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Oracle® Application Express Application Builder User's Guide
Release 3.2

E11947-03
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Understanding the Translation Process

To translate an application developed in Application Builder, you must map the primary and target language, seed and export text to a translation file, translate the text, apply the translation file, and publish the translated application.

Topics in this section include:

Step 1: Map the Target Language

The first step in translating an application is to map the primary and target application language. The primary application is the application to be translated. The target application is the resulting translated application.

To map the primary and target application language:

  1. Navigate to the Translate Application page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

      The Translate Application page appears.

  2. Click Map your primary language application to a translated application.

    The Application Mappings page appears.

  3. Click Create.

  4. On the Translation Application Mapping page:

    • Translation Application - Enter a numeric application ID to identify the target application. The translated application ID must be an integer and cannot end in zero.

    • Translation Application Language Code - Select the language into which you are translating.

    • Image Directory - Enter the directory where the images currently reside.

      This attribute determines the virtual path for translated images. For example, if your primary language application had an image prefix of /i/, you could define additional virtual directories for other languages, such as /i/de/ for German or /i/es/ for Spanish.

      Note that this language specific image directory is typically not needed for most translated applications.

  5. Click Create.

Step 2: Seed and Export Text to a Translation File

The second step is to seed the translation table and then export the translation text to a translation file.

Topics in this section include:

Seeding Translatable Text

Seeding the translation copies all translatable text into the Translation Text repository. After you specify the language and seed the Translation Text, you can then generate and export an XLIFF file for translation.

The seeding process keeps your primary language application synchronized with the Translation Text repository. You should run the seed process any time your primary language application changes.

To seed translatable text:

  1. Navigate to the Translate Application page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

      The Translate Application page appears.

  2. On the Translate Application page, select Seed and export the translation text of your application into a translation file.

  3. From Language Mapping, select the appropriate primary and target application ID map.

  4. Click Seed Translatable Text.

    The XLIFF Export page appears.

    Note:

    XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) is an XML-based format for exchanging localization data. For information about the XLIFF or to view the XLIFF specification, see:
    http://www.xliff.org
    

Exporting Text to a Translation File

After you have seeded translatable text, a status box displays at the top of the XLIFF Export page indicating the total number of attributes that may require translation, including the number of:

  • Existing updated attributes that may require translation

  • New attributes that may require translation

  • Purged attributes that no longer require translation

You can use this information to determine if you must export translatable text for an entire application or just a specific page.

The XLIFF Export page is divided into two sections. Use the upper section of the page to export translatable text for an entire application (that is, all pages, lists of values, messages, and so on). Use the lower section to export translatable text for a specific page.

Exporting Translatable Text for an Entire Application

To export translatable text for an entire application:

  1. Seed the translatable text. See "Seeding Translatable Text".

  2. Under Step 2, Export XLIFF:

    1. From Application, select the appropriate primary and target application ID map.

    2. Specify whether to include XLIFF target elements.

    3. Under Export, specify what translation text is included in your XLIFF file.

    4. Click Export XLIFF for Application.

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Exporting Translatable Text for a Specific Page

To export translatable text for a specific page:

  1. Seed the translatable text as described in "Seeding Translatable Text".

  2. Under Export XLIFF for specific Page:

    1. From Application, select the appropriate primary and target application ID map.

    2. Specify whether to include XLIFF target elements.

    3. Under Export, specify what translation text is included in your XLIFF file.

    4. Click Export XLIFF for Page.

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

About Including XLIFF Target Elements

When Oracle Application Express generates an XLIFF document, each document contains multiple translation units. Each translation unit consists of a source element and a target element. The XLIFF document can be generated with both the source and target elements for each translation unit. You have the option of generating a file containing only source elements. The updated translations will be applied from the target elements of the translation units.

About Export

Use the options under Export to specify what translation text is included in your XLIFF file. Select All translatable elements to include all translation text for an application. In contrast, select Only those elements requiring translation to include only new elements that have not yet been translated. Only those elements requiring translation produces an XLIFF file containing new or modified translation units. Also, if translation units were intentionally not previously translated (that is, the source of the translation element equals the target of the translation element), those translation units will also be included in the file

Step 3: Translate the XLIFF File

After you export a translatable file to XLIFF format, you can translate it into the appropriate languages. Because XLIFF is an open standard XML file for exchanging translations, most translation vendors should support it. Oracle Application Express only supports XLIFF files encoded in UTF-8 character sets. In other words, it exports XLIFF files for translation in UTF-8 and assumes that the translated XLIFF files will be in the same character set.

Translation is a time-consuming task. Oracle Application Express supports incremental translation so that application development can be done in parallel with the translation. An XLIFF file can be translated and uploaded to Oracle Application Express even when only part of the XLIFF file is translated. For strings that have no translation in the corresponding translated application, Oracle Application Express uses the corresponding ones in the primary language.

See Also:

For more information about the XLIFF, or to view the XLIFF specification, see:
http://www.xliff.org

Step 4: Upload and Apply a Translated XLIFF Document and Publish the Application

After your XLIFF document has been translated, the next step is to upload and then apply it.

Topics in this section include:

Uploading a Translated XLIFF Document

To upload a translated XLIFF document:

  1. Navigate to the Translate Application page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

      The Translate Application page appears.

  2. Click Apply your translation file and publish.

  3. Click Upload XLIFF.

  4. On the XLIFF Upload page:

    1. Specify a title.

    2. Enter a description.

    3. Click Browse and locate the file to be uploaded.

    4. Click Upload XLIFF File.

    The uploaded document appears in the XLIFF Files repository.

Applying an Uploaded XLIFF Document and Publishing an Application

After you upload an XLIFF document, the next step is to apply the XLIFF document and then publish the translated application. When you apply an XLIFF document, the Application Express engine parses the file and then updates the translation tables with the new translatable text.

Publishing your application creates a copy of the base language application, substituting the translated text strings from your translations table. This published application can then be used to render your application in alternate languages.

Remember that in order to run an application in an alternative language, you must run it with globalization settings that will cause an alternative language version to display. For example, if the language is derived from the browser language, you must set the browser language to the same language as the translated application.

To apply a translated XLIFF document and publish the application:

  1. Navigate to the Translate Application page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

      The Translate Application page appears.

  2. Click Apply your translation file and publish.

  3. In the XLIFF Files repository, click the View icon next to the document you want to publish.

  4. From Apply to, select the appropriate primary and target application ID map.

  5. Click Apply XLIFF Translation File.

  6. Click Publish Application.

Deleting an Uploaded XLIFF Document

To delete an uploaded XLIFF document:

  1. Navigate to the Translate Application page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

      The Translate Application page appears.

  2. On the Translate Application page, select Apply your translation file and publish.

  3. In the XLIFF Files repository, select the check box to the left of the document title.

  4. Click Delete Checked.

You should verify the existence of the translated application after it is published. Translated applications do not display in the Available Applications list on the Application Builder home page. Instead, use the Application Navigate list on the left side of the page.

Note that in order for a translated application to appear in Application Builder, you must make sure that you have correctly configured the application Globalization attributes.

Manually Editing a Translation

Once you have mapped the target language and seeded the translatable text, you manually edit a translation.

To manually edit a translation:

  1. Map the target language. See "Step 1: Map the Target Language".

  2. Seed the translatable text. See "Seeding Translatable Text".

  3. Navigate to the Translatable Text page:

    1. On the Workspace home page, click the Application Builder icon.

    2. Select an application.

    3. Click Shared Components.

    4. Under Globalization, click Translate Application.

  4. From the Translation Utilities list, click Manually Edit Translations.

    The Translatable Text page appears. Use the Navigation bar at the top of the page to change the report display. Available options include:

    • Language Mappings - Select a language mapping and click Go.

    • Page - Enter a page number and click Go.

    • Translate - Enter a case insensitive query and click Go.

    • Display - Select the number of rows to display and click Go.

  5. To edit translatable text, click the Edit icon.

    The Translatable Text field appears.

  6. Edit the appropriate text and click Apply Changes.