Internationalization and CDE

Multiple environments may exist within a common open system to support various languages. Each of these is called a locale. A locale specifies the language, fonts, and customs to display data. CDE is fully internationalized so that any application can run in any locale. Any application should be code-set-independent and include support for any multibyte codeset.

All components are shipped as a single, worldwide executable. These support the U.S.A., Europe (Western and Eastern), Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and China.

Matching Fonts to Character Sets

Various sets of fonts are used to render a locale's characters. The specific font character set depends on the locale. This information should be in a locale specific app-defaults file. It will contain font sets, fonts, and font lists.

XmFontSet specifies the locale-dependent fonts. The resource name is *fontSet. Fonts should not be specifically named. The resource name for XFontStruct is *font. Font lists contain lists of fonts and font sets. XFontList specifies the fonts.

Storage of Localized Text

Text strings in each language should be stored outside of the application and in directories that are identified by locale names. These strings are stored in three types of files: resource files, message catalogs, and private files.

Resource files and message catalogs are both files that deliver text strings. Resource files are compiled when they are loaded and message catalogs are precompiled and ready to be accessed. Any application should be codeset-independent and include support for any multibyte codeset. Private files may be databases of information that include some text strings. Ideally, text strings should be in resource files or message catalogs. If text strings are supplied in a private file, then a tool should also be developed to extract and replace text strings.

Xlib Dependencies

X locale supports one or more of the locales defined by the host environment. Direct Xlib^TM conforms to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) C library and the locale announcement method is the setlocale() function. This function configures the locale operation of both the host C library and Xlib. The operation of Xlib is governed by the LC_CTYPE category; this is called the current locale. The XSupportsLocale() function is used to determine whether the current locale is supported by X.

Message Guidelines

Message guidelines should be developed and used to create a consistent format and style for text. Use clear and simple English so that all users, including those whose command of English is minimal, can understand every message. The book Common Desktop Environment: Internationalization Programmer's Guide ends with a number of guidelines for producing clear, concise, translatable messages. Messages should explain the problem and suggest how to perform the action successfully. Comments to the translators should also be included that explain concepts, variables, and so forth. The book includes several lists of suggestions for the format style of the message catalogs and the style of the messages themselves.

Before sending out the message catalogs to be translated, it is useful to have the message catalogs translated from English into international English, that is, into a simplified English that can be easily translated into other languages. This speeds up the translation process, reduces the translator queries, and saves costs.