Editing a single language in a multi-language environment

Here we examine how specific functionality in a multi-language Vitalware environment changes when editing a single language.

The Vitalware Auto Fill facility allows all levels in a hierarchy to be filled automatically as soon as sufficient levels have been completed to identify a Lookup List entry uniquely.

For example, we have a hierarchy consisting of:

  • Country
  • State
  • Town
  • Postcode

When a postcode is entered, the corresponding town, state and country are populated provided there is only one combination of town, state and country for the given postcode.

When editing a single language in a multi-language environment, the Auto Fill facility handles not only the completion of hierarchies, but also the completion of Lookup Lists.

The following functionality applies to the Auto Fill facility:

  • If an entry is selected from a Lookup List in a hierarchy that results in a single combination of values, then all values are assigned to the fields in the hierarchy. When the fields are assigned the entries, the data for all languages is used regardless of the current Data language setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). In essence the behaviour is the same as if the user had gone to all fields in the hierarchy and selected a Lookup List entry. All levels that currently contain a value are updated with the value from the Lookup List entry. This means that the text in the Lookup List entry replaces the entered text, allowing sites to control the layout of the entry (e.g. text is upper case, or leading upper case, etc.).
  • If entering a value in the current Data language setting would result in a single Lookup List entry matching, the complete value for all languages replaces the single language when the control is exited. For example, if we have a Lookup List that contains the entry:

    hat;:;chapeau

    and the Data language is set to French, then entering the term chapeau and exiting the field will result in the value hat;:;chapeau being stored in the field. The substitution will only occur if there is no other Lookup List entry for the French word chapeau. If another entry exists, or if no entry exists, the text entered is left unchanged. In other words, if the text for a Lookup List entry is entered in the current Data language, the values for all other languages will be added provided a single Lookup List entry matches the text entered. Where a single match exists, the text entered is replaced with the text from the Lookup List entry, allowing the layout of the entry to be determined by the Lookup List entry.

Copy and Paste provides a convenient mechanism for moving data between controls.

The following functionality applies when copying and pasting data:

  • When copying text, only the text displayed on the screen is placed on the clipboard. In other words, the Data and Display Order settings (specified on the Language tab of the Options box) determine what data is copied.
  • The previous point applies for all controls. For example, in an English / French system displaying French text only, selecting a line in a grid and pasting it into another row (or grid) only copies the French text. Any English text will not be copied into the new row.
  • When records are copied from List mode into a third party application (e.g. Excel), the data pasted will reflect the current Language Settings. In particular, when copying records into a third party application and then importing them back at a later time, it is vital that All Languages is specified and that the Display Order is the same as the System Order, which is easily checked on the Language tab of the Options box.

Processing of data by Vitalware always uses the full data value, that is the complete text as displayed when the All Languages option is selected. Data is always stored in the order defined by the Supported Registry entry. When data is displayed however, Vitalware looks at the current Language Settings (specified on the Language tab of the Options box) and adjusts the data to reflect those settings: each control makes the necessary text adjustments when displaying their data.

The following controls allow the display and editing of data in a single language:

  • Single value input controls (RichEdit), e.g. text fields
  • Single value selection controls (ComboBox)
  • Multi-value input controls (LinkGrid)
  • List View (ListGrid)
  • Shortcuts Panel (Shortcuts)

The following functionality applies for data entry in a single language:

  • When editing data in a single language, it is not possible to enter data for other languages.

    In other words, if All Languages has not been selected as the data language setting, it is not possible to enter the language delimiter followed by more text: if the language delimiter followed by more text are entered, they are removed. For example, if the data language in an English / French system is set to English and hat;:;chapeau is entered into a field, ;:;chapeau will be removed by the system, leaving hat in the field.

    In the case where All Languages is selected for the data language, any language delimiters and text exceeding the number of supported languages will be removed. For example, if hat;:;chapeau;:;hut is entered into an English / French system, ;:;hut will be removed as only two languages are supported.

  • Text entered into a control only affects the current language. If a field contains the data hat;:;chapeau and the data language is set to English, then the field's control will display the text hat. Any changes made to the text only affect the English part of the data. For example, if hat is changed to bonnet and the record is saved, the field's data would now be bonnet;:;chapeau. If the field has a Lookup List associated with it, the user making the change will be prompted to accept the new entry bonnet;:;chapeau.

    Clearing the contents of the field only clears the text for the data language selected. For example, if a field contains hat;:;chapeau with the data language set to English, then the field's control will display hat. If the field is cleared and the record saved, the field's data will be ;:;chapeau as only the English component was removed. If the Show First Filled Registry setting is enabled, any French values will be displayed in grey (by default) if the English text is removed.

  • The Edit>Clear command may be used to remove the value for a field regardless of the data language selected. As mentioned in the previous point, removing the text from a control only clears the value for the current data language. In some situations it may be necessary to remove the contents for all languages. The Edit>Clear command provides this functionality. A keyboard shortcut of CTRL+DEL is also available.
  • When the data for a given field is saved, any trailing language delimiters are removed.

    For example, if there is a data language setting of All Languages on an English / French system and hat;:; is entered, the trailing language delimiter will not be stored in the system. The control may still display the delimiter if the Show Trailing Delimiters Registry entry is enabled.

Vitalware allows users to set default values for searching and also for record creation. In the case of record creation the default values are loaded before the user begins entering information. The default values loaded should contain data for all languages to ensure users can view the data regardless of their data language setting.

The following functionality applies to setting default values:

  • The Default Properties box allows users to select fields and set default values on those fields:

    Default Properties

    Clicking Set displays the Set Default Value box. The layout of the box depends on the control type selected. For example, the Party Type field in the Parties module is a drop down list for data entry. When setting a default value for this field, the Set Default Value box contains a drop down list:

    Set Default Value

    The control displayed in the box operates in the same way as the control within the module, except that the data for all languages is displayed. The data is displayed as defined by the Display Order setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). Data entered for default values should be recorded in the same order as the Display Order setting.

See Global Replace in a multi-language environment for details.

The Import facility allows data to be taken from an external source in either CSV (Comma Separated Values), Tab (Tab Delimited Values) or XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format and loaded into Vitalware.

The following functionality applies when importing data:

  • When importing data the user's Data language and Display Order options (specified on the Language tab of the Options box) are ignored. The data value can contain all languages. The language order is in System Order as defined by the Supported Registry entry, which is easily checked on the Language tab of the Options box.

    In other words, the way that multi-lingual values are specified for data import is fixed, regardless of any user settings. This allows the same data file to be imported by different users with different settings but have the same records with the same language order created.

  • If the Display Order of languages does not match the System Order of languages, or if a single language is displayed, and an import is commenced, a message displays indicating that all data imported must be in the System Order. The user may choose to abort or proceed:

    Error message

The following functionality applies to Lookup Lists:

  • Lookup Lists always display their entries in all languages regardless of the current Data language setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). The order in which the languages are displayed is determined by the Display Order language setting.

    For example, in an English / French system in which the Display Order setting is set to English / French:

    Language Options

    the entries in a Lookup List will be displayed with the English text followed by the French text. The list will be sorted in alphabetic order in English:

    db_lookup_selection_language_order.gif

    The reason for always displaying all languages for Lookup List entries is because a term in one language may have multiple terms in another language. For example, the French word voiture may be translated to English as car but also as carriage (as in a train carriage). As such there are two possible Lookup List entries for voiture, namely:

    voiture;:;car
    voiture;:;carriage

    If the Lookup List only displayed the French entries when French is the data language selected, it would not be clear which variant was required. By showing all languages it is possible to decide which entry is correct.

  • Leading letters may be used to restrict the list of lookup entries displayed. Leading letters may be specified for any language regardless of the data language setting.

    For example, in an English / French system in which Display Order is set to French / English, the following applies:

Text Entered Functionality
voit

All Lookup List entries where the French text begins with voit are displayed.
;:;car

All Lookup List entries where the English text begins with car are displayed.
voit;:;carr

All Lookup List entries where the French text begins with voit and the English text begins with carr are displayed.

Note: The order of the terms entered is dependent on the Display Order setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box) and is not affected by the language order setting specified in the Supported Registry entry.

  • When an entry is selected from a Lookup List the value for All Languages is set regardless of the Data language setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). Hence the Lookup List entry replaces the text for all languages for the given field.
  • When a new value is entered into a Lookup List field and the record is saved, the message box that prompts for confirmation of the new entry displays the Lookup List entry text in all languages in Display Order. Hence the complete entry can be checked before confirmation is given.

Page View mode provides a mechanism for viewing HTML based reports in the Vitalware client.

The following functionality applies when in Page View mode:

  • Since Page View mode uses a report registered in Vitalware, the data shown reflects the settings of the report not the settings for the Data and Display Order options (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). This allows reports to be designed to reflect how the data is to be displayed regardless of the current Language Settings.
  • The Default Page View report always displays all languages in System Order, which is easily checked on the Language tab of the Options box. The default report provides a useful way of showing the text for all languages regardless of the current Language Settings.

Vitalware reports are generally designed to display data in a specific language. If a report consists of French prompts, then French data should be displayed. In fact, French data should be displayed regardless of the settings for the Data language and Display Order options (specified on the Language tab of the Options box).

The following functionality applies when producing reports:

  • When defining the attributes for a report, the reporting Language may be specified. The language selected determines the data to be embedded in the report, regardless of any user settings:

  • If a specific language is selected, the values output for the report will be based on that language. If All Languages is selected, then the Use Display Order check box determines the order in which the language data is displayed:
    • If unchecked, the data is output in System Order as defined by the Supported Registry entry.
    • If checked, the data will be output based on the current setting of the Display Order option.

    In most cases the Use Display Order option is not checked since this results in the data being embedded in a predictable order. The main exception is a report designed for use in Page View mode. In this case the Use Display Order option should be turned on so that the data displayed matches the user's current settings.

  • If a Sort Order is defined for the report, the sorting uses the same options as those defined for the report. In other words, the report Language selected and the Use Display Order setting define what values are used when sorting the records for the report. It is not possible to define a sort order independently of the report language settings (it is hard to imagine a case where this would be desirable).

The Scheduled Export facility allows data to be exported from Vitalware on a regular basis. The data is generally fed into third party systems.

The following functionality applies when exporting data:

  • When defining Scheduled Export settings, it is not possible to set the language to be exported. In all cases, all languages will be exported in System Order as defined by the Supported Registry entry, which is easily checked on the Language tab of the Options box.
  • If a data export is required for a particular language, then an export filter is required. The filter can parse the data and rewrite it with the language required. Using an export filter allows the data to be manipulated on a per column basis, enabling the data to be massaged to suit any third party system.
  • If a Sort Order is defined for the export, the data is sorted based on the complete contents of the column.

The data for a given field is stored in Vitalware in the order defined by the Supported Registry entry. The language delimiter, as defined by the Delimiter Registry entry, is stored between the text for each language, and any trailing language delimiters are removed. Hence the value stored is a single string consisting of all the language values.

The following functionality applies to searching:

  • When entering values as search terms, the Data language setting (specified on the Language tab of the Options box) is ignored. Search terms may be entered in any language and Vitalware will locate all records that match the terms entered regardless of the language in which the term appears. For example, in an English / French system, if a field contains the data:

    cellulose tape;:;a ruban de cellulose

    entering a search term of tape will return the record regardless of the Data language setting. Similarly, entering a search term of ruban will also return the record. A search term of cellulose will find the record and highlight both the English and French word cellulose as matching.

  • It is not possible to search for a term in a single language only using the standard query tabs.

    If a user has the daEditQuery permission, it is possible to adjust a query statement to restrict a search to a given language. For example, if searching for all records in a module in an English / French system where cellulose is mentioned in English but not in French, the required query statement is:

select all
from emodulename
where true and
(
fieldname contains 'cellulose'
)
and not
(
fieldname like '*;:;*'
)

In other words, we want to find all records where fieldname has the word cellulose but does not have the string ;:; in it. Since the data is stored as English followed by French and trailing language delimiters are removed, the query looks for records that contain cellulose without a language delimiter, and as English is the first language, it is only searching English data. It is important to note that the query is based on the data occurring in the order defined by the Supported Registry entry.

Assume we want to find all records in a module where cellulose is mentioned in French but not in English. In this case we want to find the word cellulose after a language delimiter. The required query statement is:

select all
from emodulename
where true and
(
fieldname contains 'cellulose'
)
and
(
fieldname like '*;:;*cellulose*'
)
and not
(
fieldname like '*cellulose*;:;*'
)

In other words, find the term cellulose somewhere after a language delimiter and also where cellulose does not appear before a language delimiter. In general, the query like operator can be used, in combination with the not operator to restrict which parts of a field's text are matched.

Note: If you require further help with building the correct query, please contact Vitalware support staff.

The Vitalware Sorting facility allows a set of matching records to be sorted based on values in the records. After the sort is complete a summary of each term and the number of times it appears may be displayed.

The following functionality applies when sorting records:

  • The sorting of multi-lingual fields complies with the setting of the Data language and Display Order options (specified on the Language tab of the Options box). If the Data language option is set to a specific language rather than All Languages, the sorting will sort by the language selected and the summary will display terms for the language selected only. For example, in an English / French system with the Data language set to French, the data will be sorted based on the French values only and the summary will list French values only:

    If the Data language is set to All Languages, the Display Order setting is used to determine in what order the language values should be sorted. For example, if the Display Order option is set to French then English, the sorting will occur with French terms first and where two French terms are the same, the English terms will then be used:

  • Where a value in one language has multiple values in another language, the summary count for the term will vary depending on the Data Language option selected. For example, the French term voiture could have the following English translations:

    voiture
    voiture;:;car
    voiture;:;carriage

    Assume the following number of records contain each value:

    voiture - 25 records
    voiture;:;car - 12 records
    voiture;:;carriage - 3 records

    If the Data language is set to French and a summary is produced, the count for the term voiture will be the sum of all records containing voiture, voiture;:;car and voiture;:;carriage. Based on our record counts the number of records with the term voiture would be 40 (25 + 12 + 3). If the Data language is set to All Languages and a summary is produced, the summary will display the breakdown of each term along with its associated count. In all cases the total number of records will be the same.

The following functionality applies to spell checking:

  • When spell checking is invoked, only the Data language(s) selected are checked. For example, if the Data language has been set to French in an English / French system, only French text will be spell checked. If the data language is set to All Languages, then each language is checked in the order defined by the Display Order setting (on the Language tab of the Options box): if text is set to display as French / English, all French text will be checked first, followed by all English text.