Working with Culture Strings

After creating the necessary Cultures record, a translator needs to define the applicable Local String for each Culture String that the organization wants to localize. In addition, an administrator may need to create new Culture Strings records that correspond to new functionality that the organization has added to Aptify.

This topic contains the following sub-topics:

• About the Aptify Delivered Culture Strings
• Defining Local Strings with the Localization Dashboard
• Creating New Culture Strings
• Creating Culture String Categories

About the Aptify Delivered Culture Strings

The Culture Strings service includes a set of records to localize all areas of the Aptify system that are accessible by the typical end user. An organization only needs to add the applicable Local Strings for the organization's supported cultures to these Culture Strings. Aptify includes over 15,000 delivered culture strings organized into over 150 categories. These records cover both system metadata (such as Entity Name culture strings) and culture strings that are embedded in code (such as display names in code-based wizards).

This includes the following areas:

• System Metadata Culture Strings
• Code-based Culture Strings

System Metadata Culture Strings

The following metadata records include one or more links to the Culture Strings service to localize particular content in Aptify:

• Application Ribbon Buttons: To localize the display name and tool tip of a ribbon button.
• Application Ribbon Groups: To localize the display name of a ribbon group.
• Applications: To localize the name of an application in Aptify.
• Attendee Status: To localize the name and description of meeting attendee status options.
• Base Fields: To localize the display name and help text for Base Fields.
• Commands: To localize the display name and tool tip of a menu item or button in the Aptify user interface.
• Dashboard Buttons: To localize the name and description of a dashboard button.
• Dashboards: To localize the name of a dashboard. A corresponding Culture String field also appears in the Dashboard Options configuration dialog.
• Dashboard Parts: To localize the name of a dashboard part. A corresponding Culture String field also appears in the Dashboard Parts configuration dialog.
• Entities: To localize the name of a service (for top-level entities) or the caption for a sub-type tab on generated forms (for sub-type entities).
• Entity Actions: To localize the name of code-based wizards as they appear in a tool tip when a user hovers over the wizard's icon in the view toolbar.
• Entity Fields: To localize a field's caption on generated forms and the help text.
• Entity Reports: To localize the name and description of reports that appear in the Report wizard.
• Field Value Lists: To localize options in a standard or data combo value list. By default, the Preferred Addresses drop-down lists on the Persons form are localized using this method.
• Localizing Standard and Data Combo Value Lists: See Localizing Standard and Data Combo Value Lists for more details.
• Form Template Parts: To localize text that appears in a form template (that cannot be localized at the Entities or Entity Fields level). This option lets you specify culture strings for tab names that are outside the scope of an entity (such as the Attachments tab or Topic Codes tab found on many forms).
• Member Types: To localize the name and description of Member Type options on the Persons and Companies forms.
• Order Sources: To localize the name and description of Order Sources options on the Orders form.
• Order Status Types: To localize the name and description of the Order Status options on the Orders form.
• Report Categories: To localize the name of report categories that appear in the Report wizard.
• View Types: To localize the display name of a view type.
• Wizards: To localize the name, description, and step names of metadata wizards.

Code-based Culture Strings

Aptify provides a set of Culture Strings record that localize aspects of the user interface that are not configurable through metadata, such as the items described below. In this case, an organization only needs to define the applicable Local Strings for the existing Culture Strings records to localize these areas of the system:

• Aptify Shell options (context menus, status messages, system tooltips, etc.)
• Aptify configuration dialogs (such as the View Properties dialog)
• Code-based wizards
• Aptify Generic Entity Validation Messages
• Messages triggered by Entity Field Validation Scripts
• Messages triggered by Process Flow Scripts
• Extension Objects

Aptify uses the Culture String's Name field and the Culture String Category to identify the applicable location where the Culture String is used. The Culture String's Base String field identifies the default value for the string. For example, the Culture String with a name like AptifyLockBoxWizard.LockBoxWizard.DoLocalization.WelcomeText identifies the record that can localize the Lock Box Import Wizard's Welcome message.

Defining Local Strings with the Localization Dashboard

Since Aptify includes many delivered Culture Strings, the major task for a translator is to provide local translations for those strings. Aptify provides the Aptify Localization Grid dashboard to simplify this process. The dashboard utilizes the multi entity grid control functionality to simplify the data entry process for translating various culture strings into a localized language.

This dashboard is not the default for the Localization application. Aptify also includes another dashboard that displays list views of the Cultures and Culture Strings services as the default. The multi entity grid dashboard described in this section is accessible using the Switch Dashboard option.

In the sample shown below, the multi entity grid displays the Culture Strings (using the Base Strings) as rows and Cultures as columns. The individual cells identify the translation of the default string to a particular language. These Culture String/Language relationships (which correspond to CultureStringLocals sub-type records) can easily be created, modified or deleted by directly editing the string within the grid without having to open any Culture Strings records. Note that an administrator can create a copy of the dashboard and modify the part's source SQL to display only a specific set of cultures as columns (rather than the cultures that Aptify displays by default).

Creating New Culture Strings

As needed, follow these steps to create a Culture Strings record that will display localized content for each culture:

You do not need to create Culture Strings records for number, currency, date, and time fields. The format of these fields flows down from the computer's Regional Settings and from the SQL server regional settings.

1. Add the Localization Administration application to your profile, if necessary.
2. Expand the Localization Administration heading and open a new record for the Culture Strings service.
3. Enter a Name for the culture string.
   • Culture String Names must be unique. This prevents object methods that are associated with multiple Culture Strings records to retrieve the incorrect culture string.
   • Aptify uses the name to identify the type of culture string and the location to which it applies (such as Entities.DisplayName.SalesTargets to identify the culture string that applies to the Sales Targets entity's display name). 
4. Enter the default text for this string in the Base String field.
   • This is the record's name field; it is the string's representation in the neutral/base culture.
   • This is the string that appears for users are either not assigned a culture or whose culture (or base culture) does not have a Local Strings sub-type record. 
5. Enter a Description of the string in the field provided.
6. Enter a Category for this string. This field links to the Culture String Categories service.
   • See Creating Culture String Categories for Information on Culture String Categories.
     
      
7. Save the record.
8. Click the Local Strings tab.
   • The Local Strings tab displays a grid of available cultures for which you can specify a location translation of the Base String.
   • The available cultures are defined in the Cultures service. See Defining Cultures for details. 
9. Enter the text that corresponds to the specified culture directly within the grid.
   • This is the text that will appear in Aptify for users who are associated with the culture you entered in the Culture field.
   • For example, if you are localizing the term Attachments for Spanish users, you would enter Adjuntos in the Local String field, as shown below.
   • If you are localizing a menu option that supports a shortcut key combination (for example, an underline appears under one letter of the word and pressing the Alt key plus that letter executes that particular function), you can define which letter in the localized string to use as the shortcut key by placing an ampersand (&) before the desired letter in the Local String definition. See the Culture Strings record for "OK" (ID 470) for an example.  
     
     
10. If you want to record additional comments about a particular local string, double-click within its row or click the Open button in the toolbar to open the corresponding Local Strings record shown below). Click OK to save and close this record if you make any changes.  
    
    

11. Enter local strings for additional cultures as necessary.

     If you have not specified a Local String for a particular sub-culture, users of that sub-culture will use the Local String for their culture's Base Culture. For example, if you created an Attachments local string for the English base culture but not for the United States and United Kingdom sub-cultures, then this string applies to users associated with the en, en-US, and en-GB cultures.

    
     

12. Save and close the Culture Strings record.
13. Add additional Culture Strings records as necessary.
14. Review the set of existing Culture Strings records and add Local Strings for your organization's supported cultures as necessary.
    • The Culture Strings service includes a set of records to localize the standard commands in the user interface (such as the menus and the button bar on each form). An organization only needs to add the applicable Local Strings for the organization's supported cultures to these Culture Strings. See About the Commands Form for more information on the standard commands in Aptify.

Creating Culture String Categories

Each Culture Strings record is linked to a Culture String Categories record for categorization purposes. Aptify includes over 150 categories by default.

Follow these steps to create a new Culture String Categories record:

1. Add the Localization Administration application to your profile, if necessary.
2. Expand the Localization Administration heading and open a new record for the Culture String Categories service.
3. Enter a category name in the Name field.
4. If this is a sub-category of an existing category, enter the parent category in the Parent field.
5. Enter a Description for the category.
   
    
6. Save and close the record.