Help: Localization wizard
Step 7: Export Translation

Use this form to create the ZIP translation packages. The form displays a link for each language. To create a package, do the following:

1. Click a link to start the process, which can take a few minutes. During this time, the package components are assembled. When complete, the process creates a ZIP translation package.
2. Save the ZIP file to a local directory. Return to the Localization wizard and click the next link if you are creating more than one package.
3. When you are finished creating your packages, click Next to update the wizard status in the Wizards in progress form. The confirmation form appears.
4. In the confirmation form, click Close to exit the Localization wizard.

About the ZIP translation package

The naming convention of the ZIP file is:

< Translation_language_ DateStamp_TimeStamp .zip >

For example: Translation_French_2007-04-27_14-27-01.zip

The file includes:

• An Excel spreadsheet called TextToTranslate.xls, which serves as the translator's worksheet. The contents of this file are used in the Localization wizard import process.
• An .htm file containing instructions for the translator.
• A folder for each correspondence, correspondence fragment, and HTML paragraph rule that contains HTML text. The text is located in a pair of .txt files within each folder. (The text is translated within the files; not in the Excel spreadsheet.) To enable easy access, the spreadsheet contains hypertext links to the text files.
• Folders containing graphics and HTML used to provide context examples for the translator.

When working with the contents in the package, always extract the ZIP file first. Do not work directly inside the file.

Before you send the translation package

Before you send the package to translators:

1. Make a copy of the package for reference and backup. You can rename the ZIP file or the top-level folder; there are no name restrictions.
2. Unzip the file, open the spreadsheet, and do the following:
   • Delete rows that you do no want to translate.
   • Select Format > Cells to open the Format Cells dialog box. On the Alignment tab, select Wrap text.
   • Hide the Key column to restrict access. . Be sure to communicate this restriction to your translator when you send the package.
   When you finish working in the spreadsheet, save it and then zip up the folders so they are ready to send out..
3. If more than one translator is engaged in the project, make a copy of the entire package for each translator. In each spreadsheet, delete the spreadsheet rows and .txt files that are not required for that translator, zip the folders, and send a package to each translator. When you get the files back, import each one separately.

Do not attempt to merge the Excel files; using Excel copy/paste may corrupt the file and cause the import process to fail.

Standardizing field values in the spreadsheet

As a best practice, review the list of field values in the spreadsheet to check for consistency and spelling. For example, assume that there are values for "forever" and "for ever", which you want to standardize as "forever." To do so, determine what rules reference these values.

• If the field value has an instance, (for example, a message label has RULE-OBJ-FIELDVALUE @BASECLASS PYMESSAGELABEL!FOR EVER #20070406T154426.215 GMT in the spreadsheet Key column) open the Field Value form and click the Related Rules button () to use the Referencing Rules tool.
• If the field value has no instance (for example, pyCaption forever is in the Key column), run the list view rule Index-Reference.ListReferencesForFieldValue. Enter the value from the key column (pyCaption forever) as the Rule Name parameter and click run.

After you have made your updates and save the rules, go back through the wizard and recreate the package. To do this:

1. Select Application > Localize > List Translations in Process.
2. Click the Import item in the list.
3. In the wizard, click Back to Step 7 and create the package again.

Translating HTML Paragraphs and Correspondence

Text used in HTML paragraphs, correspondence, and correspondence fragment rules is packaged in a pair of .txt files called Base.txt and Translation.txt. Both files initially contain the same text; the translator puts the translated text into the Translation.txt files. HTML paragraphs are imported into the localized RuleSet like the text strings.

As a best practice, a localized application sends correspondence in the language of the recipient, rather than the language of the user. Typically these correspondence rules use circumstance properties rather than RuleSet to identify the locale.

For example, a user may primarily speak in German but may create correspondence for a customer who speaks French. Rather than save correspondence rules in a localized RuleSet, the application can use a circumstance property setting like .pyCustomer.pyCountry = FR to define localized variations of correspondence rules.

During localization, you must manually create the correspondence rules and copy the translated text from the Translation.txt file. Make sure that your translators are experienced with HTML coding. Tagging errors are likely to prevent the rules from working correctly.

Click Cancel to resolve the wizard item.

Click Back to return to the previous step. You can also go back by clicking next to a completed step in the list on the left side of the Localization wizard.

Correspondence — Concepts and Terms About HTML rules

About the Localization wizard