Runtime Client Tools > Web Client > Implementing Multiple Language Support for a Web Client > Implementing a Non-default Language

Implementing a Non-default Language

If you need to use a language on the Web Client's deployment configuration interface other than one of the default languages supported by the Web server, you can implement your own translation of the messages file that defines the text that appears.

To display a language other than those supported by default:

  1. Using a text editor that supports the language you want to edit, open one of the existing message files located in the Citect locales directory; the default path is:

    2. %SystemDrive%\inetpub\wwwroot\Citect\locales

    Open a file that includes the language that will be easiest to translate. The language code at the start of each file name can be used to identify the language each file represents; for example, the English language file is called enmsg.xml.

  2. Save the file back to the locales directory, using the appropriate language code in the name.

    3. To name the file correctly, check the list of Windows Language Codes for the appropriate code. This will allow your translated resource file (XXmsg.xml) to be automatically loaded when the Web Client home page is launched, provided it matches the current system locale setting.

    For example, to implement Hebrew on the Web Client's configuration pages, you would name your file hemsg.xml. To use the Taiwanese variation of Chinese, you would call the file zh-twmsg.xml.

  3. Now change the file content. Firstly, set the correct encoding format.

    4. The encoding format is defined in the top line of the file, which appears as follows:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>

    If the language uses English characters, the format you would use is ANSI, which is defined as "iso-8859-1" (see example above).

    If the language uses non-English characters, you would use Unicode, which is defined as "UTF-8" (see example below).

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

  4. Now translate the text that appears on the Web Client interface.

    5. The content that needs to be translated is divided across two sections within the file: "labels" and "messages". The labels section includes the content used to describe and identify the elements of the interface; the messages section includes the notifications that appear in the system messages panel.

    To translate these sections, alter the text between the enclosing XML tags. Do not alter the tags themselves. The XML tags define where each label is used.

    Note: Make sure you maintain any "%" characters, as these are used to insert system information.

    For example, the English file:

    <!-- Labels -->
    <span id="TITLE">Citect SCADA Web Client Deployment</span>
    <span id="SYSMSG">System Messages</span>
    <span id="DEP">Deployment</span>
    <span id="DESC">Description</span>
    <span id="ACTION">Action</span>
    <!-- Messages -->
    <sysmsg id="DELOK">% deleted.</sysmsg>
    <sysmsg id="DELCAN">% will NOT be deleted.</sysmsg>
    <sysmsg id="DEPNULL">You can't % an empty deployment.</sysmsg>

    ...

    would appear as follows in Spanish:

    <!-- Labels -->
    <span id="TITLE">Despliegue del Cliente Web Citect SCADA</span>
    <span id="SYSMSG">Mensajes del Sistema</span>
    <span id="DEP">Despliegue</span>
    <span id="DESC">Descripción</span>
    <span id="ACTION">Acción</span>
    <!-- Messages -->
    <sysmsg id="DELOK">% eliminado.</sysmsg>
    <sysmsg id="DELCAN">% NO será eliminado.</sysmsg>
    <sysmsg id="DEPNULL">No puede % un despliegue vacío.</sysmsg>

Once you have translated the file and saved it with the appropriate name to the locales folder, your Web Server will be able to support the language.

Note: When you save your file, make sure the text editor you used saves the file in the appropriate format depending on the language coding used, i.e. ANSI or Unicode (UTF-8) . See step 3 above.

Published June 2018