Introspective editor system, program, and method for software translation

• US 6,275,790 B1
• Filed: 07/28/1999
• Issued: 08/14/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kumhyr, David Bruce, Yamamoto, Keiichi, Yu, Kin Hung, Yates, Stanford Louis
• Primary Examiner(s): EDOUARD, PATRICK NESTOR
• Application Number:
  US09/362,615
• Time in Patent Office: 748 Days
• Field of Search: 704/1, 704/8, 707/530, 707/536, 717/1, 717/4, 717/8, 345/333, 345/334
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/38 for implementing user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/454 Multi-language systems; Localisation; Internationalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/465 Distributed object oriented systems remote method invocation [RMI] G06F9/548

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 then interactively translate each text label on the screen. Because the translation is performed on the text in the proper context, 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 with a specific resource bundle name and by a key. When the editor is activated, the text object is introspected for its source data, and the translator can edit the text directly. The source data is then used to store the translation for later use.

Claims

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

displaying a user interface containing a first textual data within a non-data, user interaction portion of the user interface;

responsive to selection of the first textual data within the displayed user interface by a user for editing, introspecting source code for generating the user interface to identify a software object that includes the first textual data;

receiving a second textual data which the user desires to replace the first textual data from a user input while the user interface is being displayed;

storing the second textual data in a machine-readable form within the software object in place of the first textual data; and

during execution of the source code for generating the user interface display after storing the second textual string within the software object, displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data within the user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the software object is a localization file on a computer storage medium.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data from a first human language to a second human language.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the software object is a Java component.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a key associated with the first textual data, wherein the second textual data is associated with the key in replacing the first textual data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user selects the first textual data within the displayed user interface for editing by a mouse click.

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

means for displaying a user interface containing a first textual data within a non-data, user interaction portion of the user interface;

means, responsive to selection of the first textual data within the displayed user interface by a user for editing, for introspecting source code for generating the user interface to identify a software object that includes the first textual data;

means for receiving a second textual data which the user desires to replace the first textual data from a user input while the user interface is being displayed;

means for storing the second textual data in a machine-readable form within the software object in place of the first textual data; and

means, during execution of the source code for generating the user interface display after storing the second textual string within the software object, for displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data within the user interface.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the software object is a localization file on a computer storage medium.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data from a first human language to a second human language.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the software object is a Java component.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a key associated with the first textual data, wherein the second textual data is associated with the key in replacing the first textual data.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the user selects the first textual data within the displayed user interface for editing by a mouse click.

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

instructions for displaying a user interface containing a first textual data within a non-data, user interaction portion of the user interface;

instructions, responsive to selection of the first textual data within the displayed user interface by a user for editing, for introspecting source code for generating the user interface to identify a software object that includes the first textual data;

instructions for receiving a second textual data which the user desires to replace the first textual data from a user input while the user interface is being displayed;

instructions for storing the second textual data in a machine-readable form within the software object in place of the first textual data; and

instructions, during execution of the source code for generating the user interface display after storing the second textual string within the software object, for displaying the second textual data in place of the first textual data within the user interface.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the software object is a localization file on a computer storage medium.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the second textual data is a translation of the first textual data from a first human language to a second human language.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the software object is a Java component.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a reference to a Java resource bundle.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the source code for generating the user interface includes a key associated with the first textual data, wherein the second textual data is associated with the key in replacing the first textual data.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the user selects the first textual data within the displayed user interface for editing by a mouse click.