Localizing message components of a form view

To localize messages automatically

1. Use a browser to export messages in the AR System Message Catalog form to an .arx file.
2. Translate the messages in the .arx file.
3. With AR SystemData Import, import the messages into the AR System Message Catalog form.
   For information about using AR SystemData Import, see Importing data into AR System forms.
4. To indicate that system default messages should be overridden:
   1. In a browser, open the AR System Administration: Server Information form.
   2. Click the Advanced tab.
   3. Select the Localize Server check box.

To localize messages manually

1. In a browser, open the AR System Message Catalog form. 
   
2. Enter or select the appropriate data for the following fields:
   • Message Type—The type of message you are localizing.

   • Message Identifier—The object whose messages you are localizing. The following table lists the information you can enter:

     For this message type:	Enter this message identifier:
     System message	The error number
     Active link message	The name of the active link
     Active link help text	The name of the active link
     List menu definition (character menu)	The character menu name
     Filter message	The name of the filter
     Form help text	The name of the form you are localizing
     Field help text	The name of the form you are localizing
     Container description	The name of the container
     Container label	The name of the container
     Container help text	The name of the Container
     External report	The name of the active link that the External Report is linked to
     Application help	The name of the application
     Application about	The name of the application
     Application help index	The name of the application
     Flashboards system message	The name of the flashboard
     Flashboards label	The name of the flashboard

   • Locale—The locale for the message. Enter the locale in the format: language_country.
     To find a list of acceptable entries for this field, open any form in Developer Studio, and locate the Locale view property. This property lists all of the available locales.
     It is best to enter only the language portion, allowing for all country variations of a language. For example, an entry of fr includes all country variations of French.
   • Status— The status of localized messages to be retrieved. The options are:
     • Active—Enables a message for retrieval.
     • Inactive—Does not allow the server to access the message even if the server is set as localized.
   • Field ID or Msg Num— The field identifier or message number.
     • To find the field ID, in Developer Studio, select the field, and view the ID property on the Properties tab.
     • To find the message number, open the corresponding If Action or Else Action panel of the corresponding active link or filter.
       For external reports, enter the file ID. Support files are saved according to the object name and file ID. The file ID differentiates between multiple support files when more than one file or report is associated with a single active link. You can identify how many reports or files are associated with an active link, and then enter the appropriate number; for example 1, 2, and so on. Another solution to finding the file ID is to export the active link and review the .def file.
   • Return Type—Identifies whether text or file is returned when the message is called.

   • Message Text—The text that is returned when Return Type is text and appears in the message, help text, label, description, or menu. The default size of the text string is 255 bytes and is defined in the ar.h file as AR_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE on the Developer Studio. Messages larger than 255 bytes might include an embedded colon after 255 bytes.
     For list menus definitions (character menus), the format is the same as a file menu. Each line in the file contains a definition of a menu entry in the following format:

     label\value

     If you want to include an entry ID in a message in Message 1100, enter the %s variable. For example, enter the following text in the localized language: The entry was successfully created with ID = %s When you enter the message for your localized application, %s becomes the entry ID: The entry was successfully created with ID = 000000000000551

   • Binary Attachment—The file that is returned when Return Type is Binary Attachment.
     The following table describes the type of files you might attach to this field:

     For this message type:	Attach this file:
     External Report	The localized report
     Application Help	A help file (.hlp ). Application help refers to the file attached in the Help Text panel of the application in Developer Studio.
     Application About	An image file (.bmp, . jpeg, . jpg, .dib )
     Application Help Index	A help index file (.cnt ). The .cnt file is the contents file used in conjunction with the application help (.hlp ) file. Both files are used together only if the locale is matched between them; otherwise, only the help file is used.