Identifying localizable text

The first step in localizing strings in an application component is identifying the best candidates for translation.

1. Determine which elements of the application need translating. Good candidates for localization include the following:

   • Graphical user interfaces: window titles, menus and menu items, buttons, on-screen instructions

   • Prompts in command-line interfaces

   • Application output: messages and logs

2. Assign a unique key to each element for use in message catalogs for the application. The key provides a language-neutral link between the application and language-specific strings in the message catalogs. Establishing a naming convention for keys before creating the catalogs can make writing code with these keys much more intuitive for interface programmers.

Example

Suppose you are localizing the GUI for a banking system, and the first window contains a pull-down list to use for selecting a type of account.

The labels for the list and the account types in the list are good choices for localization. Three elements require keys: the list and two items in the list.

What to do next

Create message catalogs for the language-specific strings.

Related concepts

Globalization