Localizing Newton Applications

Using the Localization Features of the Newton

A frames path the compiler uses to find the alternative object when the
Language setting in the Project Settings dialog box is for anything other than
English. You should avoid having reserved words in the path--refer to Appendix
A of The NewtonScript Programming Language for a complete list of reserved
words in NewtonScript.

If you display a message while searching for an object, for example, you can set up
the message for any language by wrapping the string in the

LocObj

function:

msg := LocObj("Searching for ^0...", 'find.searchfor)

When an English-language version of the application is compiled, the

LocObj

function simply returns its first argument; this implementation helps keep code
readable by allowing you to use English strings in your code. For non-English
versions of the application, the

LocObj

function uses the value of the

language

slot in NTK Package Settings and the path expression passed as its second
argument to return the appropriate object from the localization frame.

As another example, an application that is not localized might provide user feedback
by passing the string

"Not found."

to the

SetStatus

function, as in the

following code fragment:

:SetStatus("Not found.");

The localized version of the same code uses the

LocObj

function to return a path

expression based on the

'find.nope

argument and the language for which the

application is compiled. The

SetStatus

function then uses this path expression

to reference the localized string. Because the

LocObj

function returns this path

expression as its result, the argument to

SetStatus

can be "wrapped" in a call to

the

LocObj

function, as in the following line of code:

:SetStatus( LocObj("Not found", 'find.nope) );

The object passed to the

LocObj

method doesn't have to be a string; it can be an

array or an immediate value.

The path expression that references the object must be unique across the entire
system. Thus, to avoid name collisions, it's recommended that you use additional
naming levels based on your application symbol; for example,
'

myApp.find.nope

introduces a third naming level to the path expression.

Use ParamStr Rather Than "&" and "&&" Concatenation

20

While it is often convenient to use the ampersand string concatenators

&

and

&&

,

the

ParamStr

function provides a much more flexible and powerful way to

parameterize the construction of strings, which helps you customize your strings
for different languages by, for example, varying word order.