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Newsgroups: bit.software.international,news.answers
Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!news.univie.ac.at!alijku11!aci.cvut.cz!cis.vutbr.cz!jbowyer
From: jbowyer@cis.vutbr.cz (Bowyer Jeff)
Subject: bit.international.software FAQ
Organization: Technical University of Brno, Czech Republic
Expires: Sat, 14 Aug 1993 00:00:00 GMT
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1993 19:19:30 GMT
Message-ID: <1993Jul14.191930.20855@cis.vutbr.cz>
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
Questions (and their answers) about the internationalization
of software. It should be read by anyone who wishes to
post to the bit.software.international newsgroup.
Reply-To: jbowyer@cis.vutbr.cz
Followup-To: poster
Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu
Lines: 654
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu bit.software.international:125 news.answers:10366
Archive-name: i18n-faq
Last-modified: 1993/07/12
INSOFT-L
The Internationalization of Software Mailing List
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
June 1993
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
If you have any suggested enhancements for this document, please
send an electronic mail message to insoft-l-request@cis.vutbr.cz.
The author of this document is not responsible for the accuracy of
the information that it contains. Instead, he depends on readers
of this document to provide up-to-date information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
An * before a question indicates either
1. The question is new;
2. The answer associated with the question has been updated;
3. The anonymous ftp file described in the answer has been updated.
Administrivia
=============
A01 What is the purpose of the INSOFT-L mailing list?
A02 Is INSOFT-L a moderated mailing list?
A03 How do I subscribe to INSOFT-L?
A04 Who owns the INSOFT-L mailing list?
A05 If I have an administrative problem with the INSOFT-L
mailing list, whom do I contact?
A06 Does INSOFT-L have an associated anonymous ftp server?
A07 Does INSOFT-L have an associated mail server?
A08 Where can I obtain the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
for INSOFT-L?
A09 How can I obtain an archive file of messages previously
distributed to the INSOFT-L mailing list?
A10 Does INSOFT-L have a gateway to network news?
Documentation
=============
- D01 Where can I obtain a list of publications related to
the internationalization of software?
Internationalization
====================
I01 Where can I obtain a list of tools for internationalizing
software?
I02 Where can I obtain a list of internationalized software
products?
- I03 Where can I obtain a list of organizations related to
internationalization?
Jargon
======
J01 What is e13n?
J02 What is i18n?
J03 What is j10n?
J04 What is l10n?
J05 What is NLS?
Localization
============
- L01 Where can I obtain a list of tools for localizing
software?
- L02 Where can I obtain a list of fonts for localizing software?
L03 Where can I obtain a list of localized software
products?
- L04 Where can I obtain a list of anonymous ftp sites that
specialize in localized software?
- L05 Where can I obtain information about localizing for
Japanese?
Techniques for Internationalization/Localization
================================================
T01 How do I determine the date and time formats for
a country?
T02 How can I determine a user's international preferences?
T03 Should shortcut keys be translated?
T04 What UNIX programs and functions exist for
internationalizing/localizing a program?
T05 How should UNIX be configured to allow the user to read
a man page in a preferred language?
T06 How should UNIX man page directories be organized to
support multiple languages?
T07 Do standardized codes exist for specifying a language?
- T08 Should abend messages be translated?
- T09 How can I type foreign characters into X-Windows?
T10 Do users prefer a program with an English interface
or with their national language interface?
- T11 What paper sizes are used internationally?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrivia
=============
A01 What is the purpose of the INSOFT-L mailing list?
INSOFT-L on LISTSERV@CIS.VUTBR.CZ Internationalization of Software
Discussion List
Internationalization of software relates to two subjects:
1. Software that is written so a user can easily change the
language of the interface;
2. Versions of software, such as Czech WordPerfect, whose
interface language differs from the original product.
Topics discussed on this list include:
-- Techniques for developing new software
-- Techniques for converting existing software
-- Internationalization tools
-- Announcements of internationalized public domain software
-- Announcements of foreign-language versions of commercial
software
-- Calls for papers
-- Conference announcements
-- References to documentation related to the
internationalization of software
A02 Is INSOFT-L a moderated mailing list?
INSOFT-L is moderated.
A03 How do I subscribe to INSOFT-L?
To subscribe to INSOFT-L, send an electronic mail message to
listserv@cis.vutbr.cz with the body containing the command:
SUB INSOFT-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname
A04 Who owns the INSOFT-L mailing list?
Center for Computing and Information Services
Technical University of Brno
Udolni 19, 602 00 BRNO
Czech Republic
A05 If I have an administrative problem with the INSOFT-L
mailing list, whom do I contact?
To determine which commands the listserver software that manages
INSOFT-L can process, send an electronic mail message to
listserv@cis.vutbr.cz with the body containing the command:
help
If you perform functions such as subscribe and unsubscribe through the
appropriate listserver command, you free INSOFT-L's list manager for
other tasks.
However, when you need administrative assistance that the listserver
software cannot handle, please send an electronic mail message to
insoft-l-request@cis.vutbr.cz
A06 Does INSOFT-L have an associated anonymous ftp server?
rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
The upper-level directory for INSOFT-L files is pub/lists/insoft-l.
The file "master-index" in pub/lists/insoft-l contains a listing of
all available files. Every directory contains a file named 00README,
which describes all subdirectories and files in that directory.
A07 Does INSOFT-L have an associated mail server?
For INSOFT-L subscribers who do not have a direct Internet connection,
you can get any files that are stored on our anonymous ftp server by
sending a mail message request.
For more information, send a mail message to
mailserv@cis.vutbr.cs
The body of your mail message should only include the command
help
Notes:
1. This mail server is home grown. It uses a program named
"deliver" to intercept mail messages sent to
mailserv@cis.vutbr.cs, but I coded all of the command
processing. If you find any bugs (who me?) or want to
suggest any enhancements (it's very rudimentary, but it
works), please send your comments directly to me:
jbowyer@cis.vutbr.cs
2. The mail server program depends on a good address in the
From: header of your mail message. Before you use the mail
server, please make sure that the From: header in your mail
message contains a good address (i.e. a full Internet, BITNET,
or Usenet address)
A08 Where can I obtain the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
for INSOFT-L?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l
File: faq
Network News
news.answers
INSOFT-L's list manager will notify the list whenever an updated FAQ
becomes available.
A09 How can I obtain an archive file of messages previously
distributed to the INSOFT-L mailing list?
An archive file will be created on the first day of each month,
and it will contain all messages distributed on INSOFT-L
during the previous month.
There are two ways to obtain an archive file:
1) Use anonymous ftp to connect to rhino.cis.vutbr.cs.
The archive files for INSOFT-L will be stored in the
directory
pub/lists/insoft-l/archive
2) You can obtain an index of all available archive files
by sending an email message to listserv@cis.vutbr.cs
(Note: please do not send the email message to
insoft-l@cis.vutbr.cs). The body of your message
should only contain the command:
index insoft-l
After you review the index, you can request a specific
archive by sending an email message to
listserv@cis.vutbr.cs (Note: please do not send the
email message to insoft-l@cis.vutbr.cs). The body of
your message should only contain the command:
get insoft-l name_of_archive_file
The listserver software will email the archive file to
you.
A10 Does INSOFT-L have a gateway to network news?
The name of INSOFT-L's gateway to network news is
bit.software.international.
This gateway is bi-directional, meaning:
1. If someone posts a message on bit.software.international,
subscribers to the INSOFT-L mailing list will receive a copy;
2. If an INSOFT-L subscriber submits a message to the mailing
list, a copy will be posted to bit.software.international
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation
=============
D01 Where can I obtain a list of publications related to
the internationalization of software?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc
File: publications
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Internationalization
====================
I01 Where can I obtain a list of tools for internationalizing
software?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: internationalization.tools
I02 Where can I obtain a list of internationalized software
products?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: internationalized
I03 Where can I obtain a list of organizations related to
internationalization?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc
File: organizations
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jargon
======
J01 What is e13n?
e13n stands for "europeanization" (count the letters
between e and n).
J02 What is i18n?
i18n stands for "internationalization" (count the letters
between i and n).
J03 What is j10n?
j10n stands for "japanization" (count the letters
between j and n).
J04 What is l10n?
l10n stands for "localization" (count the letters
between l and n).
J05 What is NLS?
"National Language Support" . . . the ability of a software
program to handle more than one dialogue language
J06 What is XPG4?
Version 4 of the _X/Open Portability Guide_
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Localization
============
L01 Where can I obtain a list of tools for localizing
software?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: localization.tools
L02 Where can I obtain a list of fonts for localizing software?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: fonts
L03 Where can I obtain a list of localized software
products?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: localized
In addition, major software companies will have their localized
products listed in a separate file. For example, a list of
Microsoft's products is available:
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/products
File: microsoft.txt
L04 Where can I obtain a list of anonymous ftp sites that
specialize in localized software?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc
File: localized.ftp.sites
L05 Where can I obtain information about localizing for
Japanese?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/japanese
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Techniques for Internationalization/Localization
================================================
T01 How do I determine the date and time formats for
a country?
MS-DOS
See page 395 of the English MS-DOS 5 user's guide
T02 How can I determine a user's international preferences?
MS-DOS
Use interrupt 21h with the ah register set to 65h. This
interrupt returns extended country information.
Microsoft Windows
In Microsoft Windows, it is relatively easy to have your
program use the GetProfileString API function to obtain the
user's international preferences from the WIN.INI file.
The following example shows various international settings
from WIN.INI that should be taken into account:
[intl]
sLanguage=enu
sCountry=United States
iCountry=1
iDate=0
iTime=0
iTLZero=0
iCurrency=0
iCurrDigits=2
iNegCurr=0
iLzero=1
iDigits=2
iMeasure=1
s1159=AM
s2359=PM
sCurrency=$
sThousand=,
sDecimal=.
sDate=/
sTime=:
sList=,
sShortDate=M/d/yy
sLongDate=dddd, MMMM dd, yyyy
UNIX
Use the LC_LOCALE environment variable.
In System V.3/V.4, use the LANG environment variable to
determine the language and the NLSPATH environment variable to
determine the directory path to message catalogues.
[Note: A program could override these default values with a
command-line parameter.]
T03 Should shortcut keys be translated?
Allow the user three choices:
1. A set of shortcut keys for the language used;
2. A set of shortcut keys that retains the original language
conventions;
3. Allow the user to establish a personal set of shortcut keys.
Some software producers, however, mandate that the shortcut keys not
be changed in a localized version.
T04 What UNIX programs and functions exist for
internationalizing/localizing a program?
[Note: Not all of the listed programs and functions are available
on all UNIX systems.]
Programs
gencat to generate a formatted message catalogue
mkstr to create a file containing messages extracted
from C source code
msgfmt to create a message object file from a portable
message file
xmodmap to remap the keyboard
Functions
catopen to open a message catalogue
catclose to close a message catalogue
catgets to read a message from a message catalogue
catgetmsg to read a message from a message catalogue
(superseded by catgets)
T05 How should UNIX be configured to allow the user to read
a man page in a preferred language?
Use the MANPATH environment variable.
T06 How should UNIX man page directories be organized to
support multiple languages?
Put the man pages for each language in a separate directory
hierarchy. For example, French man pages could be stored in
/usr/man/French/man1, /usr/man/French/man2, etc.
T07 Do standardized codes exist for specifying a language?
ISO
ISO 639:1988 uses two-letter language codes. For example,
"ga" is the code for Irish Gaelic.
MS-DOS
WordPerfect uses two-letter codes. For example, "GA" is the
code for Scottish Gaelic.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word for Windows uses the name of the language in its
own language. For example, the code for Swedish is "Svenska".
T08 Should abend messages be translated?
Can the user fix the problem?
Then tell him what it is in his language.
Will the problem end up being referred back
to headquarters' customer support, qa or development?
Then keep the error message in English, you'll only
lose meaning in round-trip translating.
Are you in a desperate hurry, or have you already
gone over budget?
Then focus on getting the major part of the user interface,
where the user spends 95% of his time, perfect. Take the
gamble that obscure error messages will never be triggered.
If anyone cares passionately enough to complain, translate
the messages for the next release.
We often precede the actual error message in English with the
word "Error" in the local language.
Althea Bertrand (althea@cicero.hq.ileaf.com)
Interleaf, Inc.
Include a header in the user's language informing
him/her that this is an obscure error, some advice as to
what to do (whom to call?) and that technical information
will follow (which can then be in ~any~ language).
Nils-Erik Gustafsson (euaneg@eua.ericsson.se)
See INSOFT-L's jun1993 archive for several answers to this
question.
T09 How can I type foreign characters into X-Windows?
Use xmodmap(1X)
T10 Do users prefer a program with an English interface
or with their national language interface?
Most users would prefer an interface with their national
language. In fact, in some countries (e.g. France), there may
exist a strong cultural bias against foreign languages.
Perhaps the best solution is to provide users with a choice.
They can specify a preferred language through an environment
variable or in an initialization file, but switch to a
different interface while running the program.
(See FAQ question T02)
T11 What paper sizes are used internationally?
Anonymous FTP
Site: rhino.cis.vutbr.cz (147.229.3.10)
Directory: pub/lists/insoft-l/doc/standards
File: paper.txt