Tài liệu Creating Applications with Mozilla-Chapter 11. Localization-P1 pptx

Because the Mozilla community and the Internet community in general, is global, it is vital to be able to cross language barriers by localizing your application and making it available t

Chapter 11 Localization-P1

This chapter describes how to use Mozilla's internationalization (I18N) and localization (L10N) technologies to make applications usable by people around the world Because the Mozilla community (and the Internet

community in general), is global, it is vital to be able to cross language

barriers by localizing your application and making it available to a wider audience

In this chapter, you are given step-by-step instructions on how to change the visible text for your application in the XUL interface and how to handle nonstatic strings that arise from dynamic string handling in other areas of your application code

While the basic technologies that are used are not new, Mozilla is innovating

in areas such as Unicode support and quick access language pack installs The information in this chapter about the internationalization

(http://www.mozilla.org/projects/intl/index.html) and localization

(http://www.mozilla.org/projects/l10n/mlp.html) projects will give you a solid foundation for what is possible in your own application

11.1 Localization Basics

Before learning how to localize your Mozilla application, it's useful to run through some of the high-level goals and features of the Mozilla

internationalization and localization projects First, here are some

definitions:

Internationalization (I18N)

The design and development of software to function in a particular locale The shorthand term, I18N, refers to the 18 letters between the initial "i" and final "n."

Localization (L10N)

The modification of software to meet the language of a location and the adaptation of resources, such as the user interface (UI) and

documentation, for that region L10N is an acronym for localization and refers to the 10 letters between the initial "l" and final "n."

Locale

"A set of conventions affected or determined by human language and customs, as defined within a particular geo-political region These conventions include (but are not necessarily limited to) the written language, formats for dates, numbers and currency, sorting orders, etc.," according to the official Mozilla document found at

http://www.mozilla.org/docs/refList/i18n/

Locale in the context of this chapter is related specifically to the display of text in the user interface The focus will be on UI localization of XUL files and strings contained in JavaScript and C++ files, as well as the methods employed for localization

Here are some main features of the Mozilla internationalization capabilities, which are relevant to the user front end application level:

• Mozilla is Unicode-enabled for Latin-based languages, Cyrillic, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Mozilla widgets and HTML rendering can support the input and display of these languages

Unicode-enabling for other languages and character sets is an ongoing process

• Mozilla can be easily localized into different languages, even if not supported by the underlying operating system

• Most Mozilla localization work involves translating strings as entities

in Document Type Definition (DTD) format and properties file format (an idea taken from Java), which are based on open standards

• Localization can be done once and run on Windows, Macintosh, Unix, and other platforms something we have come to expect from the Mozilla framework This is a great time saver, and indeed a cost saver

if you come at it from that perspective

• Mozilla supports BIDI, the display and input of text in a bidirectional format for such languages as Arabic and Hebrew, yet the capabilities for this in the UI were not mature when we were writing this book

• The UI locale DTD files use UTF-8 as the default encoding for

translated items Mozilla then maps to Unicode or non-Unicode fonts, depending on which platform you're running on or what fonts you installed in your system You are encouraged to encode your DTD files as UTF-8 when possible

Recalling the architecture of the XPFE toolkit described in Chapter 2, the locale component can be easily plugged in and out of the application that you are working on without impacting any other components This

functionality is ideal, for instance, for people with linguistic skills and less experience with technical issues to become involved in a Mozilla-related project

11.1.1 For the Developer

Many available resources show you how to help localize an existing

application into a specific language or to find out how to add localization support to your own application

The Mozilla Localization Project hosts various localization teams and

provides help whenever possible The Mozilla community includes a

discussion group that uses many languages to discuss Mozilla development

issues The netscape.public.mozilla.l10n and netscape.public.mozilla.i18n

newsgroups are a great place to discuss these issues with other developers When developing an application, some words and phrases that developers like to hear (according to the Mozilla organization, at

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/l10n/xul-l10n.html) are: standards

compliant, simple, leveragable, portable, extensible, separable, consistent, dynamic, valid, parser friendly, invisible (part of the XUL authoring

process), and efficient The following sections will help you understand how these terms and goals impact the chosen technologies and how to use those technologies The ultimate aim is to help you localize your application

easily

11.1.2 Files and File Formats

Here are the main file types you'll see when learning about locale and that you will use when localizing your Mozilla application A good home for all

of these resources is in the locale area of the application chrome

DTD (.dtd)

Files containing entities that host the strings from XUL content files Property (.properties) or string bundles

Files containing strings that are accessed by JavaScript, C++, and possibly other scripting or component files

RDF

RDF files are described in XML syntax, so use entities

HTML and text

Suitable for long text, HTML and XML documents and other content that needs to be localized

The next two sections will help you start localizing your application The sections focus on DTD files and string bundles, which are the core formats for XUL-localizable content Before getting started, here is a review of some general principles that might help you design and implement the locale

component

11.1.3 UI Aesthetics and Principles

To put locale in context, this section looks at some issues you may encounter when localizing your Mozilla application Some are universal principles and others are unique to the environment This reference is by no means

exhaustive, but it contains some scenarios and tips the authors came across

in their experience with locale in Mozilla

11.1.3.1 Space management

One of the guiding principles in UI design is for your interface to not get too crowded Although estimates are not specific, it is wise to leave about 30 percent expansion space in your window and dialogs To achieve this

flexibility, you have to ensure that the XUL window has ample space in the first place for all the widgets to fit

More specifically, the application needs to have space for widgets to expand

or contract without detracting from the overall look and feel Intuitive use of the XUL box model (refer to Chapter 3 for more information) and correct choice of widgets goes a long way in achieving this goal

The factors that can cause this space to be filled include using

languages/character sets that are more verbose than the one that was there originally, and the users changing their font size settings Some safeguards that have been built into Mozilla already handle this problem Much of it is done in CSS, but other methods are available The section "Language

Quirks," later in this chapter, outlines one of these methods

11.1.3.2 Help system

If you choose to integrate a Help system into your application, a localizable resource will be most content Opinions differ within technical writing circles, but having screenshots in your documents is generally not

considered advantageous For example, they can get out of date easily in the constantly evolving world of software, or they need to be retaken frequently when new features are added to the UI

11.1.3.3 Tooltips

Tooltips are a sometimes overlooked yet valuable way of relaying

information to the user They can be used as an alternative to a help system

if you are looking for something simpler They can also expand an

explanation of something that was annotated in the UI text Sometimes text can have multiple meanings in context, and expanding it with a tooltip can clear up any confusion In an editor or multifile browser, for example, you

might have a find button A tooltip can clear up the confusion about whether the results of the action searches in the current file or in all files

Most XUL widgets support tooltips Implementation is as straightforward as adding a tooltip attribute to the widget with an associated value For it to

be localizable, it must be in the form of a DTD entity

<tab id="config" label="&config.label;"

tooltip="&config.tooltip;" />

The Section 11.2.1 section, later in this chapter, provides more information

on the rationale for using entities and how to insert them into XUL content

11.1.3.4 Grammar

In any user interface, there is limited screen space When possible, however, provide complete or near-complete sentences These sentences are better than using text based on phrases or acronyms They provide meaning to the translator and clearer instructions to the user

11.1.3.5 Commenting

Commenting was mentioned before, but is worth stressing again The

translators may have not even seen the software that you are working on, but you hope that is not the case! Commenting is very useful for giving context and flagging strings that should not be commented You can comment your HTML, XML, or DTD files by wrapping it in a <! comment > block

<! NOTE to Translators: Do NOT change the next string >

<!ENTITY appName.label "My Application">

Note that a bundle file uses the # notation at the beginning of each line to signify a comment

# This text is used in the view menu for launching the page choices dialog

pageChoices=Go To

11.1.3.6 Web resources

Localizable resources are not only strings of text that need to be translated into different languages; they are any variable information that is liable to change over the lifetime of your application The handling of URLs is a case

in point You may have references interspersed throughout your UI that point to web resources These references can be explicit listings or widgets that, once activated, launch a client to bring you to a certain location

Images are another resource commonly used in documentation A tutorial on your application may have screenshots of the UI in action If you do use images, keep an eye out for localizable content in them

11.2 DTD Entities

Entities in XUL work the same way as they do in any other XML

application They are used to reference data that was abstracted from the content This process encourages reuse of data, but in the context of

Mozilla's XPFE, it is used to extract visible text in interface widgets This extraction ensures that the content can remain untouched during the

localization process

11.2.1 Inserting Entities

Example 11-1 shows how to put DTD entities into your XUL code by using attribute values for the text of a menu item (label) and the keyboard

access shortcuts (accesskey) The syntax requires that an entity be placed

in quotes as the value of the attribute This is a useful example because it highlights the localization of a widget label, which is common to many widgets, and a supplementary attribute, which, in this case, is an

accesskey

Example 11-1 XUL menu with entity references for text and accesskeys

<menu label="&menuFile.label;"

accesskey="&menuFile.accesskey;">

<menupopup>

<menuitem accesskey="&menuNew.accesskey;"

label="&menuNew.label;"

oncommand="doNew( );"/>

<menuitem accesskey="&menuOpen.accesskey;"

label="&menuOpen.label;"

oncommand="doOpen( );"/>

<menuseparator />

<menuitem accesskey="&menuClose.accesskey;" label="&menuClose.label;"

oncommand="doClose( );"/>

<menuitem accesskey="&menuSave.accesskey;"

label="&menuSave.label;"

oncommand="doSave( )"/>

<menuitem accesskey="&menuSaveAs.accesskey;" label="&menuSaveAs.label;"

oncommand="doSaveAs"/>

<menuseparator />

<menuitem accesskey="&menuPrint.accesskey;" label="&menuPrint.label;"

oncommand="doPrint( );"/>

<menuseparator />

<menuitem accesskey="&menuExit.accesskey;" label="&menuExit.label;"

</menupopup>

</menu>

Note that each entity in Example 11-1 has a text value associated with it in the DTD entities declarations The entity that appears on the menu is

&menuFile.label; Note that this entity mirrors the correct syntax for referencing a value, which is: &get.text;

The entity reference (or name, in this context) must be preceded by an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;) The period is optional, but conventional Typically, the period separates the entity's element or target (menuFile) from the type of entity (label) Refer to theSection 11.4

section later in this chapter for more information on naming conventions For some widgets, including <description> and <label>, the entity can be placed inside the element tags, as opposed to being values of

attributes

<description>&explanation.text;</description>

different files These files have the same name as the DTD file referenced in the XUL file that contains the entities However, each file for every different language exists in a separate locale folder Each entry, or entity, in the DTD file has a name that matches the name referenced in the XUL and a value to

be filled in for that entity The value is enclosed in quotes When generating these files, you will need to create the file only once and copy it to a

different directory where you can replace the values in the entities A good tool would carry out this process for you Refer to the Localization Tools

sidebar later in the chapter for more information

Table 11-1 Entity definitions for the XUL menu

<!ENTITY menuFile.label

"File">

<!ENTITY menuNew.label

"New">

<!ENTITY menuOpen.label

"Open ">

<!ENTITY menuClose.label

"Close">

<!ENTITY menuSave.label

<!ENTITY menuFile.label

"Archivo">

<!ENTITY menuNew.label

"Nuevo">

<!ENTITY menuOpen.label

"Abrir Archivo ">

<!ENTITY menuClose.label

"Cerrar">

<!ENTITY menuSave.label