2.1 Solaris Language-Support Framework

In an internationalized application, language-specific features and cultural data are separated from application code. The Solaris internationalization framework divides code and language and cultural data into the following three areas:

• Locale

• Interface localization

• Codeset independence

A locale is a set of language and cultural variables, particular to a global region. The locale is selected by the user and loaded in memory at run time. The selected locale applies to the operating system and subsequent application launches.

Interface localization is the process of translating the interface language into another language by storing text strings and messages in a separate message file. Messages are more easily composed, translated, and referenced in a separate file than in hard-coded statements throughout the application. Furthermore, recompilation of the source binary is unnecessary.

Codeset independence does not assume a particular codeset to display and manipulate data.