Help!!! It is a Multi-lingual Help!!!

[Guest]

Hi

The content in client's application changes the language from English to French on selecting the corresponding option in the drop-down menu. The content is just translated to French and doesn't actually load a new page.

Now, we have to provide CSH for both languages for every page. Since there is a single page which is getting translated, I am clueless on how to provide the link to help. Please help.

Sreekanth

[RoboColum_n_]

Hi Sreekanth.

Don't tell the developers where I work about your client's application or else they will want to talk to them and I'll have the same problem I can't see how you can avoid having two sets of output. You can produce these from the same source if you are doing the translation yourself by using build tags and exlcuding one when you compile. If a translation agency is producing the translation, things are a little more difficult and you may have to maintain two sets of source files.

Also even if you have both sets of help output installed on the client's PC (or server) the application would have to check the setting of the drop down menu and call the appropriate file.

[Guest]

Sreekanth, welcome to the forums.

I was working on responding when Column replied, so here's some detail.

Here is what we do in a Java application:

1. I have a RoboHelp project for each language. In your case, this would be a project for English and a project for French. (For an explanation why I do it this way, see this page.)

Keep all map IDs the same between the two projects.

2. Put your output files in two separate directories, such as "en" and "fr."

3. The developers put the "en" and "fr" values in a database table.

4. The developers code the "Help" link so that when clicked, it detects which language is being viewed, and the Java takes the appropriate value ("en" or "fr") and inserts it in the appropriate place in the path to the help start page within the CSH help call.

For example, if your help systems sit in these directories:

.../help/en/startpage.htm
.../help/fr/startpage.htm

Your help call for an application page could look like this:

RH_ShowHelp(0, ".../help/%lang%/startpage.htm", HH_HELP_CONTEXT, 6)

...where 6 is the map ID for the particular page where you are calling help, and %lang% represents whatever code the developers put in there to represent that it's variable.

When the help is called, the Java inserts "en" or "fr" in the variable in the path so that it opens the help from the correct directory.

If you're not doing help for a Java app, maybe there's something in this description that is adaptable to your situation. (Another option is to have two separate help calls, one with "en" in the path and one with "fr" in the path, and the application is coded to use one or the other depending on the language being viewed.) Bottom line is you'll want some developer help with this.

--Ben