PyQt5 QTranslator translate not working with constants file

Question

I am trying to learn pyqt and some mvc pattern stuff. I'd also like to have some translation for my app. Basic experiments worked great, so i tried to implement it within my app, but here i struggle right now.

here is where i initialize QTranslator:

import sys

from PyQt5.QtCore import QTranslator
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication

from controller.main_controller import MainController


if __name__ == '__main__':
    KodiDBEditor = QApplication(sys.argv)
    translator = QTranslator(KodiDBEditor)
    translator.load("translate/de_DE.qm")
    KodiDBEditor.installTranslator(translator)
    main = MainController()
    sys.exit(KodiDBEditor.exec_())

My Controller initializes the view, collecting data from the model:

**snip**
    def init_ui(self):
        self.view.setWindowTitle(self.model.get_title())
        self.view.setGeometry(self.model.get_geometry())
        self.view.create_menus(self.model.get_menu())

Within my view, i have a function, which creates menus from a dictionary, which itself is a constant from a file constants.py

**snip**
    def create_menus(self, menu):
        for i in menu:
            fm = self.menuBar().addMenu(i['label'])
            for j in i['action']:
                if j == '---':
                    fm.addSeparator()
                else:
                    action = QAction()
                    action.setParent(self)
                    action.setText(j['label'])
                    action.setIcon(QIcon.fromTheme(j['icon']))
                    action.setShortcut(j['shortcut'])
                    action.setStatusTip(j['statustip'])
                    fm.addAction(action)

constants.py:

from PyQt5.QtCore import QCoreApplication
translate = QCoreApplication.translate

MENU = (
    {'label': translate('MainModel', '&File'), 'action': (
        {'label': translate('MainModel','Export'), 'icon': '', 'shortcut': 'Ctrl+B', 'statustip': translate('MainModel','Export Database')},
        '---',
        {'label': 'E&xit', 'icon': 'application-exit', 'shortcut': 'Ctrl+Q', 'statustip': 'Exit Application'}
    )},
    {'label': '&Settings', 'action': (
        {'label': 'KodiDBEditor', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Einstellungen für KodiDBEditor'},
    )},
    {'label': '&Hilfe', 'action': (
        {'label': 'Sub1', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub1'},
        {'label': 'Sub2', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub2'},
        {'label': 'Sub3', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub3'}
    )}

)

However, the parts in question won't be translated. (I created the ts file, edited it in QT linguist and built the qm file)

If i place some single code like:

print(translate('MainModel', '&File'))

anywhere in my code, that string is translated correctly Also, if place the MENU constant straight into my model, everything is fine. However, i prefer to have the separate constants approach (since there will be more)

So the question is, why doesn't my code translate as it is?

As per request, a simple working example (minimal.py):

import sys

from PyQt5.QtCore import QCoreApplication
from PyQt5.QtCore import QTranslator
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication

from other import Main

translate = QCoreApplication.translate

if __name__ == '__main__':
    KodiDBEditor = QApplication(sys.argv)
    translator = QTranslator(KodiDBEditor)
    translator.load("translate/de_DE.qm")
    KodiDBEditor.installTranslator(translator)
    main = Main()
    sys.exit(KodiDBEditor.exec_())

(other.py):

from PyQt5.QtCore import QCoreApplication
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QMainWindow

from misc.constants import MENU


class Main(QMainWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.printstuff()
        self.show()

    def printstuff(self):
        translate = QCoreApplication.translate
        MENU2 = (
            {'label': translate('MainModel', '&File'), 'action': (
                {'label': translate('MainModel', 'Export'), 'icon': '', 'shortcut': 'Ctrl+B',
                 'statustip': translate('MainModel', 'Export Database')},
                '---',
                {'label': 'E&xit', 'icon': 'application-exit', 'shortcut': 'Ctrl+Q', 'statustip': 'Exit Application'}
            )},
            {'label': '&Settings', 'action': (
                {'label': 'KodiDBEditor', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Einstellungen für KodiDBEditor'},
            )},
            {'label': '&Hilfe', 'action': (
                {'label': 'Sub1', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub1'},
                {'label': 'Sub2', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub2'},
                {'label': 'Sub3', 'icon': '', 'shortcut': '', 'statustip': 'Sub3'}
            )})
        print(MENU)  # tuple holding the menu dicts. strings are not translated, &File = &File
        print(translate('MainModel', '&File'))  # this is working &File = &Datei
        print(MENU2) #this is working as well

constants.py as above

Answer 1

Ok, seems to be an import problem. If i import Main (which itselfs import MENU) after Qtranslator has been initialized, everything works. So it seems like translate() is executed at import. Is there a way to avoid that? Right now my workaround is to call translate a second time, when the action text is set. Looks a bit hacky, but seems to work.