Kbase 15870: Should I compile multiple r-code for multiple languages?
| Autor |
Progress Software Corporation - Progress |
| Acesso |
Público |
| Publicação |
5/10/1998 |
|
Should I compile multiple r-code for multiple languages?
When translating an application into multiple languages the
question of whether to have a single, or multiple, sets of r-code
will come up. There are few hard and fast rules in this matter.
However, the following information should help in making the
decision:
1.) When translating into a double-byte language (Simplified or
Traditional Chinese, Japanese or Korean) only the native language
and the target language can be included in the compiled code.
2.) When translating into only single-byte languages, any
combination of target languages can be included in the compiled
code.
3.) Compiled text doesn't tend to take up much space. Therefore,
if you compile your application with several languages the r-code
is not likely to grow by too much. However, if you have large
blocks of text in your code then there may be a significant
increase in r-code size with each additional language.
Also, if you have a large number of languages that you are
translating into then the r-code size could grow too large. In
this case you may want to break the languages up and compile with
groups of languages.
4.) In reference to #3, managing one set of r-code can be easier
than managing one set of r-code for each language.
Example 1:
Your application, which was written in English, has been
translated into Japanese, German and Spanish. In this case you
need to do at least two compiles and manage two sets of r-code.
One compile is needed to translate the application into Japanese
and another compile is needed to translate the application into
German and Spanish. The other option is to have separate compiles
for German and Spanish as well (but this is probably not
necessary).
Example 2:
Your application, which was written in French, has been trasnlated
into English, Spanish, German and Thai. You have a few options in
this case. You can compile four times with only one target
language in each set of r-code. You can compile once with all of
the target languages in one set of r-code. Or, you can do
something in between. Compiling once with all target languages in
one set of r-code is likely to be the best choice.
Example 3:
Your application, which was written in English, has been
translated into Japanese, Chinese, French, German and Spanish. In
this case you need to compile at least three times and have at
least three sets of r-code (One for Japanese, one for Chinese and
one for the remaining languages). You may compile once for each
language and have one set of r-code for each language but it is
probably better to compile once for all of the single-byte
languages.
Example 4:
Your application has been translated into a large number of other
languages. Because of the potential increase in r-code size (from
storing so many translated text segments in the code) it is
probably better to compile several times and include just a few
languages in each compile. You may want to divide the languages
up by region. Or, you may want to divide the languages by areas
that are serviced by specific distributers or subsidiaries.
Progress Software Technical Support Note # 15870