Enabler and non-English Languages

The Enabler supports international languages, character sets, and currency/date/number formats. These are done through Windows regional settings. This FAQ describes how to set up a Windows 2000/XP Enabler system for different locales.

Install Windows Language

Before configuring the language settings, you will need to either

• Install a localised version of Windows, which comes preinstalled with the desired language
  
  OR
  
• Use the MUI (Multilingual User Interface) version of Windows to add multiple languages

The MUI version of Windows is only available with certain licenses such as Enterprise agreements. Contact your local Microsoft representative for more information.

Language Packs can be added to the MUI version of Windows 2000 or XP. They provide several things:

• Fonts
• Resources to display Windows itself (menus, buttons etc) in different languages
• Input methods

To add language packs, insert the language CDs and use the setup program that launches (MuiSetup.exe) to install extra languages. Note that, simply ticking languages in the Regional Settings control panel, does not install the language pack, only the fonts.

For more information about MUI, see Microsoft's MUI page.

1. Open the Regional Options in the Windows Control Panel

In the Control Panel, go to Regional Options, General tab. There are several things to set correctly. Please note: It is not enough to set "Your locale". You must also set the system default locale.

Note that, if you have installed localised version of Windows, then these settings may be correct already.

2. Set user locale

Windows 2000

In "Settings for the current user" select the correct language and country in "Your Locale". This will set the Enabler, and the rest of the system, to the correct currency and number formats. This is shown in the screenshot under step 1.

Windows XP

Go to the "Regional Options" tab and select the Localtion. This is shown in the screenshot below:

3. Set System Locale

Windows 2000

In the "Language settings for the system" area, click the "Set Default..." button. Choose the correct locale from the list - this must be the same as "Your Locale" for correct display. This will enable the correct character set for Enabler software. This is shown in the screenshot under step 1.

Windows XP

Go to the "Advanced" tab and select the Language for non-Unicode programs. This is shown in the screenshot below:

4. Set Windows UI Language

If you are using the MUI version of Windows, then you can also select the language you want in "Menus and Dialogs". This determines the language Windows will use to display menus, and dialogs.

On older Enabler Software this setting was used to determine which language to display.

In more recent Enabler Software the System Default Locale is used. This different approach allows us to provide Enabler translations for languages that Windows has not been localized for.

5. Set all computers to same settings

If you are installing a multi-computer system, all computers at the site must use the same system locale. Otherwise, characters will display differently, or not at all, on each computer.

Notes

• Language Selection for the interface of the Enabler applications originally used the Windows UI language but in more recent versions uses the System Default Locale in order to allow translations for languages that Windows has not been localized for.
• Multiple languages (with different character sets) cannot be mixed on the same system e.g Greek and Thai. This would require full Unicode support. Currently Enabler applications use MBCS (Multi-Byte Character Set).
• The Enabler currently has translations for the following languages:
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Spanish
  • Thai
  • Bahasa (Indonesia)
  • Russian
  If you would like Enabler translated to another language, please contact us.

• If you have non-English data in the Enabler system, then change to a different language, the Enabler applications may crash or be unable to update data. You must restore the original language and change to English text, or manually update the database.
• The Enabler database uses Unicode for strings.
• We are always trying to improve the Enabler's support for international settings. Please let us know if you find any problems with the display or storage of non-English data.