TabularEditorDocs

This is the GitHub repository for the Tabular Editor documentation site, https://docs.tabulareditor.com. The repository contains documentation articles for both the open-source Tabular Editor 2.x as well as the commercial Tabular Editor 3, including articles for common features and C# scripting documentation.

Technical details

The site uses DocFX and GitHub flavoured markdown for all articles. Multi-language support is provided through the localizedContent/ directory.

How to contribute

All contributions are welcome. We will review all pull requests submitted.

To test your changes locally:

• Make sure DocFX and Python 3.11+ are installed.
• Run python build-docs.py --serve in the root of the project.

Build Script Usage

The build-docs.py script handles all documentation building tasks including multi-language support.

Quick Start

# Build and serve locally (English only, for development)
python build-docs.py --serve

# Or build all languages and serve with Azure Static Web Apps CLI
python build-docs.py --all
swa start _site

Commands

Command	Description
python build-docs.py	Build all languages (default)
python build-docs.py --all	Build all languages
python build-docs.py --lang en	Build English only
python build-docs.py --lang es zh	Build specific languages
python build-docs.py --list	List available languages
python build-docs.py --serve	Build English and serve locally

Options

Option	Description
--all	Build all available languages
--lang LANGS	Build specific language(s), space-separated
--list	List available languages and exit
--serve	Build and serve locally (English only, for development)
--skip-gen	Skip running gen_redirects.py (use existing configs)
--no-api-copy	Skip copying API docs to localized sites
--sync	Sync English fallback for missing/outdated translations (for local dev)

What the Build Script Does

1. Generates DocFX configurations - Runs gen_redirects.py to create docfx.json for each language
2. Generates language manifest - Creates metadata/languages.json for runtime language switching
3. Syncs content - Copies English source to localizedContent/en/. For other languages, only shared directories (assets, api) are synced by default since Crowdin manages translations. Use --sync to enable full English fallback for missing/outdated translations (useful for local development).
4. Normalizes DocFX alerts - Runs normalize-localized-alerts.py on each non-English language to repair Crowdin-collapsed Note/Tip/etc. alerts before building (see DocFX Alerts and Translations)
5. Builds documentation - Runs DocFX for each requested language
6. Fixes API docs - Patches xref links in generated API documentation
7. Copies API docs - Shares English API docs with localized sites
8. Injects SEO tags - Adds hreflang and canonical tags to HTML files
9. Generates SWA config - Creates staticwebapp.config.json for Azure Static Web Apps routing

Project Structure

TEDoc/
├── build-docs.py              # Main build script
├── build_scripts/             # Helper scripts
│   ├── gen_redirects.py       # Generates docfx.json configs
│   ├── gen_languages.py       # Generates language manifest
│   ├── gen_staticwebapp_config.py
│   ├── inject_seo_tags.py
│   ├── sync-localized-content.py
│   └── normalize-localized-alerts.py  # Repairs Crowdin-collapsed DocFX alerts
├── content/                   # English source content (tracked in git)
│   └── _ui-strings.json       # English UI strings (header, footer, banners)
├── localizedContent/          # Build directories for all languages
│   ├── en/                    # English build (generated, gitignored)
│   └── {lang}/                # Translated content
│       ├── content/           # Translated markdown and UI strings (tracked)
│       │   └── _ui-strings.json  # Translated UI strings for this language
│       └── docfx.json         # Generated config (gitignored)
├── metadata/
│   ├── languages.json         # Language manifest (generated)
│   ├── language-metadata.json # Language display names and RTL flags
│   └── redirects.json         # URL redirects (server 301s and client meta-refresh)
├── docfx-template.json        # Base DocFX configuration template
├── templates/                 # DocFX templates
└── _site/                     # Generated output
    ├── en/
    ├── es/
    └── ...

Adding a New Language

1. Create localizedContent/{lang}/content/ folder (e.g., fr/content/)
2. Add the language entry to metadata/language-metadata.json with name and nativeName
3. Add translated .md files to the content subdirectory
4. Add a translated _ui-strings.json to the content subdirectory (see Translating UI Strings below). If no translation is provided, an automatic fallback will be generated.
5. Run python build-docs.py --all to generate configs and build. Language will be added dynamically to language picker.

Note: English content from content/ is automatically copied to localizedContent/en/content/ during build. For other languages, Crowdin manages translations via PRs. Shared directories (assets, api) are always synced from English. To use English as fallback for missing/outdated translations during local development, add the --sync flag.

Bookmark Links and Translations

When linking to a specific heading within a page (e.g., #my-heading), the anchor ID is auto-generated from the heading text. When headings are translated by Crowdin, the anchor changes, breaking bookmark links.

To prevent this, add an <a name="..."></a> tag above any heading that is referenced by a bookmark link:

<a name="my-heading"></a>
## My Heading

Crowdin does not translate HTML name attributes, so the anchor remains stable across all languages. Only add these to headings that are actually linked to — there is no need to add them to every heading.

DocFX Alerts and Translations

DocFX renders styled alert boxes (Note, Tip, Important, Warning, Caution) from a two-line blockquote where the marker stands alone on the first line:

> [!NOTE]
> Your note text here.

When an alert like this is nested inside a list item, Crowdin collapses the two lines into one on export, producing > [!NOTE]> Your note text here.. DocFX requires the marker to be alone on its line, so the collapsed form is downgraded to a plain <blockquote> — losing the styled box — and the build logs an invalid-note-section warning. Only list-nested alerts are affected; top-level alerts round-trip through Crowdin unchanged.

build_scripts/normalize-localized-alerts.py repairs this by splitting the collapsed form back into two lines, preserving the original indentation so the alert stays inside its list item. It is idempotent and only rewrites the exact collapsed pattern (text inside fenced code blocks is left untouched), so it is safe to run repeatedly.

The build runs it automatically for each non-English language before DocFX (step 4 of What the Build Script Does). You can also run it manually after a Crowdin pull:

python build_scripts/normalize-localized-alerts.py            # fix all languages
python build_scripts/normalize-localized-alerts.py --dry-run  # preview without writing
python build_scripts/normalize-localized-alerts.py --check    # exit 1 if fixes are needed (CI)
python build_scripts/normalize-localized-alerts.py es         # fix a single language

Translating UI Strings

The _ui-strings.json file controls the text of site-wide UI elements that are not part of the documentation content itself: the header navigation, header buttons, footer text, and the AI translation warning banner. These strings are applied at runtime by the JavaScript bundle for non-English pages.

The English source is at content/_ui-strings.json. To provide translations for a language, create localizedContent/{lang}/content/_ui-strings.json with the same keys and translated values.

If a key is missing from a language's file, or no _ui-strings.json exists at all, the English value is used as fallback.

Available Keys

Key	English value	Element
aiTranslationWarning	This content has been translated by AI...	Warning banner shown on translated pages
header.nav.pricing	Pricing	Header nav link
header.nav.download	Download	Header nav link
header.nav.learn	Learn	Header nav link
header.nav.resources	Resources	Header nav dropdown toggle
header.nav.blog	Blog	Resources dropdown item
header.nav.newsletter	Newsletter	Resources dropdown item
header.nav.publications	Publications	Resources dropdown item
header.nav.documentation	Documentation	Resources dropdown item
header.nav.supportCommunity	Support community	Resources dropdown item
header.nav.contactUs	Contact Us	Header nav link
header.button1	Free trial	Primary header CTA button
header.button2	Main page	Secondary header button
footer.heading	Ready to get started?	Footer section heading
footer.button1	Try Tabular Editor 3	Footer CTA button
footer.button2	Buy Tabular Editor 3	Footer CTA button
footer.aboutUs	About us	Footer left link
footer.contactUs	Contact us	Footer left link
footer.technicalSupport	Technical Support	Footer left link
footer.privacyPolicy	Privacy & Cookie policy	Footer bottom link
footer.termsConditions	Terms & Conditions	Footer bottom link
footer.licenseTerms	License terms	Footer bottom link
appliesTo	Applies to:	"Applies to" label on article metadata
availableSince	Available since	Version availability label (e.g., "Available since 3.5.0")
availableIn	Available in	Version range label (e.g., "Available in 3.5.0–3.8.0")
inThisArticle	In this article	Sidebar table of contents heading
searchResultsCount	{count} results for "{query}"	Search results summary
searchNoResults	No results for "{query}"	No search results message
tocFilter	Filter by title	TOC filter input placeholder
nextArticle	Next	Next article navigation
prevArticle	Previous	Previous article navigation
themeLight	Light	Theme picker option
themeDark	Dark	Theme picker option
themeAuto	Auto	Theme picker option
changeTheme	Change theme	Theme picker label
copy	Copy	Code block copy button
downloadPdf	Download PDF	PDF download button
search	Search documentation	Search input placeholder
note	Note	Alert box heading
warning	Warning	Alert box heading
tip	Tip	Alert box heading
important	Important	Alert box heading
caution	Caution	Alert box heading
tableOfContents	Table of Contents	Mobile TOC offcanvas title
selectLanguage	Select language	Language picker label
copyCode	Copy code	Code block copy button aria-label