Nonlocalized XML File Elements

The elements in the nonlocalized XML files are the standard HTML elements such as <FORM>, <LABEL>, or <BUTTON>. Each element contains a set of attributes created using the DHTML expando properties. Expando properties allow you to extend the properties on an object by creating arbitrary properties with values. For more information about using the expando properties, search on the MSDN Web Workshop site.

The PT application adds a LID (for Localization ID) attribute to a number of HTML elements when it creates the HTML pages used to design the user interface. When the HTML files are converted to XML files using the HTML Data Refinery tool, the LID becomes a custom attribute in XML elements. When the XML files merge with the lingo.xml files, the code in the Lingo component inserts the value for each element in the lingo.xml file into the XML file element that has a corresponding LID value.

The convention for creating LID attributes is to append an integer to a three-letter abbreviation for an element name. The following table summarizes the LIDs in the PT application, where X is the integer.

Lingo IDs for Images

The LIDs for <IMG> elements vary from the convention described in the preceding table. The LIDs correspond to images that appear in the PT application's logo frame, and point to image files that do not vary by language. The images are the organization's logo and icons that indicate which of the four roles the user is logged in as.

Note  <IMG> tags do not require end tags in HTML; however, in XML, all tags must close. The lingo.xml file uses empty-element tags for the <IMG> tag. The empty-element tag combines opening and closing tags for elements that contain no content. Following the format <TAGNAME/>, all <IMG> tags in the PT application XML files are written as <IMG/>.