Localizing form views

After a form view is defined for a locale, the following components of the form view are localized:

  • User interface components—Components that users see, such as:
    • Field labels
    • Selection field values
    • Banner names
  • Message components—Underlying AR Systemmessages and text, such as:
    • System messages
    • Active link messages
    • Filter messages
    • Help text linked to active link or filter workflow triggers
    • Character menus
    • Form and field help
    • Descriptions and help text embedded within applications and guides
    • Labels for applications and guides
    • External files linked to applications or reporting
  • Automatically generated forms—These views are automatically saved with the locale of en_US. If you need a view of the form in another locale, open the view of the form on a computer set to the locale you require, and save it.

When the Localize Server field is checked in the AR System Administration Console, retrieval of messages is redirected from the default system-loaded DLL to the AR System Message Catalog form.  For more information, see Localizing-the-server. The AR System Message Catalog form enables administrators to localize or customize messages and is populated using manual procedures or automation.

As an example of a customized environment, an administrator can take a single application and tailor the message components to users' needs, leaving the original application definition untouched. AR System identifies and retrieves the localized or customized messages from the AR System Message Catalog form. Messages for other AR Systemobjects that are not customized are safely retrieved from the system's default location because no entry for them exists in the AR System Message Catalog form.

Related topic

How-AR-System-selects-a-view-for-the-user

Creating a localized view of a form

For each form that you want to localize, create a localized view of that form. Use an existing view as the base for creating a localized view. Then, update the following properties:

  • Locale—The Locale view property associates a language and country dialect with a view in the following format: language_country. Select only the language (not the country) so that all variations of a language are included. For example, if a user has es_AR (Spanish, Argentina) selected as a preference, but no view is created for es_AR, the view created with locale es is displayed.

  • Label—The label for the localized view must be the same as the label for the view that is used as the base when creating a localized view. This label must then be selected in the Default View list. The label selected in the Default View list provides the selection base when AR Systemsearches for the preferred locale among views. When a user opens a form, the view selected for display is determined by the criteria described in How-AR-System-selects-a-view-for-the-user.

    Tip

    To localize labels on a view, you can use the ARLABEL utility, which is automatically installed in the same directory as the AR System. ARLABEL allows you to extract all the text that can appear on a view screen into a CSV file, such as labels, button text, URL links, text trim, menu items, selection field choices. After the translated names are supplied for each item, you can import the file and load the new labels into an appropriate language view (created if needed or updated in place if already present). For more information about using ARLABEL, go to http://www.bmc.com/support.

For more information, see Defining-and-managing-form-views and Setting-form-view-properties.

Localizing the user interface of a form view

After a view is associated with a locale, you can select that view and localize the user interface components, including:

  • Field labels
  • Request aliases—Banner names
  • Selection fields—Values linked to lists or radio buttons

Use one of the following methods.

To localize the user interface through exporting and importing

You can export view components to a definition file, localize them, and then import them back into the form from where they were exported.

  1. Open the AR System Administration: AR System Configuration Generic UI form, and add the following line:

    XML-VUI-Export-Default-Is-Localized: T

    To maximize the server's performance, set XML-VUI-Export-Default-Is-Localized to False (F ) if you do not intend to localize the views you export.

    For more information on updating the AR System Administration: AR System Configuration Generic UI form, see Updating-configuration-settings-by-using-the-AR-System-Configuration-Generic-UI-form.

  2. Restart the server.
  3. For each language, complete the following steps:
    1. In Developer Studio, select File > Export to export the view definitions to an XML file.
      The export wizard allows you to select multiple views, but the output is stored in a single file.
      For more information about export formats, see Exporting-and-importing-definitions.
    2. In an XML editor of your choice, translate the text located between the <characterValue> and </characterValue> tags.
      When modifying the XML file, keep the basic syntax and file layout intact.
    3. Select File > Import to import the translated view definitions back into the form from where they were exported.
      Select the Import in Place check box to replace the original view with the localized version.
      For more information about exporting and importing view definition files, see Exporting-and-importing-definitions.
    4. Verify the layout and field alignments, and make adjustments as appropriate.

To localize the user interface manually

Selecting every field on a view and entering the localized label can be time-consuming. Localizing views manually is useful if a specific component needs editing. The following procedure can help you locate field labels, request aliases, and selection fields that need a quick fix.

  1. To localize field labels, enter the customized text in the field's Label property.
    For more information about the Label property, see Field-Properties.
  2. To define alias names and labels for views, enter the appropriate text in the following view properties, under the Aliases and Labels categories for a view:
    • (Web-only views) Singular
    • Plural
    • Short Singular
    • Short Plural
    • Entry Point New
    • Entry Point Search properties
      For more information about the Aliases and Labels tab, see Setting-form-view-properties.
  3. To localize display values for selection fields:
    1. In Developer Studio, open the form you want to localize.
    2. Select a view.
    3. Double-click a list or radio button field on the view.
    4. Click the entry you want to modify in the Selection Value list, and enter the localized text in the Alias Value edit box. Click the Modify button for each entry that you modify.
    5. Save the form.

 

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