How to Localize the Interface of WebHelp Responsive Output
Oxygen XML Author comes with support for the following built-in languages: English, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese. It is possible to edit existing localization strings or add a new language.
Static labels used in the WebHelp output are stored in translation files that have the strings-lang1-lang2.xml name format, where lang1 and lang2 are ISO language codes. For example, the US English labels are kept in the strings-en-us.xml file.
- DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/org.dita.base/xsl/common folder - DITA-OT's default
translations (generated text for
<note>
,<fig>
, and<table>
elements). - DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/com.oxygenxml.webhelp.responsive/oxygen-webhelp/resources/localization folder - These translations are contributed by the WebHelp plugin and extend the default ones provided by DITA-OT. The labels defined in this folder take precedence over the DITA-OT defaults.
There are two major reasons you may want to use modify the translation files: to modify the existing strings or to translate to a new language.
Modifying the Existing Strings
To modify the generated text for WebHelp transformations, you need to create a DITA-OT extension plugin that uses the dita.xsl.strings extension point. The following procedure is for changing English labels, but you can adapt it for any language:
- Create a com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization plugin directory inside the DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/ location.
- Create a plugin.xml file inside that
com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization directory with the following
content:
<plugin id="com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization"> <require plugin="com.oxygenxml.webhelp.responsive"/> <feature extension="dita.xsl.strings" file="webhelp-extension-strings.xml"/> </plugin>
- Create a webhelp-extension-strings.xml file with the following
content:
<langlist> <lang xml:lang="en" filename="strings-en-us.xml"/> <lang xml:lang="en-us" filename="strings-en-us.xml"/> </langlist>
- Copy the strings you want to change from the translation
files to the strings-en-us.xml file. Make sure you leave the
name attribute unchanged because this is the key used to look up the string. A sample
content might be:
<strings xml:lang="en-US"> <str name="Figure">Fig</str> <str name="Draft comment">ADDRESS THIS DRAFT COMMENT</str> </strings>
- Use the Integrate/Install DITA-OT Plugins transformation scenario found in the DITA Map section in the Configure Transformation Scenario(s) dialog box.
Adding a New Language
To add a new language for WebHelp transformations, you need to create a DITA-OT extension plugin that uses the dita.xsl.strings extension point. The following sample procedure is for adding translation files for the Polish language, but you can adapt it for any language:
- Create a com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization plugin directory inside the DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/ location.
- Create a plugin.xml file inside that
com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization directory with the following
content:
<plugin id="com.oxygenxml.webhelp.localization"> <require plugin="com.oxygenxml.webhelp.responsive"/> <feature extension="dita.xsl.strings" file="webhelp-extension-strings.xml"/> </plugin>
- Create a webhelp-extension-strings.xml file with the following
content:
<langlist> <lang xml:lang="pl" filename="strings-pl-pl.xml"/> <lang xml:lang="pl-PL" filename="strings-pl-pl.xml"/> </langlist>
- Copy the WebHelp strings file (DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/com.oxygenxml.webhelp.responsive/oxygen-webhelp/resources/localization/strings-en-us.xml) to your plugin directory, and rename it as strings-pl-pl.xml.
- In the strings-pl-pl.xml file, change the @xml:lang
attribute on the root element that conforms with the new language.
<strings xml:lang="pl-PL"> ... </strings>
- Translate the content of each
<str>
element (make sure to leave the name attribute unchanged).<strings xml:lang="pl-PL"> ... <str name="webhelp.content" js="true" php="false">Polish translation for 'Content'.</str> <str name="webhelp.search" js="true" php="false">Polish translation for 'Search'</str> ... </strings>
- Copy the common DITA-OT strings defined in the DITA-OT-DIR/plugins/org.dita.base/xsl/common/strings-en-us.xml file. It defines a set
generated text available for HTML-based transformations (such as
<note>
,<fig>
, and<table>
elements). Translate the content of each<str>
element.<strings xml:lang="pl-PL"> ... <str name="webhelp.content" js="true" php="false">Polish translation for 'Content'.</str> <str name="webhelp.search" js="true" php="false">Polish translation for 'Search'</str> ... <str name="Figure">Polish translation for 'Figure'</str> <str name="Table">Polish translation for 'Table'</str> ... </strings>
- Use the Integrate/Install DITA-OT Plugins transformation scenario found in the DITA Map section in the Configure Transformation Scenario(s) dialog box.