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Internationalization (I18N) of the Win32 installer.
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===================================================
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The intention of adding internationalization to the Win32 Firebird
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installer is to provide a minimum level of translation to support
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the installation process only. This means just translating the install
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dialogues, the readme file and the installation readme file. All other
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documentatation i18n should be available separately. I18n is a
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good thing, but bloating the installer with large amounts of translated
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documentation is not desirable.
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The current version of InnoSetup - 4.2.7 - provides generic support for
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the following languages:
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Catalan, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Polish,
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PortugueseStd, Russian and Slovenian.
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In addition, the InnoSetup user community has made other language packs
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available for download. See here for details:
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http://www.jrsoftware.org/files/istrans/
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Therefore adding i18n support to the Firebird installer is extremely
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simple as all we need are translations of the Firebird specific messages.
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Currently the Firebird installer has support for English, French, German,
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Portuguese (standard), Hungarian and Slovenian installs. So there are still
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opportunities for others to provide support for their native language.
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How to add new languages
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------------------------
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The simplest way to understand this is to study the implementation of
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the French translation. The steps to follow are these:
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o The Win32 install files are located in install\arch-specific\win32.
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This sub-directory is located as follows:
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Firebird 1.5 - firebird2\src
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Firebird 2.0 - firebird2\builds
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o You can use anonymous CVS to checkout the Win32 install kit with these
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cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/firebird login
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[checkout the Fb 1.5 Win32 installation kit]
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cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/firebird co -r B1_5_Release firebird2/src/install/arch-specific/win32
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[checkout the Fb 2.0 Win32 installation kit]
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cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@firebird.cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/firebird co -r B2_0_Release firebird2/builds/install/arch-specific/win32
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o Each language has its own sub-directory under install\arch-specific\win32.
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If possible a two-letter language code should be used for the
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directory name. This two letter code should, if possible, be the
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internationally recognised two-letter identifier for the langauge.
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o Three files are required:
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* custom_messages_%LANG_CODE%.inc
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where %LANG_CODE% represents the language identifier used in the
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directory name. This file contains the translated strings that are
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used throughout the installation process. The original, english
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strings are stored in install\arch-specific\win32\custom_messages.inc
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where the actual file name can be either in english or in the
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translated equivalent of the name. The readme file stores last
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minute documentation changes as well as general notes on using
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firebird. It is displayed at the end of the installation process.
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The readme file is always subject to change from one beta or
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pre-release to the next (or final release.) For this reason the
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translated readme should always explain that the english language
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readme.txt is the definitive version. This is because it will
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not be possible to hold up a release while waiting for translators
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to complete their work.
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* installation_readme.txt
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This filename can be translated or left with the original english
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title. It contains installation specific details. It is displayed
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near the beginning of the installation process. The installation
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readme is usually static and only changes from point release to
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o Issues to bear in mind
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* Use ascii characters for filenames where possible.
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* All strings that appear as text labels in dialogue screens should contain
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an ampersand ( & ) to support keyboard input during setup.
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* The installation readme file and the readme file must be formatted to
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a column width of 55 chars. Otherwise the installer will wrap lines
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awkwardly. This is because the installer screens use the Courier New
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font to display these text files. Courier New guarantees to maintain
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o Adding the new language to the InnoSetup install script
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Changes have been kept to the absolute minimum. Only the following
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sections need to be altered:
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Name: en; MessagesFile: compiler:Default.isl; InfoBeforeFile: output\doc\installation_readme.txt; InfoAfterFile: src\install\arch-specific\win32\readme.txt;
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Name: fr; MessagesFile: compiler:Languages\French.isl; InfoBeforeFile: src\install\arch-specific\win32\fr\installation_lisezmoi.txt; InfoAfterFile: src\install\arch-specific\win32\fr\lisezmoi.txt;
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en.BeveledLabel=English
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fr.BeveledLabel=Fran�ais
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#include "custom_messages.inc"
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#include "fr\custom_messages_fr.inc"
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You are not required to make these changes.
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o Submitting your changes
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All i18n is being co-ordinated by Paul Reeves who maintains the Win32
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installation kits. He can be contacted at:
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mailto: preeves at ibphoenix.com