localizing software

Ken Ray kray at sonsothunder.com
Tue Jul 10 17:09:59 EDT 2007


On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:27:23 -0700, Mark Talluto wrote:

> I need to localize one of my apps for different languages.  I 
> remember talking with Trevor about this at a SoCalRev Meeting a while 
> back.  I just don't remember the details.
> 
> How are you guys handling multi-lang versions of your software?  I 
> remember him storing it in a custom property.  The key was the 
> technique for changing out the text for all the controls in a stack 
> on the fly.  Any pointers would be appreciated.

IMHO, it is actually better if you can read the textual portions of 
your app from an external file, or have some code that will move it 
from custom props to a file and back again. The reason I say that is 
that it makes it easier for translators - they can just open the text 
file in a word processor or text editor and add the translations and 
hand it back.

And the wide field labels that Paul mentioned is critical - there are 
many languages (Spanish, German, etc.) where the length of a comparable 
string is much larger than the English version.

Also, depending on the language, you'll need to be watchful of accent 
marks and how they are represented.

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software, Inc.
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com
Web Site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/



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