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Language

This topic is part of Global Deployment Terminology.

The language for a Siebel application can mean multiple things, and may involve different system or application elements. These elements are independent from the language of the data that the user enters in the Siebel Database. You must install seed data according to how you want to use languages in the Siebel applications.

• The primary language (sometimes called the base language) is the first language installed for this Siebel product installation, particularly the first language installed in the Siebel Database.

  NOTE:  In general, the term primary language refers to the first language installed in the Siebel Database. However, the phrase also appears in Siebel Configuration Wizards, where it may indicate the language used for server messages and logging. For most deployments, these are the same language. Siebel Configuration Wizards are described in the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

• The active language is the language in effect for an individual user's session and the language of user interface elements, including multilingual lists of values (MLOVs) that have been enabled. The same language is used for system messages (if the resource language is not separately defined).
  • For a Siebel Web Client session, the language is determined by the Application Object Manager (AOM) component invoked, and cannot be changed by the user—except by logging in to a different language-specific AOM.
  • For the Mobile or Developer Web Client, the user can explicitly specify the language to use for a given session.
• The resource language, if it is defined, is used as the default language for system messages.

Installing Siebel Language Packs on the Siebel Server installs the language-specific run-time environment: Siebel repository (SRF) files, DLLs, configuration (CFG) files, reports, error messages, help files, and so on. You install the same languages on all the components in your Siebel Enterprise.

When you install the Siebel Database for a new installation, language-specific seed data is added for the primary language only. For multilingual deployments, you must add seed data for additional languages separately after your initial Siebel Database installation.

When you upgrade the Siebel Database from a prior Siebel version, all existing languages are upgraded at the same time. For more information, see Siebel Database Upgrade Guide.

The languages allowed in data are constrained only by the character encoding of the database platform. For example, although a user may be using a U.S. English version of a Siebel application installed with a Western European code page database, the user can enter or view contact data in French, because all French characters are representable in the Western European code page.

With a Unicode code page, and appropriate fonts locally installed, languages using dissimilar character sets, such as French and Japanese, may be used together.

Language codes used by Siebel Business Applications use a three-letter code, such as ENU for U.S. English, FRA for French, THA for Thai, and so on. Using language codes with only two characters does not work and is not supported.

See also About Parameters for Language and Locale and Creating Language and Locale Records.