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Version: 2023

Translations

Introduction to translations​

All strings that are used in the user interfaces can be translated, such as labels, buttons, tables and columns.
The Thinkwise Platform provides default translations for the following languages:

  • Dutch
  • English
  • German
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Portugese

Additional languages can be added from the Application languages screen. Thinkwise recommends to use the two- or three-letter ISO 639 language code, like en and eng, or the composite IETF language tag, like en-US, to identify a language. The Thinkwise Platform provides full support for Unicode characters, which means that any language is supported.

Application languages

Translation objects​

menu User interface > Translations

For every translatable string, a translation object is generated for which a translation can be entered in the Translations screen or the Translation tab found in many other screens.

Translation objects for new strings are automatically created when generating. To manually generate translation objects for new objects, execute the Generate translation objects generate task.

Translations screen

An object contains, at most, the following translations, depending on the type of translation object:

  • (Single) translation
  • Translation form
  • Translation grid
  • Translation card list
  • Plural translation
  • Tooltip text, shown when the mouse is moved over a field name, group name, tab or column. It is possible to use HTML to format the text.
  • Help text

Untranslated objects can be translated semi-automatically with the Translate untranslated objects task. The task replaces underscores with spaces, removes the square brackets and changes the first letter to a capital letter. It is convenient to generate translations for the language in which the data model was written.

Translation review​

menu User interface > Translations

The translations screen provides the option to review translations by approving or disapproving them using the Mark approved approved and Mark disapproved disapproved tasks. The prefilter Not yet approved not yet approved can be used to filter all translations that have not been reviewed yet. When disapproving a translation, feedback as to why it was disapproved is required. Disapproved translations can be filtered using the Disapproved disapproved prefilter and will also generate a validation that can be assigned.

Please note that any changes to a translation will result in the approved status being reset and the translation needing to be approved again.

note

Not every model requires a translations review. For example, single developer models, or models where translations are reviewed by an external party. Therefore, a setting named Translation review required is available in the menu Maintenance > Configuration. Uncheck this setting to hide the tasks for (dis)approving translations and the validations regarding the not yet (dis)approved translations. See also Configuration.

With link tables that are displayed as detail, it is often desirable, depending on the context, to display another translation. This is possible by including the plural translations of both master subjects, separated by a forward slash / in the plural translation of the linking table. The GUI will show the part of the translation that is not equal to that of the current master table.

For example, by giving the linked table between person and company the translation Persons/Companies, the table will have the translation Companies under person and Persons under company.

Grant access to a translator​

You can grant access to an external translator in two ways:

  • Indirect access via Excel - In the Software Factory, export the program objects for the language that needs to be translated to Excel: menu User interface > Translations > right-click > Extra > Export. Import the translations in the same way.
  • Direct access - Grant the translator direct access only to the Translations screen in the Software Factory, using the default available user group and role. In IAM:
    • Create a user (menu Authorization > Users).
    • Add the user to the translation_management user group (menu Authorization > User groups > tab List > tab Users. See also Add users to a user group.
    • Assign the Translation management role to the translation_management user group (menu Authorization > Applications > tab Authorization). See also Grant a user group access to the application.

Direct access Grant an external translator access to the Translations screen