The EStore.International module extends the repository definitions for existing item types that have properties that require translation (category, product, SKU, etc.). It also adds several new helper item types that are used to store translated content for the existing item types. These two mechanisms work together to replace properties that require translation with derived properties that obtain their values based on the customer’s current locale. The following section describes this process in detail.

Extending the Repository Definitions

The International module makes the following modifications to each item type that has properties that require translation:

The International module defines a set of helper item types that use the naming convention <baseType>Translation, where <baseType> refers to an existing item type. A corresponding <baseType>Translation item type is defined for all existing item types that have translatable properties (for example, a skuTranslation item type is created to correspond with the sku item type, a productTranslation item type is created to correspond with the product item type, and so on). <baseType>Translation items function as containers for locale-specific content. As such, each <baseType>Translation item type has properties that correspond to the translatable properties of its base item type. For example, the sku item type has four properties that require translation — displayName, description, size, and color — therefore, the skuTranslation item also has four properties for displayname, description, size, and color.

Each <baseType>Translation item type has its own table in the database, where each row represents a single <basetype>Translation item with a unique ID. For example, the crs_sku_xlate table contains all the skuTranslation items, the crs_prd_xlate table contains all the productTranslation items, and so on.

Note: For a detailed list of <baseType>Translation item types created by the International module, see Translation Items Created by the International Module.

Every base item (in other words, every SKU, every product, every category, and so on) is tied, through its translations property, to one or more <baseType>Translation items. For each base item, a separate <baseType>Translation item exists for each locale (with the exception of the default locale, which we will get to momentarily). The following illustration shows three sku items and six corresponding skuTranslation items which contain translated content for two locales, Spanish and German:

To create the relationships that connect a base item to its <baseType>Translation items, the International module changes the definitions of the translatable properties in the existing item types. The new definitions specify that each translatable property is a derived property whose value is determined as follows:

The following illustration is a graphic representation of the repository changes made by the International module. It shows a sku base item with two supporting skuTranslation items, one for German and the other for Spanish. The sku base item has been modified to add four <translatableProperty>Default properties: displayNameDefault, descriptionDefault, sizeDefault, and colorDefault. The sku base item has also been modified to add the translations property, which contains the map connecting the base sku item to its German and Spanish translation items. Finally, the displayName, description, size, and color property definitions have been changed to derived properties.

Repository Item Translation Examples

The following illustration shows how the sku.displayName property is derived for a store that has English (default), German, and Spanish translations:

In this illustration, the following happens:

This next illustration shows what happens when a locale is specified that doesn’t exist in the sku.translations property map.

In this illustration, the following happens:

Repository Item Translation Benefits

The approach Commerce Reference Store takes to handling the translation of repository items offers several significant benefits over other internationalization approaches:

Translation Items Created by the International Module

Several repository definition files in the International module’s config.jar file (<ATG10dir>/CommerceReferenceStore/Store/EStore/International/config/config.jar) define the <baseType>Translation items for Commerce Reference Store.

The /atg/commerce/catalog/custom/customCatalog.xml file defines the following <baseType>Translation items for the catalog repository:

The /atg/commerce/pricing/pricingModels.xml file defines the following <baseType>Translation items for the promotions repository:

The /atg/seo/SEORepository.xml file defines the following <baseType>Translation items for the SEO repository:

The /atg/store/stores/storeText.xml file defines the following <baseType>Translation items for the store text items held in the StoreRepository:

A Note About the StoreRepository

The /atg/store/stores/StoreRepository holds store items as well as storeText and storeLongText items. store items define properties for store locations such as address, phone, and fax numbers. storeText and storeLongText items hold text-based content that appears on the static information pages such as About Us, Corporate Site, Careers, and so on (storeText holds content that is 256 characters or less; storeLongText holds content that is greater than 256 characters).

To view storeText and storeLongText items: