Android XML

strings.xml with plurals and comments intact

Every native Android app ships its strings in strings.xml, and the format carries more than key and value: <plurals> blocks, comments for translators, and escaping rules XML enforces. locamorph reads all of it, maps plural quantities onto CLDR categories, and writes back files Android Studio accepts without complaint.

Backslashes and characters XML cannot carry are escaped correctly on export, and the round trip test proves the file that comes out reads back as the file that went in.

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res/values-de/strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <!-- Title of the checkout screen -->
    <string name="checkout_title">Bestellübersicht</string>
    <string name="menu_home">Startseite</string>
    <plurals name="cart_items">
        <item quantity="one">%d Artikel</item>
        <item quantity="other">%d Artikel</item>
    </plurals>
</resources>

Strings, a translator comment and a plurals block, all of which survive the trip through locamorph.

.xml Import yes Export yes Plurals native <plurals> Comments per string, both ways Keys flat

In locamorph

How locamorph handles strings.xml

plurals

Quantities become CLDR forms

quantity="one" through "other" map onto the same plural model every other format uses, so a plural authored for Android exports cleanly to JSON or ARB.

comments

Comments ride along

The comment above a string imports as its note and is written back above the string on export. Context written for translators stays in the file.

escaping

Escaping handled, not hoped for

Apostrophes, backslashes and characters XML cannot represent are escaped the way Android expects. No more build breaks from a French apostrophe.

Ecosystem

Where strings.xml lives

strings.xml is mandatory for native Android: the resource system picks values-de, values-fr and friends by device locale across billions of devices. If you build with Android Studio, this file is your single source of user facing text.

Typical flow: the repo keeps one file per locale under res/values-*, GitHub or GitLab imports new keys when developers push, and translated files return as a pull request formatted exactly like the source.

Bring your values folder

Import a strings.xml on the free plan and watch plurals, comments and escaping arrive intact. Exports drop straight into res/values.

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