Localized User Interface Text

Localized text appears throughout the user interface of the PT application in labels, menu options, ToolTips, and dialog boxes. The design team's plan for managing and localizing user interface text has two main points:

• Install lingo files for three different languages. The PT application is localized for three languages, German, Japanese, and U.S. English, which are available concurrently. All of the text strings that are used throughout the application are stored in an XML lingo file. Three locale-specific XML lingo files (German, Japanese, and U.S. English) are installed on the Web server.
• Choose an arena. The application includes two arenas, a generic training center and a hardware store. Locale specific XML lingo files in the de (German), ja (Japanese), and en-us ( U.S. English) directories contain terminology that is appropriate for a training center. The XML lingo file (in U.S. English) of terms that a typical hardware store uses resides in the hardware directory. To switch from a training center to a hardware store an administrator places the hardware lingo file in the en-us folder and rebuilds the localized HTML files for the application. The two arenas cannot exist concurrently.

This approach offers the following benefits:

• It enhances the extensibility of the application. When you separate text strings by language, you can extend the application to additional languages without rewriting major portions of code. To add support for additional languages, you simply add an XML file that contains translated text for the new language. The application uses this text when appropriate.
• It improves the quality of translated text. When the application uses translated text strings that are complete instead of text concatenated from string fragments, the text strings are correct; they contain no wrong articles, awkward sentences, or incorrect grammar.
• It separates the application code from the localized text. This protects the translated text from developers who are not proficient in the languages for which the application is localized. When developers make minor changes to the application, the localized versions require minimal retesting.
• It simplifies the translator's job. When localizers translate text that is intermingled with code, mistakes can easily occur, because it is not always obvious to localizers which element attributes they should localize. Translating elements that are an intrinsic part of the application code can break the application.