Projects:Go Bible/Changing the UI

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Revision as of 19:10, 8 September 2011 by David Haslam (talk | contribs) (Notes: added notes)

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This page describes how to change the User Interface for an existing Go Bible, even if you don't have the original files used to create it.

Requirements

All you need is

  1. an existing Go Bible JAR file that you wish to change,
  2. a suitable UI translation encoded as a Unicode text file, and
  3. the Windows based archive utility called 7-Zip.

In addition, you may need a suitable Unicode text editor, to ensure that the UI translation matches the Go Bible version.

Method

  1. Make a secure backup copy of the Go Bible JAR file that you wish to change.
  2. Using 7-Zip, with the Windows context menu, open the JAR file as an archive. You should see an internal file called ui.properties.
  3. Take a copy of the required UI translation. If necessary, rename this text file to ui.properties.
  4. Using a Unicode text editor, open the above file, and check that there is a proper EOL marker on the last line.
  5. Drag & drop the file ui.properties into the JAR file already opened with 7-Zip.
  6. Close the archive.
  7. Test the updated Go Bible JAR file using a suitable emulator. I generally use the one from the mpowerplayer/apk

Notes

  1. This ad hoc method is described "as is" with no guarantee that it will always work as required.
  2. The method has been tested using 7-Zip only. Some other archive utilities may not give the required result. For example, the archive format may get inadvertently changed.
  3. If the internal ui.properties file uses Unix style EOL markers (LF), it's advisable to ensure that the replacement file uses these as well.
  4. Ensure that the replacement ui.properties file has the correct number of items for the Go Bible version.