Jerald L Monson

US Patent:

6507812, Jan 14, 2003

Filed:

Jun 29, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/342433

Inventors:

Elizabeth Carol Meade - Austin TX
Jerald Lee Monson - Austin TX
Joseph C. Ross - Georgetown TX

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G06F 1720

US Classification:

704 8, 717 8

Abstract:

A mock translation method and system is provided which converts base-language data and performs a mock translation on it to produce internationalization test data. The mock translation data is created by inserting additional characters, such as a tilde (Ë) into each of the text strings from the user interface of a software program. The additional characters are used as a placeholder to accommodate the additional space needed for later translating the text into a different language. In addition, field boundary characters, such as brackets, are used to designate the beginning and end of the text with the placeholders. This data is stored in localization files and displayed in a software application in place of the English or foreign-language text. By visually inspecting each screen, the programmer or proofreader is able to easily recognize many internationalization errors, without requiring the ability to read any foreign language. These errors include truncation, alignment, or other formatting errors, and programming errors such as text that is hard-coded, text missing from localization files, localization files missing from the program build, and text composed of more than one translated message.

US Patent:

6453462, Sep 17, 2002

Filed:

Jun 29, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/342432

Inventors:

Elizabeth Carol Meade - Austin TX
Jerald Lee Monson - Austin TX
Francis Xavier Rojas - Austin TX
Joseph C. Ross - Georgetown TX
Keiichi Yamamoto - Austin TX

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G06F 944

US Classification:

717124, 717139, 717143, 704 2, 704 3, 704 8, 704 9, 704 10

Abstract:

A mock translation system, method, and program is provided which converts single-byte base-language data and performs a mock translation on it to produce internationalization test data, which incorporates double-byte expansion characters having a second byte as â5Câ, such as a double wide dash character. These expansion characters are used as a placeholder to accommodate the additional space needed for later translating the text into a different language. In addition, field boundary characters, such as brackets, are used to designate the beginning and end of the text with the placeholders. This data is stored in localization files and displayed in a software application in place of the English or foreign-language text. By visually inspecting each screen, the programmer or proofreader is able to easily recognize many internationalization errors, without requiring the ability to read any foreign language. These errors include truncation, alignment, or other formatting errors, and programming errors such as text that is hard-coded, localization files missing from the program build, text missing from localization files, and text composed of more than one translated message.