Terminal UI (TUI) Editor

December 5, 2025 · View on GitHub

This document provides comprehensive information about LRM's interactive Terminal UI editor for managing localization resources.

Table of Contents

Overview

The Terminal UI (TUI) editor provides a full-screen, keyboard-driven interface for editing .resx resource files. It allows you to view and edit multiple languages side-by-side, translate keys, scan code for usage, and more—all without leaving your terminal.

Key Features:

  • Side-by-side multi-language editing
  • Real-time search with regex/wildcard support
  • In-app translation with 8 provider options
  • Code scanning to find unused/missing keys
  • Undo/redo support
  • Clipboard integration
  • Context menus and keyboard shortcuts
  • Duplicate key detection and handling
  • Visual status indicators

Launching the TUI

# Launch TUI for default resource path
lrm edit

# Specify resource path
lrm edit --path ./Resources

# Specify source path for code scanning
lrm edit --path ./Resources --source-path ./src

# Use configuration file
lrm edit --config-file lrm.json

Options:

  • -p, --path <PATH> - Path to resource folder (default: current directory)
  • --source-path <PATH> - Path to source code for scanning (default: parent of resource path)
  • --config-file <PATH> - Configuration file path

User Interface Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Menu Bar                                                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Search: [________________] [Clear] [x] Regex  [x] Wildcard     │
│ Language: [All Languages ▼]  Status: [All ▼]                   │
│                                                                 │
│ [Scan Code (F7)]  [ ] Unused in code  [ ] Missing from .resx  │
│                                                                 │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Key         │ default │ el      │ ... │ Status │ Comment  │ │
│ ├─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────┼────────┼──────────┤ │
│ │ HelloWorld  │ Hello   │ Γεια    │     │        │          │ │
│ │ ⚠ Missing   │ Test    │         │     │ ⚠      │          │ │
│ │ ∅ Unused    │ Old     │ Παλιό   │     │ ∅      │          │ │
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Status Bar: F1 Help | Ctrl+S Save | Esc Quit | 123 keys       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Components:

  1. Menu Bar - File, Edit, View, Tools, Help menus
  2. Search Controls - Search field, clear button, regex/wildcard toggles
  3. Filter Controls - Language dropdown, status filter, code usage filters
  4. Scan Controls - Code scan button, usage filter checkboxes
  5. Table View - Multi-column table showing all resource entries
  6. Status Bar - Quick help and statistics

Keyboard Shortcuts

KeyAction
↑ / ↓Move between rows
Page Up / Page DownScroll page
Home / EndJump to first/last row
Tab / Shift+TabMove between controls

Editing

KeyAction
EnterEdit selected key
Ctrl+NAdd new key
Ctrl+TTranslate selected key
DelDelete selected key
Ctrl+ZUndo last operation
Ctrl+YRedo last operation
Ctrl+CCopy selected value to clipboard
Ctrl+VPaste value from clipboard

Batch Operations

KeyAction
SpaceToggle selection for current row
Ctrl+ASelect all visible keys
EscClear all selections (when rows are selected)
Shift+↑Extend selection upward
Shift+↓Extend selection downward

Search and Filter

KeyAction
/Focus search field
Ctrl+FFocus search field (alternative)
F3Find next match
Shift+F3Find previous match
Esc (in search)Clear search

Code Scanning

KeyAction
F7Scan source code for key usage
Shift+F7View code references for selected key

View

KeyAction
Ctrl+DShow duplicates dialog
Right-ClickShow context menu for selected row

File Operations

KeyAction
Ctrl+SSave all changes
Ctrl+Q / EscQuit (prompts if unsaved changes)

Help

KeyAction
F1Show help dialog

Features

Multi-Language Editing

The TUI displays all languages side-by-side in a single table view.

Columns:

  • Key - Resource key name (with status icon)
  • Language columns - One column per language file
  • Status - Visual status indicator (icon)
  • Comment - Resource comment/description

Features:

  • Automatically discovers all .resx files in resource folder
  • Default language shown first (configurable via DefaultLanguageCode in config)
  • Add/remove languages from menu
  • Edit any language's value with Enter key

Adding a Language:

Menu → File → Add Language
→ Select language from list → Enter

Removing a Language:

Menu → File → Remove Language
→ Select language → Confirm deletion

Plural Key Support (JSON Backend)

When using the JSON backend, the TUI supports editing plural keys with multiple forms (one, other, zero, etc.).

Identifying Plural Keys:

  • Plural keys are displayed with a [plural] prefix in the table
  • Example: [plural] one: {0} item, other: {0} items

Editing Plural Keys:

  1. Select a plural key and press Enter
  2. A specialized dialog opens with separate fields for each plural form:
    • one - Singular form
    • other - Plural form (required)
    • zero - Zero quantity (optional)
  3. Each language has its own set of plural form fields
  4. Empty fields are skipped when saving

Plural Forms (CLDR):

  • zero - Zero quantity (some languages)
  • one - Singular (1 item)
  • two - Dual (2 items)
  • few - Few items
  • many - Many items
  • other - Default/plural (required)

Search and Filtering

The TUI provides powerful search and filtering capabilities.

Search Field

  • Text search - Type to search keys, values, or comments
  • Regex mode - Check "Regex" to enable regex patterns (e.g., ^Error.*)
  • Wildcard mode - Check "Wildcard" for glob patterns (e.g., Error*)
  • Clear button - Click or press Esc in search field to clear
  • Match counter - Shows "X of Y matches" in status bar

Keyboard Navigation:

  • / or Ctrl+F - Focus search field
  • F3 - Find next match
  • Shift+F3 - Find previous match

Search Scope

Configure what to search in via View → Search Scope:

  • Keys only
  • Values only
  • Comments only
  • Keys and values
  • All fields (keys, values, comments)

Status Filter

Filter by translation status:

  • All - Show all keys
  • Missing - Keys with empty translations in some languages
  • Complete - Keys fully translated in all languages
  • Extra - Keys not in default language
  • Duplicates - Keys with multiple occurrences

Language Filter

  • All Languages - Show all keys
  • Specific Language - Show only keys with non-empty value in selected language

Code Usage Filter

After running code scan (F7):

  • Unused in code - Show only keys not found in source code
  • Missing from .resx - Show only keys used in code but not in .resx files

Note: All filters work together (AND logic). For example, you can search for "Error" AND show only missing translations AND unused in code.

Translation

The TUI integrates machine translation for quick localization.

Translating a Key

  1. Select a key with missing translations
  2. Press Ctrl+T or Menu → Edit → Translate
  3. Select source and target languages
  4. Choose translation provider
  5. Confirm translation

Supported Providers:

  • Google Translate
  • DeepL
  • Azure Translator
  • OpenAI GPT
  • Anthropic Claude
  • Azure OpenAI
  • Ollama (local LLM)
  • LibreTranslate (self-hosted)

Configuration:

  • API keys can be set via environment variables or lrm.json
  • Default provider configurable in lrm.json
  • Translation is cached (30-day SQLite cache) to reduce API costs

Progress Indicator: During translation, a progress bar shows:

  • Current key being translated
  • Progress percentage
  • Elapsed time

See TRANSLATION.md for detailed provider setup.

Code Scanning

The TUI can scan your source code to identify unused keys and missing keys.

Running a Scan

Press F7 or Menu → Tools → Scan Source Code

A progress dialog shows:

  • Number of files scanned
  • Scan progress

Scan Results

After scanning, the status bar shows:

🔍 Scanned: 123 files, 456 refs | Unused: 12 | Missing: 3

Status Indicators:

  • ∅ - Key exists in .resx but not used in code (unused)
  • ✗ - Key used in code but not in .resx (missing)

Filtering: Use the checkboxes to show only:

  • Unused in code - Keys to consider removing
  • Missing from .resx - Keys to add

Viewing Code References

For keys that are used in code:

  1. Select the key
  2. Press Shift+F7 OR Right-click → "View Code References"
  3. See table with file paths, line numbers, patterns, and confidence

Quick Access: Use Shift+F7 to quickly view code references for the selected key without using the mouse.

Scan Configuration: The scan respects configuration from lrm.json:

{
  "Scanning": {
    "ResourceClassNames": ["Resources", "Strings", "AppResources"],
    "LocalizationMethods": ["GetString", "Translate", "L", "T"]
  }
}

See COMMANDS.md for scan command details.

Undo/Redo

The TUI maintains an operation history for undo/redo.

Supported Operations:

  • Edit value
  • Delete key
  • Add key

Keyboard Shortcuts:

  • Ctrl+Z - Undo last operation
  • Ctrl+Y - Redo last undone operation

Menu Access:

  • Menu → Edit → Undo
  • Menu → Edit → Redo

History Size:

  • Default: 50 operations
  • When limit is reached, oldest operations are removed

Notes:

  • Undo/redo clears when you save or quit
  • Operation descriptions shown in menu (e.g., "Undo: Edit 'HelloWorld' in en")

Context Menus

Right-click on any table row to show a context menu.

Available Actions:

  • Edit Key (Enter) - Edit the selected key's values
  • View Code References - Show code usage (if scanned and key has references)
  • Translate (Ctrl+T) - Translate missing values
  • Copy Value (Ctrl+C) - Copy selected value to clipboard
  • Delete Key (Del) - Delete the key

Note: All context menu actions are also available via keyboard shortcuts or the menu bar.

Clipboard Operations

The TUI supports clipboard integration for copying and pasting values.

Copy Value

  1. Select a key
  2. Press Ctrl+C or Right-click → "Copy Value"
  3. Value from the currently selected cell is copied to clipboard

Paste Value

  1. Select a key
  2. Press Ctrl+V or Menu → Edit → Paste Value
  3. Clipboard content is pasted into the selected cell

Use Cases:

  • Copy value from one language to another
  • Paste from external applications
  • Duplicate values quickly

Batch Operations

The TUI supports multi-selection for performing operations on multiple keys at once.

Selecting Multiple Keys

Keyboard Selection:

  • Space - Toggle selection for current row
  • Ctrl+A - Select all visible keys
  • Esc - Clear all selections
  • Shift+↑ / Shift+↓ - Extend selection upward/downward

Visual Indication:

  • Selected rows are marked with a ► (arrow) indicator before the key name
  • Status bar shows selection count: 📋 Selected: 5

Selection Persistence:

  • Selections persist across table rebuilds (search, filter, etc.)
  • Navigation and filtering won't clear your selection
  • Press Esc to explicitly clear selections

Bulk Operations

Once you've selected multiple keys, you can perform batch operations:

Bulk Translate:

  1. Select keys (using Space, Ctrl+A, or Shift+arrows)
  2. Menu → Edit → Bulk Translate (or use context menu)
  3. Select source and target languages
  4. Choose translation provider
  5. All selected keys are translated in batch
  6. Progress bar shows translation status

Bulk Delete:

  1. Select keys to delete
  2. Menu → Edit → Bulk Delete (or use context menu)
  3. Confirm deletion dialog shows count of selected entries
  4. All selected keys are deleted
  5. Automatic backup created before deletion

Menu Access:

  • Menu → Edit → Select All (Ctrl+A)
  • Menu → Edit → Clear Selection (Esc)
  • Menu → Edit → Bulk Translate
  • Menu → Edit → Bulk Delete

Use Cases:

  • Translate all error messages at once
  • Delete multiple unused keys after code scan
  • Select keys by pattern (search first) then bulk translate
  • Clean up groups of deprecated keys

Notes:

  • Bulk operations respect occurrence numbers for duplicate keys
  • Selection count includes all occurrences if duplicates are selected
  • Bulk delete creates a backup automatically (operation: tui-bulk-delete)
  • No selection = operation shows error message

Duplicate Key Handling

.resx files can have multiple entries with the same key name. LRM tracks these as occurrences.

Visual Indicators:

  • Keys with duplicates show a ◆ (diamond) icon
  • Occurrence number shown in dialogs: Key [1], Key [2], etc.

Viewing Duplicates

  1. Press Ctrl+D or Menu → Tools → Show Duplicates
  2. See table with all duplicate keys and their occurrence counts
  3. For scanned projects, shows code reference count per duplicate

Editing Duplicates

When editing a duplicate key:

  • Dialog shows occurrence number: "Edit 'Key [2]'"
  • Each occurrence is edited separately

Deleting Duplicates

When deleting a duplicate key:

  • Dialog prompts: "Delete which occurrence?"
  • Options: [1], [2], ..., All
  • Can delete specific occurrence or all at once

Merging Duplicates

Use the merge-duplicates CLI command to consolidate duplicates:

lrm merge-duplicates --key KeyName --strategy keep-first

See COMMANDS.md for details.

Status Indicators

Each row displays a status icon indicating its state:

IconStatusMeaning
⚠MissingKey has empty translations in some languages
⭐ExtraKey exists in translation but not in default language
◆DuplicateMultiple entries with the same key name
∅Unused in CodeKey exists in .resx but not found in source code (after scan)
✗Missing from ResourcesKey used in code but not in .resx files (after scan)
(none)NormalKey is fully translated and used in code

Priority: When multiple statuses apply, the highest priority is shown:

  1. Missing from Resources (✗)
  2. Extra (⭐)
  3. Duplicate (◆)
  4. Missing (⚠)
  5. Unused in Code (∅)
  6. Normal

Color Coding: Status icons are color-coded for quick visual scanning:

  • Red - Critical issues (missing from resources)
  • Yellow - Warnings (missing translations, extra keys)
  • Cyan - Duplicates
  • Gray - Unused keys
  • Default - Normal

Comments

Each resource entry can have a comment/description.

Viewing Comments:

  • The "Comment" column shows the first 50 characters
  • Full comment visible when editing a key

Editing Comments:

  1. Edit a key (Enter)
  2. Enter comment in the "Comment" field
  3. Comments are saved to .resx files as <comment> tags

Use Cases:

  • Document key purpose
  • Add context for translators
  • Store notes about usage

Workflow Examples

Example 1: Translating Missing Keys

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit
  2. Filter by missing: Status dropdown → "Missing"
  3. Select first key
  4. Press Ctrl+T to translate
  5. Select source/target languages and provider
  6. Confirm translation
  7. Repeat for remaining keys
  8. Press Ctrl+S to save

Example 2: Finding and Removing Unused Keys

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit --source-path ./src
  2. Press F7 to scan source code
  3. Check "Unused in code" filter
  4. Review keys shown
  5. For each unused key:
    • Verify it's truly unused (check comment/context)
    • Press Del to delete or leave if needed
  6. Press Ctrl+S to save

Example 3: Adding a New Language

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit
  2. Menu → File → Add Language
  3. Select language (e.g., "French (fr)")
  4. Press Enter to confirm
  5. New "fr" column appears
  6. Translate keys using Ctrl+T or manually edit
  7. Press Ctrl+S to save
  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit
  2. Search for keys: /Error → Enter
  3. Status filter → "Missing"
  4. For each result:
    • Press Ctrl+T to translate
    • Or manually edit with Enter
  5. Press F3 to jump to next match
  6. Repeat until all done
  7. Press Ctrl+S to save

Example 5: Fixing Duplicate Keys

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit
  2. Press Ctrl+D to show duplicates
  3. Review duplicate keys and their values
  4. For each duplicate:
    • Note which occurrence to keep
    • Close dialog (Esc)
    • Search for the key (/)
    • Delete unwanted occurrences (Del → select occurrence)
  5. Press Ctrl+S to save

Example 6: Reviewing Code References

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit --source-path ./src
  2. Press F7 to scan code
  3. Select an interesting key
  4. Right-click → "View Code References"
  5. Review files, line numbers, and patterns
  6. Note any issues or refactoring opportunities
  7. Close dialog (Esc)

Example 7: Bulk Translating Error Messages

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit
  2. Search for error keys: /Error → Enter
  3. Status filter → "Missing" (to find untranslated error messages)
  4. Press Ctrl+A to select all visible keys
  5. Menu → Edit → Bulk Translate
  6. Select source language: "default (en)"
  7. Select target language: "Greek (el)"
  8. Choose provider: "Google Translate"
  9. Confirm translation
  10. Wait for progress bar to complete
  11. Press Esc to clear search and review results
  12. Press Ctrl+S to save

Example 8: Cleaning Up Unused Keys After Scan

  1. Launch TUI: lrm edit --source-path ./src
  2. Press F7 to scan source code
  3. Wait for scan to complete
  4. Check "Unused in code" filter checkbox
  5. Review the list of unused keys
  6. Use Space to toggle selection for keys you want to delete
  7. Or press Ctrl+A to select all if you're confident
  8. Menu → Edit → Bulk Delete
  9. Confirm deletion (shows count of entries to delete)
  10. Keys are deleted and backup is created
  11. Uncheck "Unused in code" filter to see remaining keys
  12. Press Ctrl+S to save

Tips and Best Practices

Performance

  • For large resource files (1000+ keys), searching and filtering help focus on relevant entries
  • Code scanning can take time on large codebases—be patient or exclude directories in scan configuration

Workflow

  • Use Ctrl+S frequently to save changes
  • Run code scan (F7) regularly to catch unused/missing keys early
  • Use comments to document complex or context-sensitive keys
  • Leverage translation cache—retranslating the same text is instant

Keyboard Efficiency

  • Learn the keyboard shortcuts—much faster than using menus
  • Use / to quickly jump to search
  • Use F3/Shift+F3 to navigate search results
  • Use Ctrl+Z liberally—undo is your friend

Code Scanning

  • Configure Scanning.ResourceClassNames and Scanning.LocalizationMethods in lrm.json to match your project's patterns
  • Review "unused in code" results carefully—some keys may be loaded dynamically
  • "Missing from resources" results are usually bugs—add those keys or remove code references