How to use STRINGTABLE with a Python Command Plugin

Hello,
I'm trying to add multi-language support in my plugin.

I currently have the strings hardcoded in the GeDialog's CreateLayout method like this:

self.AddStaticText(self.HELP_ID, c4d.BFV_BOTTOM | c4d.BFV_SCALE | c4d.BFH_LEFT, 0, 0, "Help")

All of the strings are labels for UI menu commands and gadgets. I understand that the best practice is to put the UI strings into folders within a 'res' folder like so:

res
└ strings_en-US
    └ c4d_strings.str
└ strings_fr-FR
    └ c4d_strings.str

My issue is I don't know how to use the STRINGTABLE in the .str with my Python CommandPlugin. Here's an example of the c4d_strings.str content:

c4d_strings.str (strings_en-US)

STRINGTABLE
{
	IDS_TEST "Test Plugin";
	TITLEVIEW_ID "Test - View";
	
	HELP_ID "Help";}
}

c4d_strings.str (strings_fr-FR)

STRINGTABLE
{
	IDS_TEST "Test Plugin";
	TITLEVIEW_ID "Test - Vue";
	
	HELP_ID "Aide";
}

Please forgive all of these questions:

What is the best practice for loading these STRINGTABLES and using them in the UI? I couldn't find an example using a CommandPlugin in the official Cinema 4D Python examples though I did see that the py-ies_meta_r12.py SceneSaverPlugin example uses a method called c4d.plugins.GeLoadString.
If GeLoadString is the way to go, would I set up my IDs in my GeDialog class and reference the corresponding ID in the STRINGTABLE with this method?
Would Cinema 4D then grab the correct string based on the user's language if my folder structure is set up appropriately?
Is there a similar method for automatically handling the localized date and time format?
As mine is not an Object plugin, I won't need a description folder, is that correct?
What should I do with the c4d_symbols.h file?

Thank you so much!

PluginStudent

GeLoadString() is the way to go. You actually find plenty of examples of GeLoadString() being used in the C++ code base (e.g. asynctest.cpp) and this doc: String Manual (Classic).

m_adam

Hi, @blastframe as @PluginStudent pointed you should use GeLoadString.

To make GeLoadString working, you should use as you already did, the .str file but also the c4d_symbols.h so this way Cinema 4D can link the ID you provided in the str file to an actual int value.

res
└ c4d_symbols.h
└ strings_en-US
    └ c4d_strings.str
└ strings_fr-FR
    └ c4d_strings.str

c4d_symbols.h

enum
{
	IDS_TEST = 10000,
	TITLEVIEW_ID,  // This will have id 10000 + 1
	HELP_ID, // This will have id 10000 + 2
	
	// End of symbol definition
	_DUMMY_ELEMENT_
};

However, due to the nature of Python, the int value defined in the c4d_symbols.h is not ported to python so you have to redefine it in your python code as well.

And here is how to use it in your pyp file. This needs the __res__ to be defined, this is done automatically, for more information see Issue with registering a ToolData.

print c4d.plugins.GeLoadString(10000) # Will print the str value of IDS_TEST

Finally, note that these Symbol IDs must be unique through all Cinema 4D so instead of IDS_TEST is would recommend you rename it with BLASTFRAME_IDS_TEST .

Cheers,
Maxime.

m_adam

Since this topic is older than a week I marked is as closed, but feel free to reopen it if you have further questions.

Cheers,
Maxime

@m_adam Hi Maxime! I wanted to make sure I had all of my strings before implementing this. I am very grateful for your help. I will come back to this thread soon! Thank you!

@m_adam I got it working with your help! Thank you so much. I have a couple more questions (more for advice really):

Are there tools for creating C++ STRINGTABLES like the ones Cinema 4D uses?
I am currently using a spreadsheet for editing my stringtables. Are there any tools I can use to export the non-ascii characters as unicode that Cinema 4D will understand?
Thank you!

PluginStudent

I don't think there are any official "tools". But the docs describe how to handle unicode (Dialog Layout

The encoding is 7-bit ASCII with other characters encoded as \uHHHH. For example 'Natürlich' is written 'Nat\u00fcrlich'. Byte-order marks are not used.