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Where does OS X store the language files (.lproj, .strings) for displaying times and dates?

Edit: I'm precisely interested in the terms like «Monday», «Thuesday», «November», «May» etc. from the system itself, not 3rd-party-apps. I guess there is one place where OS X is storing such translations (where apps like iCal/Calendar, the Time/Date-Menulet, and others access the names/translations)

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    Why do you want these files? What are you trying to do with them?
    – DogEatDog
    Commented Nov 4, 2012 at 1:13
  • Actually getting closer to an answer by reading Apple docs- if anyone else wants to take a stab at it before I have time, look into CoreFoundation and/or NSDateFormatter
    – Ethan Lee
    Commented Nov 5, 2012 at 7:54
  • Can you be more specific? Do you mean the core of OSX or for a particular application. The @DogEatDog's answer is reasonable since specific applications can do what they want with strings. However, the answer could be more specific if you provided a more specific question. :)
    – sjbx
    Commented Nov 5, 2012 at 10:43
  • The NSDateFormatter is coded into the compiled binaries for each application. They may grab formats from other .plists or .strings but that is going to be harder to find and it is up to the developer. NSDateFormatter is only available when writing the code.
    – DogEatDog
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 0:46
  • I've updated my question for more infos. Thank you all so far.
    – albuvee
    Commented Nov 7, 2012 at 9:08

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It depends on where your looking and the relative application your using.

If your talking about the ones in an application, they are bundled in the application themselves. In the example here for Skype, the .lproj is bundled in the Resources directory

 /Applications/Skype.app/Contents/Resources

enter image description here

The OS also stores the .lproj files in their respective bundles. By running this command in the terminal you can see where they all are, although you may need to filter a little bit more.

 find .  -name "*.lproj"

The command will render something like this:

enter image description here

The same can be done for .strings, although you may have some difficulty searching through them all.

find .  -name "*.strings"

enter image description here

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  • I believe that the original question asked for time and date files specifically. Can you point to specific examples for, say, where Skype.app has stored localized time and date strings? .lproj folders and .strings don't necessarily have to contain these.
    – Ethan Lee
    Commented Nov 5, 2012 at 7:54
  • Since each application stores these in their own way, you will have to look through their language files. This is up to the developer. Skype.app is merely an example.
    – DogEatDog
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 0:42
  • Thank you @DogEatDog for your answer, have a look at my updated question for more infos.
    – albuvee
    Commented Nov 7, 2012 at 9:08

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