An internationalized Oracle ATG Web Commerce web site can serve content that is in a different language from the one in which the server is running. For example, a server that is configured to use Japanese can serve content in Korean. An Oracle ATG Web Commerce server serves content in various languages by identifying the language or locale associated with the request and delivering content that is appropriate.

The RequestLocale component is a session-scoped component that attaches locale information to the requests of the session. You can configure the DynamoHandler servlet to add a RequestLocale to the request object. When a RequestLocale component is first created, it runs through a hierarchy of sources to determine which locale to use for the session. When the Oracle ATG Web Commerce server finds a source providing the necessary information, a Locale object is created and stored in the RequestLocale for use by all requests within the user’s session. For more information, see the Configuring the Request Locale section in this chapter.

When designing your site, keep in mind that Oracle ATG Web Commerce does not automatically ensure that the RequestLocale of the current visitor matches the language of the content in the pages that the visitor requests. In order to ensure that a visitor with a particular locale sees content suited for that locale, you must design your site with the appropriate directory and navigational structure. For more information, see Creating Locale-Specific Content Pages and Designing a Multi-Locale Entry Page in this chapter. If you want to enforce a correspondence between the RequestLocale and document language, you can build this logic into the servlet pipeline.