Trans Overlay

Trans Overlay is an Emacs package for on-the-fly translation with persistent overlay display and database storage. It allows you to translate words or paragraphs in any text file, store translations in a database, and display them as overlays that automatically track text position changes.Inspired byemacs-immersive-translate and dictionary-overlay.

Features

• Inline Translation Display: Translate words/paragraphs and display translations as overlays that automatically follow text edits
• Persistent Database Storage: All translations are saved to SQLite database with automatic position synchronization on file save
• Interactive List Management: Browse, search, filter, edit, and manage all translations in a tabulated interface
• Wordlist Export: Mark translations for export and generate formatted wordlist documents for study
• Quick Translation: Instant translation preview in minibuffer or popup without saving to database
• Manual Translation Entry: Add or edit translations manually without using translate-shell

Dependencies

(use-package emacsql
  :straight (:host github :repo "magit/emacsql"))

(use-package emacsql-sqlite-builtin
  :straight (:host github :repo "magit/emacsql"
				   :files ("sqlite-builtin/*.el"))
  :after emacsql)

(use-package ov
  :straight (:host github :repo "emacsorphanage/ov"))

External Dependency: translate-shell (trans command)

Configuration

(add-to-list 'load-path "xxx/trans-overlay")
(require 'trans-overlay)
(require 'trans-overlay-list)

;; Optional: Customize settings
(setq trans-overlay-source-lang "en")        ; Source language
(setq trans-overlay-target-lang "zh-CN")     ; Target language
(setq trans-overlay-shell-command "trans")   ; translate-shell command
(setq trans-overlay-db-file                  ; Database file path
	  (expand-file-name "trans-overlay.db"
						(expand-file-name "trans-overlay" user-emacs-directory)))

(defun trans-overlay-maybe-enable ()
  (when (and (buffer-file-name)
			 (file-exists-p trans-overlay-db-file)
			 (> (length (ignore-errors (trans-overlay-get-file (buffer-file-name)))) 0))
	(trans-overlay-mode 1)))

(add-hook 'find-file-hook #'trans-overlay-maybe-enable)

Basic Operations

Translation Commands

• trans-overlay-at-point (C-c t t) - Translate word/paragraph at point and save to database
• trans-overlay-add-translation - Manually add or edit translation without translate-shell
• trans-overlay-quick-translate (C-c t q) - Quick translate in minibuffer (no save)
• trans-overlay-quick-translate-popup (C-c t p) - Quick translate in popup buffer (no save)
• trans-overlay-quick-translate-popup-reverse (C-c t P) - Quick translate in popup buffer (reverse, no save)

Display and Management

• trans-overlay-display-file (C-c t d) - Display all translations from database in current file
• trans-overlay-clear-at-point (C-c t c) - Clear translation at point

List

• trans-overlay-list (C-c t l) - Open translation list (all translations)

List View Keybindings

Command	Key	Function
trans-overlay-list-jump	RET	Jump to translation and close list
trans-overlay-list-other-window	o	Preview translation in other window
trans-overlay-list-edit	e	Edit translation
trans-overlay-list-delete	d	Delete current translation
trans-overlay-list-delete-marked	D	Delete all marked translations
trans-overlay-list-toggle-mark	m	Toggle mark for current item
trans-overlay-list-mark-all	M	Mark all visible items
trans-overlay-list-unmark-all	U	Unmark all items
trans-overlay-list	L	Switch back to full list
trans-overlay-list-filter	/	Filter translations
trans-overlay-list-refresh	g	Refresh list
trans-overlay-list-export	E	Export marked translations