Troubleshooting
Problem
Users may be unaware of the translation features in IBM Cognos Analytic Applications and how to implement them for reporting. This technote provides information on how to translate application content for reporting in additional languages.
Resolving The Problem
Adaptive Warehouse systematically generates many aspects of the target model. In addition, it generates a portion of data for Gregorian and custom calendars. Much of the generated target model and calendar data can be translated into additional languages using a combination of standard features in Cognos Connection, Adaptive Analytics and Framework Manager. Translations are then used according to the Content Language setting in Cognos Connection User Preferences.
At a high level, the process to provide target model and calendar translations is as follows:
1. Add languages to the target model
2. Provide translations for the target model and calendar using standard Framework Manager features
3. Add languages to Framework Manager model packages and publish
4. Add languages to Adaptive Analytics projects and refresh from target package
5. Translate Adaptive Analytics metadata and static text
6. Select Content Language in Cognos Connection User Preferences
Each step is described in more detail in the following sections.
The last two sections discuss the special treatment of "en-US" as a design language in Adaptive Warehouse with options for providing alternative English translations and some exclusions to the translation of Analytic Applications.
1. Add languages to the target model
Follow these steps to add additional languages to the target model:
- a) Open target model view
b) Select "Project -> Languages -> Define languages ..." from the application menu
c) Select one or more languages from the Available Languages list, add them to the Selected Languages list and click OK.
Important: DO NOT change the Active or Design languages. Adaptive Warehouse only supports "en-US" as its Active and Design language. Only ADD additional languages as required.
For more information: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.swg.im.cognos.ug_fm.10.1.0.doc%2Fug_fm_id8226define_model_languages.html
2. Provide translations for the target model and calendar using standard Framework Manager features
Translation of the target model and calendar involves a number of standard Framework Manager features. The specific feature used and where it is applied depends on the object being translated. The following table summarizes the method and location used for each object. Details for each method and location are provided in the sections that follow.
| Model Object | Item | Translation Location | Translation Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| All target model objects (excluding calendar hierarchies, levels and attributes) | Name Description | Directly on Adaptive Warehouse generated target model objects | Framework Manager Model Languages |
| Calendar hierarchies, levels and attributes | Name Description | Custom copy of Adaptive Warehouse generated calendar hierarchies (*see note) | Framework Manager Model Languages |
| Calendar data | Month name Month caption Weekday name Day caption | Custom copy of Adaptive Warehouse generated calendar hierarchies | Framework Manager Data Format |
| Year caption Quarter caption | Custom copy of Adaptive Warehouse generated calendar hierarchies | Framework Manager Expression | |
| Custom date items | Custom copy of Adaptive Warehouse generated calendar hierarchies | Framework Manager Data Format (if supported) or Framework Manager Expression |
*Note: Although the name and description of calendar hierarchies, levels and attributes can be done directly on the generated objects, these generated objects can only provide English data. Therefore the translation of calendar name and description should be done on the custom calendar hierarchies providing translated data.
Translation Location
- Directly on Adaptive Warehouse generated target model objects
Translation of name and description can be done directly on the objects generated by Adaptive Warehouse in the target model. All translations should be entered into the appropriate field on the Language tab for the object. It is important not to change the default English ("en-US") design name of the target model object to avoid Adaptive Warehouse regenerating a new object. If alternate English values are required, consider making changes to the underlying objects in the warehouse model or using an additional English language for your target model customization (e.g. "en" or "en-CA") as you would any non-English language.
- Custom copy of Adaptive Warehouse generated calendar hierarchies
Adaptive Warehouse does not permit alteration of built-in calendar hierarchies so you will need to make a custom calendar hierarchy in order to translate its data items. To ensure the custom hierarchy meets all Adaptive Warehouse requirements, use the following method for creating a custom calendar hierarchy:
- 1. Rename one or more of the Adaptive Warehouse generated custom hierarchies you wish to translate. For example, "Calendar YQMD" can be renamed to "Calendar YQMD (nl)"
2. Synchronize Target Metadata
Adaptive Warehouse will regenerate default calendar hierarchies (e.g. "Calendar YQMD") hierarchy and leave any renamed hierarchies as a copy which can be customized.
Translation Method
- Framework Manager Model Languages
- Edit the expression for the hierarchy level attribute your wish to translate
- Replace current expression with the appropriate date column from the business layer query subject. For day level items (e.g. Weekday name) use the calendar date (e.g. [Calendar].[Calendar Gregorian Day_].[Calendar Date]) and for higher level items (e.g. month) use the start or end date (e.g. [Calendar].[Calendar Month_].[Gregorian Month End Date]).
- Define the date format for the item using the Format property in the property pane and using a format type of Date.
- Edit the expression for the hierarchy level attribute your wish to translate
- Replace current expression with an expression that meets requirements for the attribute
Framework Manager model language support can be used to provide translations for the name and description model objects.
Note: This feature requires additional languages to have been selected for the Framework Manager project as described in step 1. Add language(s) to Adaptive Warehouse Framework Manager target model described earlier.
Providing language specific names and descriptions can be done two ways:
- 1. Translation file - see "Exporting a translation table" and "Importing a translation table" sections in the following document:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.ug_aw.10.1.0.doc/t_id2114enablingmultilingualreporting.html#id2114Enablingmultilingualreporting
2. Manually providing translated names as follows:
- a. Select the item in the Framework Manager model tree
b. Select the Language tab in the properties pane
c. Provide values for each language as required
For more information: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.im.cognos.ug_fm.10.1.0.doc/ug_fm_id8046multilingual_support.html#multilingual_support
Framework Manager Data Format
Framework Manager provides the ability to define a display format for data items, with date and time related formats being language dependant. This feature is useful for translating some default data items in the Adaptive Warehouse calendars such as month name, month caption, weekday name and day caption as well as any custom date or date part format the user requires, provided it is supported by Framework Manager data formatting.
To use this feature:
Data format property reference: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/cbi/v10r1m1/topic/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.ug_fm.10.1.1.doc/t_wrapper_rs_props_data_frmt_en.html#rsuiFormatProp
Note: Framework Manager data format are not applied when testing in Framework Manager. To test defined data formatting, the package must be published and tested in Adaptive Analytics or other reporting tool in Cognos Connection. Ensure all other language settings have been configured correctly, such as package languages, Adaptive Analytics project languages and user content language when testing.
Note: At the time of this writing, using the Pattern option in the format dialog does not seem to render language dependant in the reporting tools. It is recommended the Pattern option not be used.
Framework Manager Expression
Framework Manager expressions are useful for cases not supported by Framework Manager data formats. Known cases in Adaptive Warehouse include default generated items such as quarter caption (e.g. "2010 Q1") and year caption for custom calendars ("FY2010") which use fixed strings (e.g. "Q" and "FY") that may not be valid in all languages.
To use this feature:
Framework Manager expressions can be defined to accommodate multiple languages through the use of $runLocale session parameter which provides the content language setting of the user at runtime. This can be used to drive conditional logic in the Framework Manager expression for different languages or even be combined with parameter maps or query subjects to drive more sophisticated language support.
3. Add languages to Framework Manager model packages and publish
Languages must be added to each package to be published and used for reporting. For more information see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.im.cognos.ug_fm.10.1.0.doc/ug_fm_id16364specifylanguages.html#specifylanguages
Once languages have been defined for packages, the packages must be published to be available by reporting tools.
4. Add languages to Adaptive Analytics projects and refresh from target package
To enable a language to be used in Adaptive Analytics reporting it must be added to an Adaptive Analytics project. For more information see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.ug_aa.10.1.0.doc/t_setting_languages.html
Additionally, the Adaptive Analytics project should be refreshed from target model to receive changes to the Framework Manager target model. For more information see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.ug_aa.10.1.0.doc/t_refreshing_project.html
5. Translate Adaptive Analytics metadata and static text
Metadata and report static text is translated using a translation file. Adaptive Analytics produces is a standard text file that you can edit in any text editor and then import back into Adaptive Analytics. For information see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.ug_aa.10.1.0.doc%2Fc_multilingualenvironment.html
6. Select Content Language in Cognos Connection User Preferences
To use the language features described above in Cognos reporting tools in Cognos Connection, a user must select a Content Language in their Cognos Connection User Preferences. For more information see: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/caapps/v10r1m0/topic/com.ibm.swg.im.cognos.ug_cc.10.1.0.doc/ug_cc_id2244PersonalizethePortal.html#PersonalizethePortal
Note: "en-US" as Model Design Language and Alternate English Translations
The majority of target model object names are automatically generated by Adaptive Warehouse based on the warehouse model and Adaptive Warehouse best practices. Adaptive Warehouse uses en-US as the Framework Manager model design language and generated names are defined in this language code in the target model. Changing the generated en-US name of target model objects should be avoided, otherwise Adaptive Warehouse will regenerate new objects and likely orphan the modified originals. If different en-US names are required, consider changing the underlying warehouse model.
If needed, alternate English translations can be accomplished using the same techniques described by using another English language code (e.g. "en" or "en-CA") for custom English naming. As with other languages, package languages, Adaptive Analytics project languages and the user content language will need to be updated to view in the desired language.
Limitations and exclusions
The methods outlined in this document describe a possible configuration of the application to enable business content and labels in reports to be browsed and viewed in multiple languages using both the interactive Adaptive Analytics experience and when deployed to the content store as BI reports. This document does not attempt to describe methods for translating the product user interface nor all the metadata and data objects encountered during report authoring.
In addition, there are a small number of technical items which cannot be translated and can appear in certain reports based on certain settings. Some examples are:
- Model prompts: Model prompts are prompts that are built in to the Adaptive Warehouse target model. They control the technical behavior of the report. In most cases they are suppressed from the final reports as the values of these prompts are supplied in Adaptive Analytics. There are a small number of these prompts that can appear in deployed BI reports.
- Parameter values in the report footer: The report footer contains a section that lists the various parameters that were used to run the report. Some of these parameter values may be shown in English.
Related Information
Defining model languages in Framework Manager
Importing/exporting language files in Framework Manager
Multilingual support in Framework Manager
Format property in Framework Manager
Specifying languages for Framework Manager packages
Setting languages for an Adaptive Analytics project
Refresh Adaptive Analytics projects from target model
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 June 2018
UID
swg21592976