Accent Characters

[Pickering, John (NORBORD)]

I hope it was ONE dictionary source compiled into 2 versions using
conditional compile statements?

I took the opposite approach and kept all the bilingual stuff in the
programs. So many screen field statements already used the label option to
override the dictionary -- mostly for space reasons or titles above cluster
columns. And you still have all the other title statements to deal with. And
do your designer procedures having names which are meaningful in English?
I've got a couple of designer procedures which toggle the contents of a
screen column between price and quantity -- called PRC and QTY in the
English versions but PRX and QTE in the French version. Same story with Quiz
headings and text. I used 2 designer message files, one for each language.
This had the added advantage of somewhat standardizing custom error messages
as programmers found it easier to use an existing message than to invent a
new one, translate it and update 2 qkmsgdes files :-) This approach also
allows a piece meal approach to translation -- the parts which are visible
outside the company get done first, then the parts most used by unilingual
employees. Some stuff is still in only one language, much to the disapproval
of the language police.

Regards,
JWP


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	KHeathe673@aol.com [SMTP:KHeathe673@aol.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, June 07, 2001 12:11 PM
> To:	powerh-l@lists.swau.edu
> Subject:	Accent Characters
> 
> I built a system for the Cdn Feds, which of course had to handle both
> official lanaguages.  
> 
> AT the time, I went with 2 dictionaries, 1 for each language, since sooner
> or later, you are going to need Element Descriptions, labels, headings
> etc.. in French and its much easier to maintain in the dict. rather than
> in source...
> 
> Kent Heatherington
>