Since 70% of the files were xlf files used for translation/localization, couldn't they instead just store all of those in a single SQLite file and solve their problem much more easily? Any of the nuances of the directory structure could be captured in SQLite tables and relationships, and it would be easy to access them for edits by non-coders using a tool like DB Browser.

I feel like often people make problems much harder than they need to be by imposing arbitrary constraints on themselves that could be avoided if they approached the problem differently.