Localizing SRDs

When you create an SRD, you can localize it to display text, such as questions and labels, in other languages. Questions from the original SRD are displayed on the Actions tab of the localized SRD. You can add and edit questions, edit instructions, edit displayed values and labels in the localized SRD. 

To localize SRDs

1. Create the SRD.
   See Creating a standard SRD.
2. Add all of the questions, actions, and mappings to the SRD in the default locale. Thoroughly test the SRD in the default locale to make sure it is working as expected.
   See Adding questions to an SRD and Using actions to auto-fill responses in a service request.
3. Create a new locale (or locales) for the SRD:
   1. Click Other Locales.
   2. In the Defined Locales dialog box, specify a new locale, for example, fr-French.
   3. Enter a user-friendly Title for this SRD, based on the new locale.
   4. Provide a Description based on the new locale.
   5. Click Add to save the locale.
      The questions, actions, and mappings from the default locale are copied to the new locale.
   6. (Optional) Add more locales as needed.
   7. Close the Defined Locales dialog box.
   8. Save the SRD.
4. Localize the questions for each locale:
   1. Refresh the records in the Service Catalog Manager Console, for example, by running a search.
      The newly localized SRDs appear as separate records.
   2. View the localized SRD.
   3. In the Questions and Mappings dialog box, select each question, localize the question text, responses, and instructions, and apply your changes.
   4. Close the Questions and Mappings dialog box.
   5. Save the SRD.

Users can view the localized SRD in the Request Entry console when they log into the server.

Ensuring consistent search results on localized SRDs

The mid tier displays only those SRDs that match the locale defined in the AR System user preferences form. If an SRD is not localized, it might not be visible to your users. Therefore when deploying SRDs, an important best practice is to set the correct full locale for the localized versions. 

The AR server uses the following fallback lookup mechanism for displaying SRDs:

1. The Request Entry console searches for data with the exact user locale, for example, fr_FR. 
2. If there are no matches to the full locale, it performs a wildcard search using the language only, fr%.
3. If there no matches, the server returns all SRDs with a null locale setting.
4. If there are still no matches, the server returns all SRDs. 

To ensure accurate and consistent search results, make sure to apply the full locale for localized SRDs.