Multilingual Workflows Feb Product Version 7.0 and above

Transcription

1 PNMsoft Knowledge Base Sequence User Guides Multilingual Workflows Feb Product Version 7.0 and above

2 2013 PNMsoft All Rights Reserved This document, including any supporting materials, is owned by PNMsoft Ltd and/or its affiliates and is for the sole use of the PNMsoft customers, PNMsoft official business partners, or other authorized recipients. This document may contain information that is confidential, proprietary or otherwise legally protected, and it may not be further copied, distributed or publicly displayed without the express written permission of PNMsoft Ltd. or its affiliates. PNMsoft UK 38 Clarendon Road Watford Hertfordshire WD17 1JJ Tel: +44(0) Website:

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview... 1 Languages Supported Out of the Box... 1 Configuring SharePoint to be Multilingual... 2 Creating and Translating the Resource File Step by Step... 3 Workflow Runtime Expressions... 6 SharePoint Flowtime Behavior... 9

4 Overview Sequence supports multiple languages. With a minimal effort, you can set up a Flowtime environment in any language. Adding multilingual support to your workflows allows you to translate the following metadata values: Activity Aliases Activity Descriptions Workflow Aliases Workflow Descriptions Message Subjects Message Bodies Expression values Note: Translating your workflow should always be the last step of the workflow development process. The translated data is stored in a language-specific resource file. Languages Supported Out of the Box Sequence supports the following languages out-of-the-box: English Portuguese Hebrew Dutch French Spanish You can configure Sequence to support other languages with a minimum effort. Multilingual Workflows Page 1

5 Configuring SharePoint to be Multilingual If the SharePoint on which Sequence Flowtime is installed does not yet include the language pack for the language you wish to add, you need to install it. You may use the following steps: 1. Backup the Sequence Flowtime web.config file. 2. Install the SharePoint language pack from the specific language you want to add (select the language in the drop down): for SharePoint server 2013 OR for SharePoint Foundation Rerun the SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard: a. Select Start > All Programs > SharePoint 2013 Products > SharePoint 2013 Products Configuration Wizard. b. In the Welcome to SharePoint Products page, click Next. c. Select Yes in the dialog box that alerts you that some services might have to be restarted during configuration. d. In the Modify Server Farm Settings page, click Do not disconnect from this server farm, and then click Next. e. If the Modify SharePoint Central Administration Web Administration Settings page appears, do not change any of the default settings, and click Next. f. In the Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard page, click Next. g. In the Configuration Successful page, click Finish. 4. Restore the web.config file from the back up. 5. In the web.config file, find the following section: <location path="_layouts/1033"> <sequence.engine> <authentication enabled="false" impersonate="true" /> </sequence.engine> </location> Add a section exactly like this after the current section but change the value in the new section from 1033 for English to the id for the language to which you want to switch (e.g for French). See for id s for each language. Repeat this step for each language you want to add. Multilingual Workflows Page 2

6 Creating and Translating the Resource File Step by Step This section shows how to translate the relevant workflow metadata. The first time you run the workflow translation procedure, a language specific resource file is created. Later changes and additions are made to this file. Sequence creates the C:\Program Files\PNMsoft\Shared Resources\Resources\<Your Workflow Name> directory. Sequence creates a template language resource file named <Your Workflow Name>.TEMPLATE.resx. New Folder and Resource file. If, for example, your workflow is designed in English and you want to translate it to French, copy the template file and rename it to <Your Workflow Name>.fr-FR.resx. fr-fr represents the target language culture, and as such is hierarchically structured. For more details on the CultureInfo Class please see The App Studio's Properties pane provides you with a Globalization section that includes the following properties (combo boxes): Formatting Language Localizable The following table summarizes the issues that have to be resolved and defined when translating a workflow to another language, using the Globalization properties: Multilingual Workflows Page 3

7 Field Definition Comments Formatting Language Localizable The formatting affects the display of dates and the numbers. Formatting is determined by one of the following: Enforce the formatting: Selection of the right value in the Formatting combo box. Thread of the application: Selection of the value (auto) in the Formatting combo box. The language is determined by one of the following: Enforce the language: Selection of the right value in the Language combo box. Thread of the application: Selection of the value (auto) in the Language combo box. When setting Localizable to True, in the Properties pane, it enables the Formatting and Language features. The Localizable setting should be set to True in order to enable this feature The Localizable setting should be set to True in order to enable this feature. To translate the workflow metadata: 1. Open your workflow in the App Studio. 2. In the Properties pane, select True from the Localizable drop-down list. Multilingual Workflows Page 4

8 Properties Note: You must implement this step each time you add a new activity to the workflow. After you add a new activity, set Localizable to False, and then back to True again for the setting to take effect. 3. (Optional) Edit the resource file name to reflect the target language for the translations. For example, when translating into French, you may call the resource file: <Your Workflow Name>.fr-FR.resx, where fr-fr represents the selected language and dialect (French - France). For more details on the CultureInfo Class please see 4. Open your renamed resource (resx) file in your text editor of choice and translate the content of the Value column. Note: Visual Studio offers a convenient Excel-like interface. Multilingual Workflows Page 5

9 Template language resource file 5. After adding/changing the resource file, perform IISReset for changes to take effect. Workflow Runtime Expressions Runtime Sequence Expressions is an efficient tool for retrieving any information you need related to the runtime context. See: "Sequence Expressions" Runtime Expressions allow the user to retrieve data from the workflow resource file. In default value, business role and more you can use this powerful tool by simply entering in this window the code: rt.getresourcestring(<key from resource file>) For example: rt.getresourcestring( ApprovalKey ) Will return the localized workflow alias. When using run time expressions, you should make sure that all available languages have a resource file. For example: <sq:label runat="server" Text='<%$sq: rt.getresourcestring("request_form_comment") %>' /> You can also use the <%$ Resources: MyResourceFile, LabelText %> to hold the expressions. If you do so, you will have to maintain the translations in two locations. To edit/create a runtime expression (an example): 1. From Sequence App Studio right-click the activity you wish to edit. Multilingual Workflows Page 6

10 Activity Drop Down Menu 2. Click Edit Activity. The UX Studio opens. Click Data Model and edit one of the Table s Data Fields. Activity Editor - Properties Pane 3. Click next to the Default Value box, in the Properties pane. The Expression Editor opens. Multilingual Workflows Page 7

11 Expressions Editor 4. Enter an expression such as rt.getresourcestring( Alias ). Note: The Alias in the example below can be any value as long as it has a key in the resource file. 5. Click Validate and when confirmed click Update. To create multilingual forms: 1. Using Visual Studio, create a resource file for that language, for example: MyResourceFile.resx 2. Add values to your resource file, where the key is the value used in the form s markup and the value is the display value in the runtime. 3. Translate the Resource file to your language and give it the corresponded extension, for example, for Portuguese : MyResourceFile.pt.resx 4. Copy the resource files to the application s App_GlobalResources directory. The App_GlobalResources directory is located in the application root directory (you should create it if it doesn t exist). For example, in the default Flowtime installation, the path is : C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Workflow Runtime\App_GlobalResources 5. In your forms, use the keys as follows: <sq:label runat="server" Text="<%$ Resources: MyResourceFile, LabelText %>" /> Multilingual Workflows Page 8

12 SharePoint Flowtime Behavior To change the language in SharePoint Flowtime: 1. Select User Settings > Select Display Language, and select the language of your choice. SharePoint Language Selection Flowtime now displays in the language you selected. When translating a workflow, Sequence will display the target language interface for the workflow based on the SharePoint site that hosts Sequence or on the language properties. Therefore, if you wish to view the workflow in French, import the Sequence web parts into a French SharePoint site, or manually create such a site and then open a new workflow instance. Sequence will display the French interface for the workflow based on the SharePoint site that hosts Sequence. The activities and messages metadata should be displayed in French. PLEASE NOTE that the contents (labels, remarks etc.) of tasks and forms are not yet translatable. Runtime Sequence before translation Multilingual Workflows Page 9

13 Runtime Sequence after translation Multilingual Workflows Page 10