svgtranslate possibly erased translations
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT
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Authored By

	Don_Stroud
	Jun 29 2026, 5:36 PM

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Referenced Files

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Subscribers

Aklapper

Don_Stroud

Samwilson

Description

Steps to replicate the issue:

When updating the file translation page (or even when re-downloading a recently translated file from Commons) - The version of this file that is displayed is not the latest (outdated) one.
So, when adding a new translation and uploading it to Commons, another translation may get lost.
(maybe a caching issue?)

What happens?:
When adding a new translation and uploading it to Commons, another translation may get lost.

What should have happened instead?:
The current version of the file from Commons should always be loaded and displayed on the translation page.
(Perhaps should at least improve the description at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:SVG_Translate_tool)

Software version:
svgtranslate 2.1.0

Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.):
Translated file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antwerpen_Eingemeindungen.svg
Firefox 152.0.3 Win10x64

Possibly related:
T245356 T213126

Details

Related Changes in GitLab:

	Title	Reference	Author	Source Branch	Dest Branch
	Delete cached file on initial page load	toolforge-repos/svgtranslate!15	samwilson	delete-when-loading	main

Customize query in GitLab

Related Objects

Mentioned In: T430917: Unsaved warning is shown when no edits are made
Mentioned Here: T430917: Unsaved warning is shown when no edits are made
T213126: Re-check Commons file when using cached version
T245356: add function ?action=purge to https://svgtranslate.toolforge.org/

Event Timeline

Don_Stroud created this task.Jun 29 2026, 5:36 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptJun 29 2026, 5:36 PM

Don_Stroud updated the task description. (Show Details)Jun 29 2026, 8:39 PM

Which file did this happen with? Did you catch it before uploading a new version?

In T430577#12068721, @Samwilson wrote:

Which file did this happen with? Did you catch it before uploading a new version?

Translated file: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antwerpen_Eingemeindungen.svg
(After noticing the problem and refreshing the file translation page several times, I managed to display the latest version of the file (I also had to revert the previous version of the file to Commons to restore the deleted translation))

Did you catch it before uploading a new version?

Before uploading a new version of a file, you can assume that the version of the file being displayed is not the latest (outdated) version (File translation page does not reflect all the translations contained in the latest version of the file. But perhaps it reflects both the translations from the file and the cached other translations from the tool page?) However, this only becomes apparent when adding a new translation and uploading it to Commons may result in the loss of another translations.

Don_Stroud updated the task description. (Show Details)Jun 30 2026, 9:06 AM

I also created a possibly related Request to improve the description on Talk page of Commons:SVG Translate tool:

It's also not entirely clear whether it's possible to switch between languages to create multiple translations at once, or whether each individual translation needs to be uploaded to Commons (since switching languages often results in a message saying there are unsaved translations (even if these are translations loaded from a file and haven't been edited yet - this is inconsistent behavior?)).

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:SVG_Translate_tool#Request_to_improve_the_description)

Samwilson mentioned this in T430917: Unsaved warning is shown when no edits are made.Jul 2 2026, 9:10 AM

switching languages often results in a message saying there are unsaved translations (even if these are translations loaded from a file and haven't been edited yet - this is inconsistent behavior?)

That does sound like a bug. It should only show the unsaved prompt if you've made changes. I've opened T430917: Unsaved warning is shown when no edits are made.

As far as the cache bug goes, I've not been able to replicate it. The cache lifetime is 5 minutes, and the cached file is supposed to be deleted when you upload to Commons. Are you seeing this happen only when less than 5 minutes have elapsed?

In T430577#12079577, @Samwilson wrote:

... As far as the cache bug goes, I've not been able to replicate it. The cache lifetime is 5 minutes, and the cached file is supposed to be deleted when you upload to Commons. Are you seeing this happen only when less than 5 minutes have elapsed?

(I just assumed there might be a caching issue here.)

As I wrote in the answer

In T430577#12069345, @Don_Stroud wrote:

... (After noticing the problem and refreshing the file translation page several times, I managed to display the latest version of the file (I also had to revert the previous version of the file to Commons to restore the deleted translation))

— Yes, it looks like: after ~5 minutes and refreshing the file translation page, I managed to display the latest version of the file.

Also, note that 1. Updating the file translation page, and 2. Re-downloading a recently translated file from Commons, — are different use cases (starting points), but I didn't create separate tasks because I didn't reproduce them separately...

samwilson opened https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/svgtranslate/-/merge_requests/15

Delete cached file on initial page load

T213126 has more history about the caching issues.

I think the fix here is to refresh the cache whenever someone opens a File page in the tool, as I've got it now in MR 15 above. That will slow things done a bit, but overall be better I think.

samwilson merged https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/toolforge-repos/svgtranslate/-/merge_requests/15