Message Catalogue Manager

New files must follow the following format:

namespace eval ::crmsg {

namespace import -force ::msgcat::mcset

#TRANSLATION_START

mcset LANG_SPEC “Cradle original message1” “Translated Message1” ;# Optional comment

mcset LANG_SPEC “Cradle original message2” “Translated Message2”

mcset LANG_SPEC “Cradle original message3” “Translated Message3”

#TRANSLATION_END

#etc...

}

Where LANG_SPEC in the above is the language specifier such as en_US or zh.

When looking up an entry, Cradle processes each string in two parts: the text, and the trailing characters [...|.|;|:\?]. This means that New and New... don’t both need to exist in the catalogue. If appropriate for the language, translations may need to be added for trailing characters:

mcset zh "." "\u3002"

Special tags such as <STR1> and <NUM1> may exist in the original lookup string. These are used to specify the position of variable content. These tags must continue to exist in the translated string, but their order can change as appropriate for the language. For example:

mcset zh “<STR1> frame of <STR2>” “<STR2>\u4E2D\u7684<STR1>\u5E27”

Any special formatting characters such as newline \n that exist in the original lookup string should be duplicated in the translation. Note that adding newline or similar characters to a translation is discouraged if they are not in the original string as this is likely to lead to odd UI layout.

If an entry has more than one possible meaning in English, for example:

Address meaning location

Address meaning deal with

there may be more than one entry given in the catalogue:

mcset en “!1Address” “Address” ;#Noun, meaning location

mcset en “!2Address” “Address” ;#Verb, meaning deal with

The translated language can then use different entries for each meaning.

Terms marked (R) Registered Trademark or (TM) Trademark exist in some message catalogue entries and these should NOT be translated.

If you read the section headed file information, this will give you information of when and where the catalogue was produced:

# File information - DO NOT edit

#MCM_FILEINFO <

#MCM_LANG fr

#MCM_VERSION 7.4

#MCM_HOST ukdevhost

#MCM_DATE 20180114

#MCM_BASE en.msg

#MCM_BASE_VER 7.4

#MCM_BASE_DATE 20170613

#MCM_FILEINFO >

#

Use the MCM and select the language details as specified in ISO-639 and ISO-3166. For example:

• en_gb.msg - Is a UK specific version of the base en catalogue
• en_gb_cumbrian.msg - Is a Cumbrian localisation of GB english
• fr.msg - Is a new French language file

A top-level language XX.msg should contain all entries from en.msg. A localisation XX_YY.msg need only contain those terms which differ from the base XX.msg catalogue e.g.:

en.msg
	mset en "Append menu"	"Append menu"
	mset en "Colour menu"	"Colour menu"
	mset en "View menu"	"View menu"
en_us.msg
	mset en_us "Colour menu"	"Color menu"

3SL maintains the en.msg file and ships several alternative languages and localisations as part of Cradle.

If you have made any modifications to the shipped catalogues or added new message catalogues, ensure these are backed up prior to installation of any new version of Cradle. If you have made modifications, after installing a new version of Cradle you will need to review your changes and reapply/update them as appropriate.

By default, Cradle determines the language file to use based on your operating system settings. The environment variables LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES and LANG are examined in order, and on Windows the registry is also checked.

You can override the choice of language by setting the environment variable CRADLE_UI_LANG to the specifier for your desired language, e.g. fr.

It is NOT advisable to alter this file but to create new language files based on its contents, or localisation files containing a few customised terms.

Language Selection

The language file is selected based on environment variables. The environment variables LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, and LANG are examined in the order that these will have been set by your operating system defaults, on Windows the registry is checked. Where these are not sufficient to control Language selection, you can override them with your choice by setting an environment variable CRADLE_UI_LANG (setting method will depend on your operating system).

Files

The base en.msg file MUST NOT be edited in any way. This delivered file is supplied as part of the product and alterations are NOT supported. If you wish to re-phrase something in English we suggest creation of a Country/Region specific file.

3SL will always supply the en.gb file and will endeavour to supply a number of additional files where there is a significant customer base for those languages. Subsequent updates of Cradle will contain updated copies of these supplied languages. If you want to alter entries for these languages 3SL recommend creation of a lower level file i.e. Country below a supplied language or region below a supplied country file. That way during updates it will be easier for you to preserve your alterations.

Growing Language Base

3SL will only ship and support languages that it can control internally as our aim is to be able to ship updates to these files where necessary. If, however, you translate a file 3SL would be interested in knowing which language you have produced so that we can better understand the main language bases in use and optionally adopt them into our supported list.

Language Creation

File editing - when opening a new Language file (no Region or Country) MCM will automatically create an entry for each base phrase contained in the catalogue chosen as the Base Language. We recommend that this base language is the shipped en.msg file to ensure that you capture all the required entries. Once the file has been created, you can subsequently open and edit it again by choosing the same base catalogue and entering the new language identity. MCM will indicate the file has been found and is in update mode.

Creating a country or region file - it is recommended that you first create a base language, ensuring each entry has a translation. Save this language and then open it as a base language then proceed to create a new Country file based on the new base language. If you create a file of your own, you are responsible for updating and maintaining this file when the next release of Cradle software is produced, MCM will aid you in this task by displaying non translated entries in English and removing redundant phrases when the file is saved.

There are a small number of limitations to the internationalised Cradle products, these are:

• <Alt>_menu activation. At present the position of the underscore character say _N_ew is dictated as the first character position. These characters are chosen to be unique per menu context say; "_N_ew" and "_L_evel hierarchy". If, however, after translation both menu items begin with the same letter.
  e.g. MSET FR "NEW" "NOUVEAU"
  MSET FR "LEVEL THE HIERARCHY" "NIVELEZ LA HIERARCHIE" 
  then the first N word will take preference when used with <Alt>N. If the character underscored is not a single key press character (e.g. a chinese glyph and an ASCII keyboard) then the menu item will not be selectable in this manner. <Ctrl>+'x' where 'x' is a bound key will continue to work.
• Contextual meanings. e.g. the English word is both a verb and noun can be catered for with the !1, !2, syntax, ONLY if 3SL have identified this use within the Cradle application. Anomalies should be raised with full details for 3SL consideration of inclusion in future releases.
• Popups without translation.  Some of the menus use standard built in dialog boxes with standard OK, YES|NO or operating system Choose File can not be translated as there production is not within the control of 3SL, and they do not get parsed for translation.
• Cradle Terms. Item types are used and stored internally across many different Cradle tools, it has not yet been practical to allow translation of all terms such as Requirement, Events etc.
• Error Messages. There are a number of error messages used by Cradle. Some are common between tools and some not. At present the internationalisation does NOT attempt to translate these.
• WorkBench. The User Interface internationalisation feature is only available in WorkBench.

1. From the Start menu right-click on My Computer / This PC
2. Choose Properties and select Advanced / Advanced system settings
3. Select Environment Variables…:

4. Press the upper-most New… button:

5. Enter the Variable name and Variable value
6. Select OK and OK again to confirm the new variable

1. Select Cradle Utilities > Message Catalogue Manager from the Windows Start menu:

2. When the tool starts, select File > Open Base Catalogue… and a dialog is opened which will already have the file en.msg in its File name field and this file should be in the list of files in the current directory:

3. Select Open and the base message catalogue will open, filling the first two columns and the right-most column in the display:

4. Select File > Create New Language…:

5. Enter a language in the New Language field, for example fr for French

6. To change terms into French, select a row in the table and enter the French string in the New Value field and press Enter

This saves the translation into the French message catalogue

7. You can enter characters directly from the keyboard, but you can use the ALT and numeric keypad keys as well
8. When you have finished please remember to select File > Save New Language to save your changes
9. Select File > Exit
10. To see the translated UIs, start WorkBench and if it can detect that French is the required language from the operating system, then the UIs will be in French. If WorkBench cannot detect the language from the operating system, set the CRADLE_UI_LANG environment variable (to fr in this case) and then start WorkBench.

1. Open the Message Catalogue Manager and to import an XLIFF file select Tools > XLIFF > Import
2. Choose the file to import
3. To export a message catalogue as an XLIFF file, open the message catalogue and select Tools > XLIFF > Export
4. Enter a filename to export