The .ini format is commonly used for application configuration across various platforms. Because no single universal standard exists for .ini files, implementations vary in their use of delimiters, comment styles, and section nesting.

To ensure consistency, LingoHub follows these rules, which align with the most common .ini variations.

Format

Key-value pairs are delimited by the = character or a colon : and terminated by a newline.
Values must not span multiple lines.
Section declarations follow the [section] syntax.
All keys following a section declaration are associated with that section until the next section begins or the file ends.
LingoHub does not support nested sections.
Segment keys are generated by combining the section and segment names. This combination must be unique within the file.
Standardized placeholder formats are not supported for .ini files. LingoHub cannot automatically detect placeholders or provide quality check support for them unless you define a custom placeholder syntax with our support team.
Comments begin with a hash sign # or a semicolon ;.
LingoHub assigns comments to the subsequent key-value pair unless they are separated by blank lines or section declarations.

Example

Additional example files are available on GitHub.

; This comment is ignored because it is not directly followed by a key-value pair.

; This comment is associated with the section information.
[section_1]

# Comments in .ini files can start with a hash sign.
hello_user = Hello stranger!

[section_2]
; This key belongs to section_2.
welcome_message = Welcome back, we have missed you.

; Multi-line comments belong to the next key-value pair, 
; provided they are not interrupted by a blank line.
visit_count = This is your millionth visit to our site.

INI

Format

Example

References