Parser Configuration Settings
By default, Crowdin Enterprise uses a predefined set of import and export parameters for each supported file format.
The Parser configuration feature lets you change the default import and export behavior predefined for file formats supported by Crowdin Enterprise. Parser configuration in a specific project is applied only to files stored in this project.
You can set the parser configuration for all files of a certain format or single files. Once you save the parser configuration for some file format, you can upload source files to your project, and Crowdin Enterprise will apply your settings accordingly.
Most of the supported file formats have configurable import and export behavior.
Some parameters are common to all formats, while others are format-specific.
In the table below, you can see the available parser parameters and formats they could be configured for.
| Parameter | Description | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Content segmentation | On import, the source file’s content will be split into shorter text segments using predefined segmentation rules (SRX 2.0). | Generic XML, DITA, AsciiDoc, MadCap Flare, HTML, Office documents, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, Markdown |
| Custom segmentation rules | Defines your own segmentation rules. Read more about Custom Segmentation. | Generic XML, DITA, AsciiDoc, Plain text, MadCap Flare, HTML, Office documents, Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, Markdown, MediaWiki |
| Excluded elements | Defines a list of CSS style selectors for elements that should not be available for translation (e.g., code, pre > code, .code-block). Applicable only to block elements. Inline elements are ignored. | HTML, HTML (with front matter) |
| Inline tags | Defines a list of tags that should be treated as inline rather than block elements (for example, item, list). The text inside an inline tag stays part of the string around it. | Generic XML, HTML, HTML (with front matter), Markdown, WebXml |
| Hide Attribute Values | HTML attributes such as src, href, and data will be imported as hidden strings, so they aren’t shown to translators. | HTML, HTML (with front matter), WebXml |
| Excluded front matter elements | Defines a list of front matter elements that should not be available for translation (e.g., keywords, “internal.description”, tags). The path elements should be delimited by a period. The keys containing a period must be enclosed in quotation marks. | HTML (with front matter), Markdown, MDX |
| Front matter export quotes | Defines how front matter values are quoted in exported files. Default quotes only the values that contain a colon, and the other two options quote every value, in single or double quotes. | Markdown |
| Exclude code blocks | Defines whether to import code blocks. Applicable only to code blocks. Inline elements with code are ignored. | Markdown, MDX |
| Strong marker | Defines the marker used for strong text in exported files, either Asterisk (*) or Underscore (_). | Markdown, MDX |
| Emphasis marker | Defines the marker used for emphasized text in exported files, either Asterisk (*) or Underscore (_). | Markdown, MDX |
| Unordered list bullet | Defines the character that starts each unordered list item in exported files: Dash (-), Asterisk (*), or Plus (+). | Markdown, MDX |
| Table formatting | Defines how table columns are formatted in exported files. Evenly distribute cells pads each column to its longest value, and Consolidate leaves one space on either side of every value. | Markdown, MDX |
| Translate content | Texts stored inside the tags will be available for translation. | Generic XML |
| Translate attributes | Tag attributes will be available for translation. | Generic XML |
| Translatable elements | Defines the specific nodes and attributes to be available for translation. | Generic XML |
| Escape single quote | Defines the behavior regarding a single quote escaping in exported translations.
| Java Properties |
| Escape special characters | Any special characters (i.e., | Java Properties |
| Export quotes | Defines whether exported strings are enclosed in single or double quotes. | JavaScript |
| Skip Include Directives | include:: directives will be left unprocessed, so the content of the files they point to stays out of this file. Useful when those files are uploaded to Crowdin on their own and their text is already translated there. | AsciiDoc |
| Extract hyperlink text inline | The text of a hyperlink will be extracted together with the sentence around it, so translators see it in context instead of as a separate, non-editable tag. | Adobe InDesign |
| Convert to ICU MessageFormat | Placeholders will be converted to ICU MessageFormat syntax on import. | Steamworks Localization |
| Tag variables with “_gender” when converting VDF Gender syntax to ICU Select | A _gender suffix will be added to variable names when gender syntax is converted. Available when Convert to ICU MessageFormat is enabled. | Steamworks Localization |
| Import identifier (key) as source string | When a file has no source text for a string, its identifier will be imported as the source string. | String Catalog |
| Import translations | Translations already stored in the file will be imported along with the source strings. | String Catalog |
| Clean tags aggressively | Additional formatting tags related to text spacing will be removed on import. Useful when translating Office documents converted from other formats (for example, PDF), and the conversion introduced lots of unnecessary formatting tags. | Office documents, Microsoft Visio |
| Translate hyperlink URLs | Hyperlink URLs will be available for translation. | Office documents, Microsoft Visio |
Office documents have their own set of parameters, grouped here as they are in the settings dialog.
General Options
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Translate document properties | Document properties such as title, subject, and creator will be available for translation. |
| Translate comments | Comments left in the document will be available for translation. Enabled by default. |
| Clean tags aggressively | Additional formatting tags related to text spacing will be removed on import. Useful when translating Office documents converted from other formats (for example, PDF), and the conversion introduced lots of unnecessary formatting tags. |
| Ignore formatting that differs only in whitespace | A space with its own formatting will take the formatting of the text next to it, so it no longer adds a tag pair to the string. Available when Clean tags aggressively is enabled. |
| Show tabs as characters | A tab inside a line of text will appear in the string as a character instead of a tag. |
| Show line breaks as characters | A line break inside a line of text will appear in the string as the character set in Line break replacement instead of a tag. |
| Line break replacement | Defines the single character that replaces a line break, for example a space or a pipe. Available when Show line breaks as characters is enabled. |
| Show non-breaking hyphens as characters | A non-breaking hyphen will appear in the string as a character instead of a tag. |
| Ignore soft hyphens | Soft hyphens will be removed instead of appearing as tags. |
| Translate hyperlink URLs | Hyperlink URLs will be available for translation. |
Text Documents
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Translate headers and footers | Headers and footers will be available for translation. Enabled by default. |
| Translate hidden text | The hidden text will be available for translation. |
| Translate shape and image names | The name of a shape or an image will be available for translation. Enabled by default. |
| Translate shape and image alternative text | The alternative text of a shape or an image will be available for translation, which keeps the localized document accessible to screen readers. |
| Additional field types to translate | Defines a list of Word field types whose text will be available for translation. Use the field codes as Word writes them (for example, PAGE). HYPERLINK is translated whether or not it appears in the list. |
| Paragraph styles | Defines a list of paragraph style names, as they appear in the document (for example, Heading1, Quote). Select Exclude the listed styles to leave them out, or Translate only the listed styles to translate nothing else. |
| Highlight colors | Defines a list of Word highlight colors. Select Exclude the listed highlight colors to leave the text they mark out, or Translate only the listed highlight colors to translate nothing else. Available colors: black, blue, cyan, green, magenta, red, yellow, white, darkBlue, darkCyan, darkGreen, darkMagenta, darkRed, darkYellow, darkGray, lightGray, none. |
| Exclude text in the listed colors | Text in the listed colors will not be available for translation. Each color is six hexadecimal digits and must match exactly, so a similar shade is still translated. |
Spreadsheets
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Translate hidden rows and columns | The hidden rows and columns will be available for translation. |
| Translate worksheet names | Worksheet names will be available for translation. |
| Translate text in drawings and shapes | Text inside drawings and shapes on a worksheet will be available for translation. |
| Translate SmartArt and diagram text | Text inside SmartArt graphics and diagram data will be available for translation. |
Slides
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Import hidden slides | The hidden slides will be available for translation. |
| Import notes | The slide notes will be available for translation. Enabled by default. |
Parser Configuration for All Project Files of a Specific Format
Section titled “Parser Configuration for All Project Files of a Specific Format”To set the preferred parser configuration for all files of a specific format, follow these steps:
- Open your project and go to Settings > Parser configuration.
- Choose the needed file format and click Edit.
- Set the preferred settings.
- Click Save.
Alternatively, for formats with configurable parser settings, you can open the same settings from the Create bundle or Edit bundle dialog by clicking next to the target format.
To add a new file format, click Add Apps at the upper right and install the required format.
In some cases, you might need to set the parser configuration not for all files of some file format but just for a single file. To set the parser configuration for a single file, follow these steps:
- Open your project and go to Sources > Files.
- Double-click on the needed file.
- In the appeared dialog, switch to the Parser configuration tab.
- Set the preferred settings.
- Click Save.
Once you save the file parser configuration, Crowdin Enterprise will reimport this file and apply your settings.
Read more about file management in Crowdin Enterprise.
Sometimes, you might work with files that contain strings in a different format. A common example is a JSON file where some string values contain HTML content. The standard parser configuration isn’t designed for these nested or cascading scenarios.
To properly process such files, you need to implement a custom Crowdin App that uses the File Post-Import Processing Module. This method, sometimes referred to as cascade processing, allows your app to intercept imported strings and instruct Crowdin Enterprise to re-process specific ones using a different parser. For instance, you can tell Crowdin Enterprise to parse a string from a JSON file as HTML, ensuring that HTML tags are correctly handled and not exposed to translators as plain text.
To handle files with nested content, you can install the Cascade Importer from the Crowdin Store or, for more custom scenarios, build your own.