National Language Support

The FTM Operations and Administration Console can easily be adapted for any national language. To do this, the following items are required:
  • A resource bundle that contains all static text in the FTM OAC.
  • A new entry in the CLASSIFICATION database table for the required locale.
  • Updates to all CLASSIFICATION items to translate their descriptions into the required language.

Also, as a prerequisite, configure the application server for UTF-8 encoding. For more information, see Configuring the application server for UTF-8 encoding.

The classification table contains system dynamic data such as transaction types, object statuses, and currencies. These are defined in the model using the Rational® tools and the sample application contains a set of standard classifications that are used by the FTM OAC to translate codes that are returned from the database into meaningful descriptions. Classifications are part of the configuration data and so can also be created and updated in the OAC. Fore more information, see Classifications.

The OAC User Preferences page allows the user to choose their locale. The options available in this menu are populated from the classifications with a classification scheme of PREF_LOCALE. Dates and number formats that are displayed in the OAC are automatically localized by setting this locale. However, to localize static text, such as labels and column headers, a new resource bundle should be created using the supplied English resource bundle as a starting point. For more information, see Resource Bundles.
Table 1. User preferences locale selection
Classification scheme Code Description
PREF_LOCALE A Java™ Locale String, either a language on its own or both, language and country separated by an underscore, can be specified.
Examples of the Java Locale String are:
  • en
  • en_GB
  • en_US
  • fr_FR
  • fr_CA
 Display string, for example "US English" would be the description for the "en_US" code.
To provide a new locale:
  1. Add the new resource bundle messages_xx.properties to the OAC application EAR file, where xx is the locale code.
  2. Deploy the updated EAR file to the WebSphere® Application Server.
  3. Add a classification entry for the locale with a classification scheme of PREF_LOCALE.
  4. Update all CLASSIFICATION descriptions with new translations.

The CLASSIFICATION database table updates can also be done using the FTM OAC. To add a classification item in the OAC for the locale, under Configuration Data, select the Classifications node. Then, click the New Classification Item icon Create to open the New Classification Item dialog box, and, taking US English as an example, complete it as shown in the following figure. Save your changes and restart the FTM OAC application in the application server console for this to take effect.

Figure 1. Creating a new classification item for the US English locale