Lab 1.2: Rescuing Code from Rich Text Corruption

Objective

In this lab, you will act as a localization engineer diagnosing and fixing a corrupted JSON string table that was accidentally edited in a rich-text word processor. You will identify curly "smart" quotes, hidden formatting artifacts, and unexpected auto-capitalization, and safely restore the file to valid, plain-text UTF-8 code using Visual Studio Code.

Required Setup & Prerequisites

• Editor: Visual Studio Code installed.

• Working Directory: Your active loc_lab_1-1 folder (or loc_lab_1-2).

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Create the "Corrupted" Rich-Text Export Asset

1. Open VS Code.

2. In the Explorer panel, navigate to assets/loc/software/.

3. Create a new file named ui_ru_corrupted.json.

4. Copy and paste the following broken code snippet into the file:

json
{
  “btn_start”: “Начать игру”,
  “btn_options”: "Настройки",
  “welcome_msg”: “Добро пожаловать в “Королевство”!”
}

1. Save the file (Cmd + S / Ctrl + S).

Step 2: Spotting Syntax Errors in VS Code

1. Look at line 2: Curved quotes (“ and ”) are used around btn_start and Начать игру. JSON syntax strictly requires straight quotes (").

2. Look at line 4: In addition to curved outer quotes, the inner quotes around Королевство create an unescaped string conflict, breaking the key-value boundary.

Step 3: Perform Global Search & Replace for Smart Quotes

1. Open Find and Replace:

   • macOS: Cmd + Option + F

   • Windows: Ctrl + H

2. Find: “ Replace: " Click Replace All.

3. Find: ” Replace: " Click Replace All.

Step 4: Fix Unescaped Inner Quotes & Sanitize Structure

1. Insert an escape character (a backslash \) before each inner quote in line 4:

   json
   "welcome_msg": "Добро пожаловать в \"Королевство\"!"

2. Verify that your final ui_ru_corrupted.json file matches this clean code exactly:

json
{
  "btn_start": "Начать игру",
  "btn_options": "Настройки",
  "welcome_msg": "Добро пожаловать в \"Королевство\"!"
}

1. Save the file. Observe that all red squiggly syntax warnings in VS Code disappear.

Step 5: Rename to Valid Production File

1. In the Explorer panel, right-click ui_ru_corrupted.json and select Rename (or press F2).

2. Rename the file to ui_ru_clean.json.

3. Confirm that the status bar displays UTF-8 and that the filename ends in .json.

Self-Verification Checklist

Before moving forward, check your cleaned file against these parameters:

• [ ] All smart/curly quotes (“ ”) have been replaced with standard straight quotes (").

• [ ] Inner quotes within text values are properly escaped using backslashes (\").

• [ ] VS Code shows zero red syntax error highlights in the problem panel (Cmd + Shift + M / Ctrl + Shift + M).

• [ ] File is saved with UTF-8 encoding and named ui_ru_clean.json.