inetserver asp db: Hi All

I've seen a few examples of multi-language ASP web sites, but none that seem
to do it very well.

Basically I can see that all of the strings need to be kept in the database
and that the relevant table needs to be constructed as follows:

STRINGID, LANGUAGEID, STRING
123, ENG, Basket
124, FRA, Baskete
125, NL, Baskeet

and as I, the admin user, adds the possibility of another language to the
system then I could simply duplicate the ENG (English) strings so that the
normal user could then simply see the fields that need to edited, but what I
can't fathom is how I get this info into the relevant places on the web
pages.

As far as I can see the above is easy to select, eg SELECT STRING FROM
LANGUAGES WHERE LANGUAGEID=ENG AND STRINGID IN (stringID, stringID,
stringID, etc) << this bit means that I can hit the SQL with just the string
values that I want for a specific page, but how the hell will I know which
are going where on the page when I start to use them? Surely the only
reference that I will have is oRSv("STRING") to put in all of the relevant
places, which won't make much sense on the page.

Another factor is that I may want to change the prompts at the top of my web
site, do various other sql queries (eg show some products, show some links,
etc) and then translate the prompts at the bottom of the page. How on earth
can I get round this, as I can't translate the whole page and go back and I
can't do a bit of translation, tootle off a do other DB stuff and then
finish off the translations as this seems a bit flakey.

Any suggestions?

Rgds

Laphan

To make things easier to use I'd suggest you write a bit of a framework to
handle the translation bit.
First of all, I wouldn't use a number as that stringID. They are just too
hard to remember once you start getting a lot of different records. Instead
a meaningfull string would be a better option IMO, something like
"LblBasket" for instance, indicating you want the string for a label which
says "Basket".

Depending on the number of translatable strings your app is going to use you
could load them all at once at the start of your page in a disconnected
recordset, and then simply use a filter to get those strings you need.
An InitTranslations() functions could take care of that, together with a
GetTrans(StringId, LanguageId) function, to fetch the wanted translated
string in the given language.
If you have a lot of pages in your app, and a lot of strings to translate it
might be a good idea to add a PageID to your table, so you can store text
seperatly by page, and also request them by page (less data to request =
faster page loading).

Also, you might consider storing all translation data in the Application
object as a freethreaded XML object, which will remove the need of
requesting the strings from the DB all the time, which will make it a lot
faster.

hope this helps,
J.

[quoted text, click to view]

Since i have to deal every day with multi-language (Belgium have 3
languages) i do it this way:

I load the language (session or cookie)

Select Case Language

Case "N"
include file with variabels "N.txt"

Case "F"
include file with variabels "F.txt"

Case "D"
include file with variabels "D.txt"

Case Else
include file with variabels "E.txt"

End Select


In the include files:
tName = "Naam"
or

tName = "Nom"

or

tName = "Name"

or

tName = "Last Name"


Response.Write tName & ": <Input ......."










"Laphan" <news@DoNotEmailMe.co.uk> schreef in bericht
news:%23aNDoPQFEHA.3096@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
[quoted text, click to view]

Thanks J for your prompt reply.

I understand where you are coming from with regard to use a meaningful
stringname rather than an ID, but how do I use this on the page. If I did
create a field entry called lbBasket, the returning recordset value would be
oRSv("STRINGNAME") rather than oRSv("lblBasket") - correct?

Could you explain more about the filter and functions that you have
mentioned. Is it a case of getting these labels/prompts into some kind of
array to use them as and when?

Rgds

Robbie



[quoted text, click to view]

To make things easier to use I'd suggest you write a bit of a framework to
handle the translation bit.
First of all, I wouldn't use a number as that stringID. They are just too
hard to remember once you start getting a lot of different records. Instead
a meaningfull string would be a better option IMO, something like
"LblBasket" for instance, indicating you want the string for a label which
says "Basket".

Depending on the number of translatable strings your app is going to use you
could load them all at once at the start of your page in a disconnected
recordset, and then simply use a filter to get those strings you need.
An InitTranslations() functions could take care of that, together with a
GetTrans(StringId, LanguageId) function, to fetch the wanted translated
string in the given language.
If you have a lot of pages in your app, and a lot of strings to translate it
might be a good idea to add a PageID to your table, so you can store text
seperatly by page, and also request them by page (less data to request =
faster page loading).

Also, you might consider storing all translation data in the Application
object as a freethreaded XML object, which will remove the need of
requesting the strings from the DB all the time, which will make it a lot
faster.

hope this helps,
J.

[quoted text, click to view]

[quoted text, click to view]

I wouldn't use the recordset directly, but use a function to deal with that
for me.
For instance, a GetTrans("LblBasket", "EN") would get you the english text
for "Basket".

The function itself could look something like this (not tested, just to give
you an idea):

Function GetTrans(StringID, LangID)
oRsv.Filter = "StringID = '" & StringID & "'"
If Not oRsv.EOF And oRsv.BOF Then
GetTrans = oRsv("String")
Else
GetTrans = "Translation not found"
End If
' Reset filter
oRsv.Filter = ""
End Function

I'm assuming oRsv is an ADO recordset wich contains all necessary
translations for this page.

Caching this translation data somehow will be a good thing to speed up your
pages, so encapsulating all the translation-logic in a set of functions or a
class is definatly a good thing, so you can easily refactor it afterwards
without having to change the pages that use the translations.
If the only function that gets you the data is the GetTrans() function, it
doesnt matter if this data comes from an ADO recordset, an array, or an XML
object.

Many thanks Guys

Rgds

Robbie

[quoted text, click to view]
Since i have to deal every day with multi-language (Belgium have 3
languages) i do it this way:

I load the language (session or cookie)

Select Case Language

Case "N"
include file with variabels "N.txt"

Case "F"
include file with variabels "F.txt"

Case "D"
include file with variabels "D.txt"

Case Else
include file with variabels "E.txt"

End Select


In the include files:
tName = "Naam"
or

tName = "Nom"

or

tName = "Name"

or

tName = "Last Name"


Response.Write tName & ": <Input ......."










"Laphan" <news@DoNotEmailMe.co.uk> schreef in bericht
news:%23aNDoPQFEHA.3096@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
[quoted text, click to view]