πŸš€ ARB Excel Converter Tool

Bridge the gap between developers and translators. Convert Flutter .arb localization files into Excel spreadsheets and back again with ease.

πŸ”„ The Full Localization Loop

  1. Export: Generate an Excel sheet from your primary ARB file.
  2. Translate: Give the Excel sheet to your translators (no JSON knowledge required).
  3. Import: Convert the translated Excel sheet back into a valid ARB file.

✨ Features

  • πŸ“¦ Two-Way Sync: Support for both export (ARB β†’ Excel) and import (Excel β†’ ARB).
  • πŸ” Metadata Support: Extracts and injects @description metadata to provide context for translators.
  • πŸ›‘οΈ Type Safety: Built with the latest excel 4.x standards for robust file handling.
  • 🎨 Pretty Formatting: Imported ARB files are automatically formatted with 2-space indentation.
  • πŸ’» Zero Config: Optimized for standard Flutter localization paths (lib/l10n/).

πŸ“¦ Installation

This is a global command-line tool. Install it once and use it in any Flutter project:

dart pub global activate arb_excel_converter_tool

Note: Ensure your Dart SDK bin folder is in your system PATH to run the tool from anywhere.

πŸ“– How to Use

Use the arb_tool command from your project root.

1. Export (ARB ➑️ Excel)

Convert your source ARB file into a spreadsheet for translation.

# Default: Converts lib/l10n/app_en.arb ➑️ localization_export.xlsx
arb_tool export

# Custom paths
arb_tool export -i lib/l10n/intl_en.arb -o translations_v1.xlsx

2. Import (Excel ➑️ ARB)

Bring translated strings back into your Flutter project.

# Default: Converts localization_export.xlsx ➑️ lib/l10n/app_en.arb
arb_tool import

# Custom paths (e.g., importing a specific language)
arb_tool import -i translations_es.xlsx -o lib/l10n/app_es.arb

πŸ›  Available Options

Option Short Default (Export) Default (Import) Description
--input -i lib/l10n/app_en.arb localization_export.xlsx Path to source file.
--output -o localization_export.xlsx lib/l10n/app_en.arb Path/Name for result.
--help -h N/A N/A Show usage instructions.

πŸ“ Mapping Example

Your metadata is preserved! The tool maps ARB structures to Excel columns like this:

ARB Key ARB Value @Description ➑️ Excel Columns
loginBtn "Sign In" "Button on login" Key

πŸ’‘ Troubleshooting

  • "Command not found": You likely need to add the pub-cache bin to your PATH. On macOS/Linux, this is usually ~/.pub-cache/bin.
  • Empty Rows: The tool automatically skips empty rows or rows missing a "Key" during the import process.
  • Indentation: The tool enforces a 2-space JSON indentation to keep your git diffs clean.

🀝 Feedback & Issues

I created this tool to make Flutter localization easier! If you find it helpful, please give it a Like on pub.flutter-io.cn.

Found a bug? Report it on GitHub.

Created by Mohit

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