Going Global: Internationalization with Java

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Going GlobalInternationalization with Java

• Sue Davis
• Rochester Java Users Group
• November 15, 2000

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Agenda

• Introduction
• Definition of Internationalization
• Why internationalize?
• Highlight some aspects of internationalization
• Java internationalization classes
• Simple Demonstration
• Closing thoughts
• QA

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Introduction

• My background in internationalization
• Scope of internationalization
• Software
• Documentation/On-line Help
• Testing
• Training
• Legal considerations
• Marketing

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Introduction

• Internationalization is the process of designing
  and developing products enabled for simultaneous
  shipment (Sim Ship) to both domestic and world
  markets.

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Terms and Abbreviations

• Localization
• Globalization
• Locale
• Diacritic
• Folding
• Decomposed character
• Pre-composed character
• MBCS
• DBCS

• Unicode
• UTF-8
• I18N
• G11N
• L10N
• NLS
• IME
• Glyph

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Why Internationalization Is Important

• North America represents only 1/3 of the world
  economy
• Europe, Latin America, Japan and Asia Pacific
  represent more than 1/2
• Subtle differences even in other English speaking
  counties
• Localization is expensive
• Maintain one set of source, ship one binary for
  multiple locales

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Motivated self interest

• Try Internationalization or i18n on major job
  search engine
• Internationalization positions at other major
  corporations
• Sun Internationalization Architect
• Apple Internationalization Technology Evangelist
• Compaq I18N/L10N Development Manager
• Kodak Product Internationalization Manager
• The Web has made it easier than ever to reach the
  global market. Expect this to be skill that is
  in demand.

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What does it mean to Internationalize

• Externalize text, icons, sound.
• Design for expansion of translated text
• Use of culturally neutral graphics whenever
  possible
• Automatically format of dates and numbers as
  appropriate to the locale
• Consistent use of terminology, correct grammar,
  avoid slang
• Managing various character encoding schemes
• And more...

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Design for expansion of translated text

• English is very compact language
• If target markets include Asian countries, allow
  additional vertical spacing.
• Negatives if the UI has to be redesigned to be
  usable after translation
• Longer time to market
• Higher localization costs
• Higher maintenance costs
• Localization of Training, Help, User
  documentation becomes more complicated

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English length (in characters) Additional growth
for localized strings

• 1 to 4 100
• 5 to 10 80
• 11 to 20 60
• 21 to 30 40
• 31 to 50 20
• 51 10

From MSDN, VB Concepts, Designing an
International Aware User Interface
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Use culturally/linguistically neutral graphics

• Dont use a Christmas Tree and Champagne glass as
  a holiday icon
• Keep text off graphics
• Dont use homonyms as a basis for icons

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Use culturally/linguistically neutral
graphicsContinued...
Are any of these neutral?
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Lets talk about Java!

• What are some of the important Java classes for
  internationalization?
• Locale
• ResourceBundle, specifically ListResourceBundle
• NumberFormat
• DateFormat
• Collator
• CollationKey
• RuleBasedCollator
• BreakIterator

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The Locale class

• A Locale is defined as a combination of language,
  country and variant
• Two character ISO codes for both language and
  country.
• Language codes are all lower case (ISO 639)
• Country codes are upper case (ISO 3166)
• Variants are ad hoc - most frequently used to
  specify Euro currency

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Externalize text, icons, sound

• Resources reside in a resource file that is
  separate from the application.
• Java - Resource Bundle
• Dont combine phrases to make sentences
• Makes the executable language independent
• Isolates resources for translation and
  localization
• Can enable a new locale by just installing the
  appropriate Resource Bundle. (in theory)

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What is a ResourceBundle?

• A ResourceBundle (java.util.ResourceBundle) is an
  abstract class with two concrete subclasses
• PropertyResourceBundle (limited use, not
  recommended)
• ListResourceBundle
• Consists of minimally a base class extending
  PropertyResourceBundle
• Locale specific resources are added by creating
  additional classes with language and country
  extentions

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Using PropertyResourceBundle

• Create the baseline ResourceBundle
• class DemoResource extends PropertyResouceBundle
  
• public Object getContents() return
  contents
• static final Object contents //
  Localize right hand object
• "SampleKey", "translatable text", //
  helpful hint
• "HelloWorldKey", "Hello World",
• "MenuFileKey", "File",
• "MenuFileExitKey", "Exit",
• "MenuHelpKey", "Help",
• "MenuHelpAboutKey", "About",

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Begin Localizing your ResourceBundles

• Create a language specific ResourceBundle
• class DemoResource_fr extends PropertyResouceBund
  le
• public Object getContents() return
  contents
• static final Object contents //
  Localize right hand object
• "HelloWorldKey", "Bonjour Monde",
• "MenuFileKey", "Fichier",
• "MenuFileExitKey", "Quittent",
• "MenuHelpKey", "Aide",
• "MenuHelpAboutKey", "Au sujet de",

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Localize ResourceBundles for language country

• Create a locale specific ResourceBundle
• class DemoResource_fr_FR extends
  PropertyResouceBundle
• public Object getContents() return
  contents
• static final Object contents //
  Localize right hand object
• "HelloWorldKey", "Bonjour Monde for
  France",

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Cascading Resource Bundles

• Why you dont need to redefine every key in
  DemoResource_fr_FR
• ResourceBundles cascade from most specific locale
  information down to the base, in this case,
  DemoResource
• So if your Locale is Locale.FRANCE (or
  Locale(fr, FR) ) the code will search the
  ResourceBundle classes for the key in the
  following order
• DemoResource_fr_FR
• DemoResource_FR
• DemoResource
• An exception is thrown if the key is not found in
  ANY of these classes

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Lets look at some code

• Using ResourceBundles in Packages
• Package name MUST be the same as the bundles
  base name
• The ResourceBundle class must be FULLY qualified
• Do not need to import the package

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Formatting Text Messages

• Sometimes theres no way around it. You HAVE to
  have variables integrated into the message.
• Remember sentence structures vary between
  languages, so you need to give your translator a
  way to move things around without breaking the
  code

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Java to the rescue

• The class MessageFormat allows you to number the
  placeholders for your variables
• In your ResourceBundle
• key, my formatted 1 message is very 2
• // helpful hints to the translator go here
• In your code
• myObj.value MessageFormat.format(
• rb.getString(key),
• new Object(
• varible1,
• variable2)
• )
• )

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Automatic formatting of dates and numbers as
appropriate to the locale

• Date formats vary from country to country, even
  among English speaking counties.
• Long Date examples
• US Thursday, August 19, 1999
• UK 19 August 1999
• DE Donnerstag, 19.August 1999
• FR jeudi 19 aôut 1999

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Automatic formatting continued...

• Date formats vary from country to country, even
  among English speaking counties.
• Short Date examples
• US 8/19/99
• UK 19/08/99
• DE 19.08.99
• FR 19/08/99

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Automatic formatting of numbers and currency

• Numeric examples Currency
• US 1,234,567.89 1,234.45
• UK 1,234,567.89 1,234.45
• DE 1.234.567,89 1.234,45 DM
• FR 1 234 567,89 1 234,45 F
• Java 1.1.6 and later support the Euro

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Automatic Formatting in Java

• Available classes
• DateFormat
• NumberFormat
• DecimalFormat
• SimpleDateFormat
• Date
• good for storing elapsed time since Jan 1, 1970
  GMT
• API assumes the Gregorian Calendar
• Calendar
• TimeZone
• JDK supports only the Gregorian calendar

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Dealing with characters and strings

• Assuming Unicode
• Character traits
• Comparisons and conversions
• Sorting
• Text boundaries

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Characters traits

• idDefined()
• isDigit()
• isLetter()
• isSpace()/isSpaceChar()/isWhiteSpace()
• isLetterOrDigit()
• isUpperCase()/isLowerCase()/isTitleCase()
• getType()
• getNumericValue()

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Comparisons and conversions

• Comparing pre-composed characters with decomposed
  characters
• String conversions (e.g. toUpperCase()) not
  always round trip

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Sorting

• Do not use String.compareTo() for natural
  language text.
• Use Collator to compare locale sensitive strings
• Use CollationKey to sort long lists
• RuleBasedCollator
• Character folding (ignore diacritics résumé vs.
  resume)

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Tools to help you go global...

• Internationalizing source code
• One Realm
• Uniscape
• Java
• Machine Translation/Machine Assisted Translation
• Consulting
• Internationalization - small but growing
• Localization - Lots
• Training - Minimal, usually in conjunction with a
  product purchase or consulting contract

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Use terms consistentlyUse correct grammar, avoid
slang

• Facilitates the use of Machine Assisted
  Translation translation tools
• Helps minimize questions from translators
• Impacts Developers, Documentation, QA

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Closing Thoughts

• EJAL English is Just Another Language
• Anything is fair game for localization, including
  corporate names and logos.
• Internationalization is NOT a feature.
• Internationalization IS a design issue
• Internationalization shortens and simplifies the
  localization process.
• Rapid deployment, improved time to market
• Lower maintenance time costs
• Frees development resources for new product
  development

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Not Discussed

• Using third party software
• Sorting
• Text boundary conditions
• Accelerator keys
• Color
• Software Architecture
• Configuration Management Issues
• Legal requirements
• Bi-directional languages
• Different calendars (Hebrew, Japanese Imperial,
  Buddhist, Islamic)

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Recommended Reading

• JavaWorld, Internationalize Your Software, Geoff
  Friesen part 1, part 2, and part 3
• Internationalization Localization with Resource
  bundles, John O'Conner
• Global Design Homepage, Richard Ishida
• Scripting Clinic Using Script to
  Internationalize Web Site Functions
• Localization and the XML/DHTML Menus
• Developing Global Applications in Java, Richard
  Gillam
• Developing International Software for Windows 95
  and Windows NT, Nadine Kano, Available
  electronically on MSDN
• MSDN, Windows Interface Guidelines for Software
  Design

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Questions???