Editing system for translating displayed user language using a wrapper class

• US 6,735,759 B1
• Filed: 07/28/1999
• Issued: 05/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Keiichi, Yu, Kin Hung, Yates, Stanford Louis, Kumhyr, David Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): Chaki, Kakali
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wood, William H.
• Application Number:
  US09/362,618
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 717/110, 717/111, 717/113, 717/116, 717/118, 717/101, 717/168, 717/138, 704/8
• US Class Current: 717/136
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/454 Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation

Abstract

A system, method, and program for providing language translators with contextual information for the text to be translated. The translator is presented with a graphical user interface in the base language, and can interactively translate each text label on the screen. Because the translation is performed on the text in the proper context, by editing the text withing the target application itself, the time and expense of Translation Verification Testing is reduced or eliminated. The ability to edit the text within the application is achieved by adding an editor function to the software application itself. Each text label in the application is stored in a localization file as a Java wrapper class component, which combines contextual information, such as the associated resource bundle name and key, with the text label itself. When the editor is activated, the translator can edit the text directly, and the contextual information is used to store the translation for later use.

Claims

1. A method for editing textual data for a software program, comprising:

displaying a first textual data within a first window on a computer display by making a call to a software object stored in a localization file on a computer storage medium that includes source data related to the first textual data, the software object having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object, wherein the source data includes contextual data that identifies the user interface within which the first textual data is displayed;

examining, in response to a user input, the software object to identify the source data;

receiving a second textual data within the second window, corresponding to the first textual data, from a user input;

storing the second textual data in the localization file on a computer storage medium according to the source data, including the contextual data such that the resulting software object is stored having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object; and

displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data in the first window on the computer display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the software object is a wrapper-class Java component.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the source data includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the source data includes a key associated with the first textual data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input in the examining step is a mouse click.

7. A computer system having at least a processor, accessible memory, and an accessible display, the computer system comprising:

means for displaying a first textual data within a first window on a computer display by making a call to a software object stored in a localization file on a computer storage medium that includes source data related to the first textual data, the software object having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object, wherein the source data includes contextual data that identifies the user interface within which the first textual data is displayed;

means for examining, in response to a user input, the software object to identify the source data;

means for receiving a second textual data within the second window, corresponding to the first textual data, from a user input;

means for storing the second textual data in the localization file on a computer storage medium according to the source data;

including the contextual data, such that the resulting software object is stored having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object; and

means for displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data in the first window on the computer display.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the software object is a wrapper-class Java component.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the source data includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the source data includes a key associated with the first textual data.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the user input in the examining step is a mouse click.

13. A computer program product having computer readable program code on a computer usable medium, comprising:

instructions for displaying a first textual data within a first window on a computer display by making a call to a software object stored in a localization file on a computer storage medium that includes source data related to the first textual data, the software object having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object, wherein the source data includes contextual data that identifies the user interface within which the first textual data is displayed;

instructions for examining, in response to a user input, the software object to identify the source data;

instructions for receiving a second textual data within the second window, corresponding to the first textual data, from a user input;

instructions for storing the second textual data in the localization file on a computer storage medium according to the source data, including the contextual data, such that the resulting software object is stored having source data attributes wrapped with a Java component object; and

instructions for displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data in the first window on the computer display.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the software object is a wrapper-class Java component.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the source data includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the source data includes a key associated with the first textual data.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the user input in the examining step is a mouse click.