Internationalization and Localization
Internationalization and localization are means of adapting Logi applications to the different languages, regional differences, and cultural requirements of a specific user community.
The following topics discuss issues related to these challenges:
- Datasource Language
- OS and Browser Culture Configuration
- Globalization and CSS
- Report Page Layout Considerations
- Using the Globalization Element
- Configuring Formatting
- Customizing Dates and Calendars
- Customizing Super-Element Interfaces
- Customizing Report Definitions
- Configuring Paper Size
About Internationalization and Localization
Internationalization is the process of designing an application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without low-level engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting an internationalized application for a specific region or language by adding cultural- or locale-specific customizations and translating text. Together these are often referred to as globalization. Culture settings, which are generally governed by the client computer operating system and browser, are used to control the visual display of:
- Language, including fonts, font-sizes, symbols, reading direction, etc.
- Number formatting, including thousands-place and decimal separators
- Date & time formatting, including the use of different calendar formats
- Time zone
- Currency formatting, including symbols and positions of currency markers
- Weights and measures
- Paper size
The culture name, used to specify culture settings, is a combination of a two-letter lowercase culture code (associated with a language) and a two-letter uppercase subculture code (associated with a country or region). The format for a culture name is:
- languageCode-country/regionCode
Examples include ja-JP for Japanese (Japan) and en-US for English (United States). In rare cases where a two-letter language code is not available, a three-letter code is used. Not all culture names are available on all operating systems; for example, en-SG(English-Singapore) is not available on Windows XP. Developers may rely on the fact that Logi products use technology based on internationally-accepted standards, such as XHTML, XML, and CSS. There are no language- or culture-specific versions of Logi products and internally they can be expected to operate consistently without regard to language or culture. For example, there is no special set of elements for one language and a different set for another language. It is the output generated by Logi products, reports and web pages, that can be customized by globalization. Logi Analytics products include features designed to make globalization possible and to support a variety of cultures. Developers have successfully configured their Logi applications for use in numerous countries, languages, and cultures. This useful presentation, Designing for International Users, from the W3C, discusses many of the generic issues associated with developing globalized applications. The following sections address specific areas of interest for developers who want to globalize Logi applications.