HOWTO: Localize a Windows 2000 Migration DLL

ID: Q241964

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Win32 Software Development Kit (SDK)

SUMMARY

This article describes two methods for localizing a Windows 2000 migration DLL file. It also describes using Microsoft Visual C++ to localize string tables in the Resource Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

If there are many differences between multiple language versions of an application, a separate migration DLL file can be created to migrate each language version. In the QueryVersion() function, the migration DLL file should check whether that specific language version of the application is installed on the system. It should only return ERROR_SUCCESS if the targeted application is installed.

The second method involves one migration DLL that detects and migrates multiple language versions of an application. It is important to consider the use of the CodePageArray parameter in the QueryVersion function. The CodePageArray parameter points to an array that contains all of the code pages supported by the migration DLL. The following example specifies that the migration DLL only supports languages that fall into the US (ANSI) code page 1252:


INT g_CodePageArray[] = {1252,-1};

LONG CALLBACK QueryVersion(LPCSTR *ProductID, LPUINT DllVersion,
   LPINT *CodePageArray, LPCSTR *ExeNamesBuf, PVENDORINFO *VendorInfo)
{
   ...
   *CodePageArray  = g_CodePageArray;
   ...
}

When using the CodePageArray parameter, consider whether your application might be installed on a system with a different-language operating system. For example, is it likely that the English version of the application could be installed on a computer running Russian Windows 95 or 98? If so, using the CodePageArray parameter as shown above might prevent this valid English installation from being migrated, since the Cyrillic code page has not been specified.

An alternative is to return NULL for CodePageArray. This causes Windows 2000 Setup to call your migration DLL regardless of the user's language setting. It is then the responsibility of the migration DLL to determine at run time whether any of the targeted language versions of the application are installed.

Using Visual C++ and Multiple Language Resource Scripts

String tables are an excellent way to store localized strings. The Resource Editor in Visual C++ versions 5.0 and 6.0 allows you to maintain multiple language copies of the same string table. You can then let the operating system select a string that matches the current regional settings by using the LoadString API. Or you can choose to use the following low-level APIs: FindResourceEx, LoadResource, and LockResource.

To localize a string table in Visual C++ 5.0 or 6.0, use the following steps:

Open the resource script (.RC) containing the string tables that you want to localize.

Select the string table in the resource tree.

On the Insert menu, click Resource Copy.

In the Insert Resource Copy dialog box, select the desired language.

Localize the strings for this new string table.

REFERENCES

For more information on Migration DLLs, see following in the MSDN Online Library:

Platform SDK; Management Services; Setup; Migration-Extension Interface

For a list of code page identifiers, see following in the MSDN Online Library:

Platform SDK; Base Services; International Features; Unicode and Character Sets; Unicode and Character Set Reference; Unicode and Character Set Constants; Code-Page Identifiers

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbsetup kbWinOS2000 kbSDKWin32 kbMigWin9xtoWin2k kbMigrationDLL kbDSupport kbGrpDSTools kbMigrationDLLFAQ
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto