation line contains the splitter (====) but has nothing for the localized string. Typically this means that the translator skipped a string and did not translate it at all!

ERROR: language file line XXXX has incorrect translated parameters.
This means that the localized string doesn’t have the same parameter substitutions (e.g. %1:count%) as the English. For example:
STRING The file %1:name% contains %2:aircraft%====Die Datei %1:name% enthält.
In this example, the translator forgot the second parameter (%2:aircraft%) and is therefore probably wrong.

ERROR: language file line XXXX contains invalid UTF8 characters.
The translation file contains characters that are not UTF8. Check that the text file is UTF8 and not ISO-Latin-1 or some other encoding!

ERROR: language file line XXXX does not have its help tips correctly formatted.
X-Plane formats UI strings using the | – and { characters: the | (pipe character) divides captions that belong on the left and right side of a UI element like a check box or popup menu. The { character divides the captions from the help tips. If the parts of the string (left side, right side, help tip) are not the same in English and the translation, this error is printed. Usually it means a typo. For example:
STRING |fpm { how fast you climb====fpm wie schnell Sie klettern
in this case, the pipe before fpm has been lost in translation, and the { between fpm and the help tip is gone.

ERROR: the language file line XXXX is a second translation of EEEE====TTTTT
This error means that one English phrase has been translated more than once into the local language. EEEE is the English and TTTT is the first translation in the file. This message is printed once for each additional duplicate translation.

ERROR: the language file line XXXX does not have the same leading spaces.
This means that the spaces before the translation are not the same in English and the local language. For example, these lines are incorrect:
STRING altitude====altitude
STRING airspeed==== airspeed

These are correct
STRING altitude==== altitude
STRING airspeed====airspeed

ERROR: the language file line XXXX does not have the same trailing spaces.
This means that the spaces after the translation are not the same in English and the local language. For example, these lines are incorrect. ([newline] is added for clarity since you cannot see the extra trailing space on this web page.)
STRING altitude ====altitude[newline]
STRING airspeed====airspeed [newline]

These are correct
STRING altitude ====altitude [newline]
STRING airspeed====airspeed[newline]

Back to Knowledge Base