Localizing Newton Applications

Using the Localization Features of the Newton

Measuring String Widths at Compile Time

20

When the size of a screen element depends on the size of associated text, you can
use the

MeasureString

function to determine, at compile time, how big to make

the screen element. If you want to determine the size at runtime, use

StrFontWidth

.

You could establish the width of the search message, for example, by using

MeasureString

and

LocObj

together.

MeasureString(LocObj("What is your name?",

'find.nameQ), simpleFont12);

At compile time, the

MeasureString

call is replaced with a constant as long as

the arguments to

MeasureString

are also constant. (

LocObj

produces a

constant result at compile time.) You could access the width at run time from the
view's

ViewDrawScript

method with this function:

func()

begin
local newBounds := deepClone(viewBounds);
newBounds.right := newBounds.left +

MeasureString("This is a string", simpleFont12);

SetValue(self, 'viewBounds, newBounds);

end

Determining Language at Run Time

20

You can determine the language at run time, and your program can use that
information to modify its behavior.

There are two ways to determine the current language:

Examine the active locale bundle. You can also add new locale bundles to give
the user new locale options and can set the locale from within your program.
The sections that follow discuss how to examine the active locale bundle.

Use the

GetLanguageEnvironment

function to find out the native language

for which the ROMs on the Newton device are implemented.

Note that you need to decide which of these methods your application should use
in order to determine its behavior.

Examining the Active Locale Bundle

20

The global function

GetLocale

returns the active locale bundle, which is the

locale bundle that the Country pop-up is currently set to. Use this function rather
than accessing the frame directly.