🚀 ARB Excel Converter Tool

Bridge the gap between developers and translators. Convert Flutter .arb localization files into Excel spreadsheets and back again with ease.

🔄 The Full Localization Loop

  1. Export: Generate an Excel sheet from your primary ARB file.
  2. Translate: Give the Excel sheet to your translators (no JSON knowledge required).
  3. Import: Convert the translated Excel sheet back into a valid ARB file.

✨ Features

  • 📦 Two-Way Sync: Support for both export (ARB → Excel) and import (Excel → ARB).
  • 🔍 Metadata Support: Extracts and injects @description metadata to provide context for translators.
  • 🛡️ Type Safety: Built with the latest excel 4.x standards for robust file handling.
  • 🎨 Pretty Formatting: Imported ARB files are automatically formatted with 2-space indentation.
  • 💻 Zero Config: Optimized for standard Flutter localization paths (lib/l10n/).

📦 Installation

This is a global command-line tool. Install it once and use it in any Flutter project:

dart pub global activate arb_excel_converter_tool

Note: Ensure your Dart SDK bin folder is in your system PATH to run the tool from anywhere.

📖 How to Use

Use the arb_tool command from your project root.

1. Export (ARB ➡️ Excel)

Convert your source ARB file into a spreadsheet for translation.

# Default: Converts lib/l10n/app_en.arb ➡️ localization_export.xlsx
arb_tool export

# Custom paths
arb_tool export -i lib/l10n/intl_en.arb -o translations_v1.xlsx

2. Import (Excel ➡️ ARB)

Bring translated strings back into your Flutter project.

# Default: Converts localization_export.xlsx ➡️ lib/l10n/app_en.arb
arb_tool import

# Custom paths (e.g., importing a specific language)
arb_tool import -i translations_es.xlsx -o lib/l10n/app_es.arb

🛠 Available Options

Option Short Default (Export) Default (Import) Description
--input -i lib/l10n/app_en.arb localization_export.xlsx Path to source file.
--output -o localization_export.xlsx lib/l10n/app_en.arb Path/Name for result.
--help -h N/A N/A Show usage instructions.

📝 Mapping Example

Your metadata is preserved! The tool maps ARB structures to Excel columns like this:

ARB Key ARB Value @Description ➡️ Excel Columns
loginBtn "Sign In" "Button on login" Key

💡 Troubleshooting

  • "Command not found": You likely need to add the pub-cache bin to your PATH. On macOS/Linux, this is usually ~/.pub-cache/bin.
  • Empty Rows: The tool automatically skips empty rows or rows missing a "Key" during the import process.
  • Indentation: The tool enforces a 2-space JSON indentation to keep your git diffs clean.

🤝 Feedback & Issues

I created this tool to make Flutter localization easier! If you find it helpful, please give it a Like on pub.dev.

Found a bug? Report it on GitHub.

Created by Mohit

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