OneLocale
OneLocale — simple, powerful i18n for AutoHotkey v2
Write your GUI strings in plain English (or your language of choice) today — add translations tomorrow without touching your code again.
What you get
- One-line
sT()that feels like normal string usage - Full variable expansion (
%var%+ named parameters) - Multi-line messages, access keys (
&), accelerators (\tCtrl+S) - Translator-friendly
.langfiles (just INI with a few escape rules) - Automatic fallback + optional “baked” maps → single .exe with no external files
- Built-in language-chooser dialog
- Extender system for shared strings across projects
Quick Start (runs out of the box)
; MyScript.ahk
#Requires AutoHotkey v2.0
#Include lib/OneLocale.ahk
S_VERSION := "1.0"
locale_info := OneLocale_Init() ; reads MyScript.ini → picks best language
if (!locale_info.success) {
MsgBox(locale_info.errmsg, , "icon!")
ExitApp
}
G := Gui("-MaximizeBox -MinimizeBox")
G.Title := sT("gui", "title", "/My Cool App v%ver%", {ver:S_VERSION})
G.Add("Text", "x16 w400 r9", sT("welcome", "[section]"))
.SetFont("s10")
G.Add("Button", "x314 w100 Default", sT("gui", "btn_quit", "/&Quit"))
.OnEvent("Click", (*) => ExitApp())
SB := G.Add("StatusBar", "vStatus1")
SB.SetText(sT("status", "ready", "/Ready"))
G.Show("w430 center")
return
- An .ini file - even an empty one - is required:
; MyScript.ini
; • 'language=' is optional – leave empty to auto-detect using A_Language
[general]
;language = de
- The .lang file format is very human-friendly. With its INI-like section, key, value format, each string comes with context to help the translator.
;MyScript-[en].lang
[gui]
title = My Cool App v%ver%
btn_quit = &OK
[welcome]
OneLocale provides an easier way to support multiple user-interface \w
languages in AutoHotkey.\n
Even if you don’t plan to support multiple languages, the way OneLocale \w
helps distinguish user-interface text from other string literals in \w
your code is valuable for code maintenance.
[status]
ready = Ready
wait = Wait
- By the way, an AI, like Grok, can do a great job of translating, once they have the Notes for Translators.
;MyScript-[de].lang
[gui]
title = Mein Cooles Programm v%ver%
btn_quit = &Beenden
[welcome]
OneLocale macht die Unterstützung mehrerer Sprachen für die \w
Benutzeroberfläche in AutoHotkey deutlich einfacher.\n
Selbst wenn Sie keine Mehrsprachigkeit planen, ist die Art und Weise, \w
wie OneLocale Text für die Oberfläche von anderen Zeichenketten im \w
Code klar abgrenzt, äußerst wertvoll für die Wartbarkeit Ihres Programms.
[status]
ready = Bereit
wait = Warten
[general]
translator = Grok
Now drop OneLocale.ahk in a \lib subfolder, and put MyScript-[en].lang and MyScript-[de].lang in a \lang subfolder. Switch language instantly by editing the ini or using the included chooser dialog (not shown here, but seen in this Demo)
Full Documentation
- Reference
- Setting up - OneLocale_Init()
- String lookup & format – sT()
- Language Chooser Dialog
- Baking languages into the .exe (zero external files)
- Notes for Translators
- Complete Beginner-Friendly Introduction (20 min read)
Helper apps
- OneLocale_Demo is a slightly biger demo with fully commented code.
- OneLocale_Baker turns .lang data into .ahk code.
- OneLocale_FindLangID finds ISO Tags by partial language names.
Browsing the source code of these apps should give you some ideas. All sample and demo code is public domain BTW, marked CC0 1.0.
Why people love it
There are a couple of i18n libraries floating around the forums right now. OneLocale simply gives you the most complete, v2-native feature set today — without drama, without legacy baggage, and with the cleanest developer + translator experience.
That’s it.
Contributing
Bug reports, translations, or just a “this saved me hours” are all very welcome ♥ Open an issue or PR — I usually reply the same day.
AutoHotkey Community discussion
License
GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 – use commercially, modify, ship in closed-source apps, all no problem. Full text in LICENSE.
About
OneLocale was first created in February 2023, and has been slowly refined as it was used in many of my personal projects.
I’ve been doing this class of software for awhile. OneLocale is a complete rework of my 2013 NetText project (sourceforge) and there’s other work going back a few years before that.