Note 8. Internationalization

Transcription

1 Computer Science and Software Engineering University of Wisconsin - Platteville Note 8. Internationalization Yan Shi SE 3730 / CS 5730 Lecture Notes Part of the contents are from Ibrahim Meru s presentation slides

2 Terminology Internationalization (I18N) the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes Making an application independent of any particular language or culture Localization (L10N) the process of adapting internationalized software for a specific region or language by adding local-specific components and translating texts. Globalization (G11N) G11N = I18N + L10N + multilingual support Application can handle users from multiple countries/regions and languages (simultaneously) A good reference:

3 Scope of I18N Example

4 Character Sets ASCII: the most popular character standard. use only 7 bits maximum of 128 adequate for English Code Pages: a table of values describing the character set for a particular language One code page per language/set of languages There are hundreds of code pages Different vendors may have difference code page numbering Unicode: an effort to include all characters from previous code pages into single character enumeration. use 2 bytes

5 Code Page 437 Standard in U.S. work for English and German 8-bit code point 0-127: ASCII : international text characters

6 Unicode One codepage can represent up to characters. now can represent over 4 billion characters. easier for I18N you don t have to worry about which code page to use

7 Keyboard Test Languages and cultures have different characters and special characters. Keyboards differ from country to country to support their character sets and usage patterns. These keyboards generate interrupts that must match the loaded code page.

8 German Keyboard

9 Arabic Keyboard

10 Traditional Chinese Keyboard

11 Interesting to Know (Alt code): How to type German on US keyboard? PART 1 - For this German character, type... These codes work with most fonts. Some fonts may vary. For the PC codes, always use the numeric (extended) keypad on the right of your keyboard and not the row of numbers at the top. (On a laptop you may have to use "num lock" and the special number keys.) German letter/symbol PC Code: Alt + Mac Code: option + ä 0228 u, then a Ä 0196 u, then A é 0233 E ö 0246 u, then o Ö 0214 u, then O ü 0252 u, then u Ü 0220 u, then U ß 0223 S

12 Hot Key Test We may want Hot keys and Shortcuts to be different because the words on the menus are different. Copy ctrl-c, what should it be for kopieren? Hot key conventions differ sometimes applications just stick with the English Hot key or short cut regardless of what the local command starts with.

13 Text Filter and Special Character Test Sometimes software will block other codes than ASCII. These codes may be needed to support non-english languages. Special characters in the middle of names may cause problems. For example O Kelly, ñ, ß, Ü.

14 Size of Text Messages English requires fewer characters than most other western languages. As a rule of thumb, French is 15% longer, German is 25% longer. Eastern languages, traditional or simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean require much fewer characters (2-3 character positions per word). Special consideration must be made for UI design and functionality to handle different length text messages of the languages supported. Message lengths also greatly complicates business forms and report designs. E.g.: Please enter your name

15 Translation Test The sentence structure of typical English S-V- O, etc. Sentence structure may differ from language to language. Therefore, the software must be language sensitive w.r.t. sentence structure. use variables in messages to assume any order:

16 Sorting Rules Where do the characters of a specific language need to fall into a collating sequence? This needs to be localized for people to use lists naturally. English sorts by normal ASCII value sequence. How to sort Chinese names?

17 Other Peripherals Printer: Some printers does not support certain languages. Testers must be aware of these non-i18n printers and test for compatibility. Sizes of papers may also cause issues: A4 or Letter? Mouse with non-standard drivers Wireless support: GMS, CDMA, 3G, LTE Data storage: DVD, flash drive

18 OS Localization Test There is not just Windows 10, it is Windows 10 German, French, Chinese, etc. Need to test completely on all supported OS localizations.

19 Data Format "01/02/03"? Time zones and daylight savings? vs. 240,125 vs Money symbols vary: $125, > 125,000? Address formats Phone number formats Calendar formats Measurement units! (Mars Lander)

20 Colors Colors are interpreted differently among regions.

21 Colors Colors are interpreted differently among regions.

22 Icon Design Avoid humor, puns, slang, special, mythological, and religious symbols in icons. Do not require user to understand subtleties of originating language, culture. Ensure your icons are not offensive. Thumbs up: insulting in Turkey Ok sign: insulting in Brazil, other countries

23 Summary: Special Attention for G11N Design and Implementation

24 Summary: Special Attention for G11N Testing Must have testers that recognize language and cultural defects Deployment and Sales Must follow business rules and regulations of the countries in which you see Copyrights and anti-piracy practices Installation The install must be multi-language to direct users to their native language. Support and maintenance Must be able to communicate in the language and during regular business hours. All documentation must be kept synchronized in multiple languages with the product.