i18n = g11n + L10n

Adam Long & Sam SoubraQSR International

March 2009

i18n = g11n + L10n

• What does the abbreviation stand for– Internationalization = Globalization + Localization

• Or– According to Microsoft

About QSR International

Established in 1995

Independent software vendor based in

Melbourne, Australia

90% of revenue from exports

400,000 customers in 90

countries

Governor of Victoria Export Award for ICT, Winner 2006 & 2008

Microsoft Gold Partner

About QSR International Products

2006g11n

2007Japanese L10n

2008Chinese,

Spanish L10n

2009French,

German L10n

Why develop software for the global marketplace?

•Australia represents 1% of the global software market

Increase revenue potential

•Servicing a larger market is more cost-effective and efficient

Leverage development costs

•Consumers and businesses operate across international borders

Increase customer satisfaction

•Gain competitive advantage and be the leader in your industryLeadership

World Population(Source: Wikipedia)

0.3%

World Language Speakers (millions)(Source: KryssTal 2006)

Mandari

n

English

Hindi

Span

ishArab

ic

Russian

Portugu

ese

Bengali

Malay

French

Japan

ese

German

-

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

World Nominal GDP (billions USD)(Source: World Bank 2007)

United St

ates

Japan

German

yChina

United Kingd

omFra

nce Italy

Spain

Canad

aBraz

il

Russia

India

South Korea

Mexico

Australi

a

Rest of W

orld $-

$2,000 $4,000 $6,000 $8,000

$10,000 $12,000 $14,000 $16,000

Globalization (g11n)

g11n is the process of developing software whose features and code design are not solely based on a single language or locale. It involves:

Alphabets/scripts

Date/time formats, calendars

Formatting of numbers

Writing direction

Time zones

Currency

Paper sizes

Localization (L10n)

L10n is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language. It involves:

Language translation

Local content

Cultural values

Aesthetics

L10n of NVivo in Spanish

L10n of NVivo in Chinese

g11n CodeRecommendations

CurrentUICulture

• Automatically set by .NET based on user’s Windows settings• Thread.CurrentUICulture can get/set System.Globalization.CultureInfo• CultureInfo defines a culture, ISO definition, e.g. “en-US”, “en-GB”, “ja-JP”

Unicode

• System.String has useful methods such as ToUpper(), ToLower()• System.Char has useful methods such as IsLetter(), IsPunctuation()• Beware that Text files may require handling of different encodings (e.g. Unicode, UTF8, Western European Windows) using System.Text.EncodingInfo

String Comparisons

• Always pass Culture.CompareInfo as a parameter when using String.Compare(), String.CompareTo(), String.ToUpper() and String.ToLower()• E.g. Turkish has four i’s => İ & i, plus I & ı.

g11n CodeRecommendations

Date and Time

• System.DateTime Class provides support for universal and local date times• Store date and time data in universal time• Display local date and time to user

Formatting

• Numeric and DateTime values should be formatted according to CurrentUICulture• e.g. 31/12/2009 (en-GB) vs. 12/31/2009 (en-US)• e.g. 123,456.78 (en-AU) vs. 123.456,78 (de-DE)

Paper Size

• Use Default Printer settings, i.e. do not rely on the user having A4 paper

File System

• Use SHGetKnownFolderPath() rather than hard-coded paths for folders such as MyDocuments• Use Security ID rather than System Resource Name, e.g. “NT AUTHORITY\Network Service” may be named differently on different language versions of Windows

g11n DatabaseRecommendations

Collation

• Use Binary collation (_BIN or _BIN2) suffix when installing database to ensure comparisons (WHERE, GROUP BY, SORT BY) are evaluated correctly

Data Types

• Use Unicode data types NCHAR, NVARCHAR, NTEXT rather than CHAR, VARCHAR, TEXT

.Net Framework Namespace

System.Globalization

Provides National Language Support

• Date and time formatting

• String comparison and sorting

• Numeric formatting

• Calendars• etc

System.Text

Unicode used internally

Conversion from code pages through

Encoding classes

System.Resources

RESX files containing culture specific resources

Localized satellite assemblies

CultureInfo Class

The CultureInfo class provides all the basic functionality for changing the encoding format, which in turn controls structures such as the language, writing systems and calendar used by a particular culture.

In particular, the CultureInfo class maintains the values for CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture.

CurrentCulture indicates the encoding culture used for locale-dependent formatting such as with dates. CurrentUICulture indicates the encoding culture used for resource lookups

CultureInfo Class

Every locale is identified by a culture, using the format:

• Language code:• A two-letter lowercase for a language. Eg. “en”, “ar”, “zh”

• Country/Region code:• A two-letter uppercase for a country or a region. Eg. “AU”, “LB”, “CN”

Cultures are of two types:

• Neutral culture:• A culture that is linked only to a language and not to a country. Eg. “ru” is a neutral code.

• Specific culture:• A culture that is linked to both a country and a language. Eg. “ru-RU” is a specific code.

<Language code>-<Country/Region code>

“en-AU”, “en-US”, “es-MX”, “zh-CN”

Comparing and Sorting Data

Different cultures use different alphabetical orders to sort strings and different cultures also compare strings differently. The culture aware .NET Framework will handle most situations automatically via the following features:

• The String.Compare method compares strings• The CultureInfo.CompareInfo object can search for substrings• The Array.Sort method sorts the members of an array by the alphabetical order rules• The SortKey.Compare method also compares strings

All according to the rules of the CultureInfo referenced by the CurrentCulture property.

g11n Code Demo

L10n CodeRecommendations

Application

• Localize all text labels that are displayed to the user• Allow the user to change the display font

Forms & Controls

• Set the “localizable” property to True• Allow 40% more space for labels than in English

Messages & Strings

• Never hard-code, store as a resource• Avoid string concatenation, i.e. use parameterized resource strings

Icons & Graphics

• Avoid text and cultural connotations to minimize translation costs

Resource Files

The most straightforward method of dealing with localizable resources is to put everything in some type of resource repository like Windows resource files and .NET assemblies

Resource repositories tend to be easy to edit, and they eliminate the need for recompiling source code

Resource Generation

.resx file• X

ML based file containing descriptions of resources

.resources file• R

esGen tool compiles .resx files into binary files containing resources

.resources.dll – satellite assembly• T

he .resources file is embedded into an assembly using either the assembly linker tool or language compiler

Satellite Assemblies

Satellite AssembliesCulture-Specific Subdirectories

LocalizedApp.Resources.dll

LocalizedApp.Resources.dll

LocalizedApp.Resources.dll

LocalizedApp.exe

Resources

\en-US

\es

\es-MX

Main AssemblyApplication Directory

Code

Types

Form1 Form2

Form1

Form1

Form1

Control1

Form2

Form2

Form2

Control1

Control1

Control1

Localizable Property

Localizable = False (default)

• this.button1.TabIndex = 0;• this.button1.Text = "button1";

Localizable = True

• this.button1.TabIndex = ((int)(resources.GetObject("button1.TabIndex")));

• this.button1.Text = resources.GetString("button1.Text");

Locating Resources

First, attempt to find the resource in current thread’s UI culture• e

n-AU

Then try the neutral parent culture• e

n

Finally use the default resource from main assembly (otherwise throw exception)

en-AU

en-US

en

(default)

L10n Code Demo

L10n Quality AssuranceRecommendations

Viewing context/usage is important when translating and reviewing

Use a specialist software translator

Use a native speaking reviewer with domain expertise

Test on different language operating systems

L10n GeneralRecommendations

Planning

• Plan for additional Effort, Lead-time and Coordination

Review 3rd Party Components

• Ensure they support g11n and L10n

Consider what needs to be translated

• Application• User assistance materials• Marketing materials• Support materials• End User License Agreement (legal issues in translation)

Why good translations are important

• Pepsi used "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" campaign successfully in the Western World

• In Taiwan, however, it came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead"

Why good translations are important

• In the late '70s, the American computer company Wang was puzzled why its British branch refused to use its latest motto "Wang Cares".

• To British ears the motto sounded too close to "wankers".

Resources

• This Presentation– http://chieftechnologyofficer.wordpress.com

• Globalization Step-by-Step– http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-au/goglobal/bb688110.aspx

• Internationalize Your ASP.NET Applications– http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/6997

• MultiLingual Guides– https://www.multilingual.com/guides.php