User Interface Text (Chapter 4) 20C

Tools for Changing Text

You can modify and replace words or phrases that appear on pages, in messages, and other areas of the UI using several tools or tasks.

Use these tools to make text changes:

Application Composer
User Interface Text
Page Composer
Structure

Multiple factors influence the option you select to modify UI text. Here are a few factors:

Your product family
The extent and scope of your changes
The components that you modify

This table lists the tools that you can use to modify UI text, navigation steps to use these tools, and the corresponding product families associated with these tools.

Tool or Task	Navigation	Product Family
Application Composer	Click Navigator > Configuration > Application Composer.	Oracle CX Sales Oracle B2B Service Oracle Supply Chain Management Oracle Project Management
User Interface Text	Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.	All applications
Page Composer	Click your user image or name in the global header, and select Edit <Page Name> Pages in the Settings and Actions menu. If the Edit <Page Name> Pages option isn't available in the Settings and Actions menu, then select Edit Pages instead.	All applications
Structure	Click Navigator > Configuration > Structure.	All applications

Text Modification Scenarios

This table includes possible scenarios for modifying user interface text. Compare your situation to the scenario in the table to determine the most appropriate tool for modifying text in your application.

Task	Scope	Tool or Task	Example
Simultaneously replace multiple occurrences of a word or phrase that appear on multiple pages in multiple contexts	Comprehensive. The change affects multiple pages throughout your application. You can edit the embedded help (for example, hints) using this method.	User Interface Text	Change the word "Employee" to "Associate" on every page associated with Employee Self-Service, Benefits, and Payroll.
Simultaneously replace multiple occurrences of a word or phrase that appear in parts of messages in the message dictionary	Comprehensive. The change affects multiple messages throughout your application.	User Interface Text	Change the word "Employee" to "Associate" in every message associated with Employee Self-Service, Benefits, and Payroll.
Simultaneously replace multiple occurrences of the singular and plural forms of a word or phrase that appear in messages and on pages	Comprehensive. The change affects multiple pages and multiple messages throughout your application.	User Interface Text	Change the word "Employee" to "Associate" and "Employees" to "Associates".
Replace a word or phrase that appears on a specific page	Targeted: A page The change affects text on a specific page or page fragment.	Page Composer	Change the word "Customer" to "Account" on two specific pages.
Replace a word or phrase that appears in a specific message in the message dictionary	Targeted: A message The change affects part of a specific message in the message dictionary.	Manage Messages task	Change the word "Recruit" to "Potential Employee", but only in two specific messages. All other messages continue to use the word "Recruit".
Simultaneously replace a word or phrase associated with a specific object wherever the object appears	Targeted: A business object The change affects a specific component of a specific message in the message dictionary.	User Interface Text	Change the label of the opportunity business object, from "Opportunity" to "Deal". You want the change to affect the business object wherever it appears.
Replace words or phrases that appear in menus and menu items	Targeted: Navigator menu item text	User Interface Text	Change the menu item label from "Total Compensation Statements" to "Compensation Package Statements".

No matter which tool you use to make changes, all application changes are written in a single override bundle. So, the latest application changes overwrite the previous ones.

Note: If you replace text using plain text as an input value, it supersedes any changes that use the override bundle. For example, if you enter a direct string in Page Composer, then Page Composer writes these changes in a file (not string resource) containing page modifications. So, such changes overwrite the changes in the override bundle.

Related Topics

Guidelines for Using Page Composer

Modify Text Using User Interface Text Tool

You can use the User Interface Text tool to modify text in these application components:

User Interface Text
Multipart Validation Messages
Global Menu Label Text
Enterprise Scheduler Text

You can use this tool to modify or translate multiple strings at the same time. You can also export your strings to make your changes offline.

Modify Text

Create and activate a sandbox.
Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Search and Replace tab, which is the default tab you see.
In the Find field, enter the word or phrase you want to search for.
In the Replace field, enter your replacement word or phrase.
You can specify additional search parameters, such as Match Case or Match Complete Word or Phrase.
Select the language in which you want to modify your text.
Select types of application components you want to modify your text for.
Click Search. The search results are grouped into different tabs based on the types of application components.

Caution: Tabs marked with an asterisk (*) have live changes that are saved directly to the mainline metadata. You can't undo these changes once you save them. Make sure you review changes carefully before replacing your strings.
Preview and adjust changes in your search results.
If you aren't satisfied with the search results, you can do another search using the New Search button.
Click Replace Strings. If you have live changes in your results, you get a warning message. Click Yes if you have reviewed these changes carefully and want to proceed.
Test your changes in the sandbox.
Publish your sandbox to merge your changes with the mainline metadata.

Preview and Adjust Changes in Search Results

You can preview your search results, which display the data sorted and presented on tabs based on the match categories. Data grids on each tab present the matches in rows. You can adjust each row independently. The grids on each tab are similar, but not identical.

Each row on all tabs includes these sets of information:

A preview of the existing text and the immediately surrounding text for context. You can't edit the existing view.
A preview of the replacement text and the immediately surrounding text for context. You can edit the preview.
An option to exclude the row and the specific match you see in the row from the change.

Here are some things you can do with the search results:

Select Exclude for specific strings that you don't want to change.

For the User Interface Text tab, you can also select one of these options from the Exclude menu:
- None: Don't exclude any result.
- All: Exclude all results.
- None (Page): Don't exclude any result on the page.
- All (Page): Exclude all results on the page.
You can specify how many results you want to display on a page.
Manually edit your replacement text for specific strings.

For instance, let's say you have a string that says "Generate a bill". If you replace "bill" with "invoice", this string becomes "Generate a invoice", which is incorrect. You can tune your replacement text for this string to say "Generate an invoice" by manually editing the text in the replacement text box.
For the User Interface Text component, you can click Export All to export your search results to view in a .csv file.
Query your search results in the User Interface Text component to find specific strings.
For each row on the Messages tab, you can click the Expand icon to expand the row and view the subordinate rows. The subordinate rows display the message subcomponent containing the search results and the preview.

Related Topics

Sample Search Values for User Interface Text Modification

You search and replace text using the User Interface Text tool. You can enter the singular and plural forms of whole words or phrases. You can either do case-sensitive searches or search for an exact match of your search text value.

This table lists the sample values that you can use while entering search text.

Note: You can't perform partial word searches, nor can you use wildcard characters as part of the search text.

Search Text	Expected Match	Match?	Reason
`Flex`	`flex` `Flex`	Yes	The application searches for any occurrence of your search string, no matter what its position is, in the strings it searches. Unless you select Match Case, all matches are considered exact.
`flex`	flexfields Flexfields A flexfield is a... A Flexfield is a...	No	The application treats your search text value as a whole word. The text `flex` isn't the same as the text `flexfields`.
`^Flex$`	flexfields Flexfields A flexfield is a... A Flexfield is a...	No	Use `^string$` in the Find field to say this string must match the complete field. The application treats your search text value as the entire value of the strings it searches. Alternatively, select Match Complete Word or Phrase to search for an exact match of your search text value.
`^Flex$`	`flex` `Flex`	Yes	Use `^string$` in the Find field to say this string must match the complete field. The application treats your search text value as the entire value of the strings it searches. Unless you select Match Case, both matches are considered exact. Use just `^string` in the Find field to say this phrase must appear at the beginning of a field.
`flex credits`	`Flex Credits Configuration` `Allow rollover of flex credits` `Flex Credits` `Manage Flex Credits Configuration`	Yes	The application searches for any occurrence of your search string, no matter what its position is, in the strings it searches. Unless you select Match Case, all matches are considered exact.
`flex credits`	`flex credit shell plan` `Allow rollover of flex credit for...`	No	The application searches for any occurrence of your search string, no matter what its position is, in the strings it searches.
`credits configuration$`	`Flex Credits Configuration` `Manage Flex Credits Configuration`	Yes	Use `string$` in the Find field to say this phrase must appear at the end of a field. The application searches for the exact spelling and sequence of words, where the words appear at the end of the strings it searches. Unless you select Match Case, both matches are considered exact.

Overview of Translating Modified Text

If you install and use multiple languages in your application and you modify text, then enter translations of the modified text for all languages. You can enter translations for existing and newly added strings manually. You can also translate your strings offline.

You can use many configuration tools to update or add strings. For example, you can use lookups to add translations, or you can use the User Interface Text tool to update all strings and enter their translations.

Related Topics

Translation of Flexfield and Value Set Configurations

Translate Existing Strings Added Using Configuration Tools

In this example, you translate existing strings manually.

This table summarizes the key decisions for this scenario.

Decisions to Consider	In this Example
What's the sandbox name that you want to use for translating existing strings?	Sandbox1
What's your base language?	English
What's the existing text that you want to modify?	Page
What's the replacement text that you want to replace the existing text with?	Work area

Enter Text Translations for Existing Strings

Install English language in your application.
Create and activate Sandbox1.
Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Search and Replace tab, which is the default tab you see.
In the Find field, enter the text, "page".
In the Replace field, enter the text, "work area".
Click Search.

Caution: Some tab names on the Preview Text Changes page are followed by an asterisk (*) (for example, the Messages tab). For these tabs, once you save the preview text changes, these changes are applied to the mainline metadata. You can't undo your changes after you preview and save them, even though you're currently in a sandbox. The changes still remain, even if you delete the sandbox.
Preview and adjust changes in your search results.
Click Replace Strings.
Test and verify all messages and pages affected by the text changes. Be sure to test across all applications.
Publish Sandbox1.

Your replacement text for the existing string is now available to all users.

Related Topics

Create and Activate Unified Sandboxes

Translate New Strings Added Using Configuration Tools

In this example, you translate new strings that were added using configuration tools. Remember, while creating strings using configuration tools, such as the Structure page, always use the same language, that is, your base language.

This table summarizes key decisions for this scenario.

Decisions to Consider	In this Example
What's the sandbox name that you want to use for translating newly added strings?	Sandbox2
What's the language you want to translate your newly added English string to?	French
What's the newly created English text that you want to translate in French?	Computer
What's the French replacement text that you want to replace the newly created English text with?	Ordinateur

Enter Text Translations for Newly Added Strings

Install both English and French languages in your application.
Create and activate Sandbox2.
Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Search and Replace tab, which is the default tab you see.
In the Search field, enter the newly created English string. You must search in English because the French equivalent has not yet been created.
In the Replace field, enter the French string as the replacement text.
Select French as the language you want to translate your new English string to.
Click Search.

Caution: Some tab names on the Preview Text Changes page are followed by an asterisk (*) (for example, the Messages tab). For these tabs, once you save the preview text changes, these changes are applied to the mainline metadata. You can't undo your changes after you preview and save them, even though you're currently in a sandbox. The changes still remain, even if you delete the sandbox.
Click Replace Strings.
Test and verify all messages and pages affected by the text changes. While testing, you must sign in with French as the language and use sandbox2.

Note: You can select any active language instead of French to translate your new English string.
Publish Sandbox2.

Your replacement text for the newly added string is now available to all users.

Related Topics

Create and Activate Unified Sandboxes

Translate Strings Offline

You can translate your modified strings offline. To translate your strings offline, export them, add the necessary translations, and then import them back into the application.

Export Strings

Create and activate a sandbox.
Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Export tab.
Select the source language for the text you want to export for translation.
Click Export and download the file with all the modified strings that have been published as well as those that are in the current sandbox.

Translate Strings

Extract the .zip file you downloaded, and open the .xlf file inside it using a text editor of your choice.
Locate the strings you want to edit. You can find these strings inside <source> and </source>.
Replace the <target/> tag following the </source> tag with the translation you need. The translated string should be inside <target> and </target>.

Let's look at an example of an English to Spanish translation.
```
<source>All Receipts</Source>
<target>Todos los Recibos</target>
```
Save the file when you're done.
Compress the translated .xlf file into a .zip file.

Import Translated Strings

Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Import tab.
Select the target language you want to import the translated strings to.
Click Browse and select the .zip file you want to import.
Click Import.

Note: After importing your strings, test your text changes inside the sandbox. Publish the sandbox to apply your changes to the application.

Related Topics

Create and Activate Unified Sandboxes

Translate New Strings Offline From English to German

In this example, you translate new strings that were added using configuration tools, from English to German. Remember, while creating strings using configuration tools, always use the same language, that is, your base language.

This table summarizes key decisions for this scenario.

Decisions to Consider	In this Example
What's the sandbox name that you want to use for translating newly added strings?	Sandbox3
What's your base language?	English
What's the language you want to translate your newly added English string to?	German
What's the newly created English text that you want to translate in German?	Network
What's the German replacement text that you want to replace the newly created English text with?	Netzwerk

Export Strings

Install both English and German languages in your application.
Create and activate Sandbox3.
Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text
Click the Export tab.
Select American English as the source language for the text you want to export for translation.
Click Export.

Translate Strings

Extract the .zip file you downloaded. The .zip file name includes "en", which is the code for English Language.
Rename the .zip file to change the code from "en" to "de", which is the code for German language.
Open the .xlf file inside the .zip file using a text editor of your choice.
Locate the strings you want to edit. You can find these strings inside <source> and </source>.
Replace the <target/> tag following the </source> tag with the translation you need. The translated string should be inside <target> and </target>.

Here is how it should look:
```
<source>Network</Source>
<target>Netzwerk</target>
```
Save the file when you're done.
Compress the translated .xlf file into a .zip file.

Import Translated Strings

Click Navigator > Configuration > User Interface Text.
Click the Import tab.
Select German as the target language you want to import the translated strings to.
Click Browse, and select the .zip file you want to import.
Click Import.

Note: After importing your strings, test your text changes in Sandbox3. Publish Sandbox3 to apply your changes to the application.

Related Topics

Create and Activate Unified Sandboxes

FAQs for User Interface Text

Can I undo text changes that I made using the User Interface Text tool if I haven't published the sandbox?

It depends on types of text changes in the sandbox. If you want to undo all text changes done in the user interface and global menu label, delete your sandbox before publishing it. However, you can't undo the text changes done in messages and enterprise scheduler.

Can I get a report of all modified text if I want to analyze, troubleshoot, and diagnose the cause of unexpected action?

No, but you can use Manage Configurations dialog box to export all your configurations to a .zip file. Click your user image or name in the global header, and select Manage Configurations. In the Manage Configurations dialog box, you can find the text changes in files ending in ".xlf.xml". These files list all text changes done in your application using browser-based tools, such as Application Composer, Page Composer, and User Interface Text. You can use the contents of these files for diagnosis and troubleshooting purposes. However, these files can't be uploaded to the sandbox.

Related Topics

View and Diagnose Application Changes

Why didn't text in my BI reports and SOA processes change when I used the User Interface Text tool to do comprehensive text updates?

The bulk updates that you do using the User Interface Text tool affect only the text that appears on application pages, in messages, in global menu label, and in enterprise scheduler.

Why can't I see some of my previous changes in the History tab of User Interface Text Tool?

The History tab only shows the changes you made in your current sandbox. Previous changes that were made in or published from different sandboxes aren't recorded in the history for the current sandbox.