A normal ESL application contains many string literals that are displayed to the Operator. If your applications are used across language boundaries, then the string literals will need to be translated into different languages. Instead of attempting to manage multiple copies of the same source code for each language, the ESL compiler can convert each unique string into an identifier and write the associated text to a string table within a resource file, this is known as externalizing strings. The resource file can be duplicated and translated as needed then each version compiled to create a dynamic link library. The ESL runtime uses the string identifiers that have been written to the compiled ESL application to access the string table within the dynamic link library to display required version of the text.

You will need a resource compiler, for example, Visual Studio, although any third-party compiler should work, although we have no experience of them. With Visual Studio, there is a wizard to help build a Win32 Dynamic Link Library, so even without previous experience of using a Resource Compiler, it is a simple task. The steps are:

•Open Visual Studio 2005,

•Select File->New->Project,

•Within the displayed dialog, set the “Project Type” to “Visual C++” -> “Win32”, then use the Installed Project Templates “Win32 Project”.

•Enter a name for the project, which will also be used as the name of the DLL, so you may wish to set the Project Name to the Name of the Language within the resource file.

•When you press “OK” the “Win32 Application Wizard” will be displayed, select the “Next>” button, then ensure the “Application Type” is set to DLL and request an empty project by setting the checkbox within the “Additional Option”.

•Once the project has been created, copy the resource file(s) to the project directory and add the file(s) to the project by selecting the resource file folder in the “Solution Explorer”, performing a right-hand click and selecting the “Add -> Existing Item…” then browse and select the resource file(s) containing the string table(s).

•Before you perform a build, you will need to ensure the C runtime is included; you can do this by; Opening the Project Properties - pressing “ALT+F7”,

•Set the “Configuration” scope to “All Configurations”,

•Navigate down the “Configuration Properties” tree to: Linker -> Input,

•Add to the “Additional Dependences” the item “MSVCRT.LIB”.

•You can now perform a build of your project, which will create the required DLL with the embedded string table, for use by the ESL runtime.

Open the Resource File being used with the Compiler with a text editor, like EslEdit, and convert the strings into comments, with a “notxs” tag. (See Resource File Statements for an example and more information).

The default external string DLL used when an Application is run, is set during compilation, however, this default can be overridden using the runtime switch “-xsdll”. (See Runtime Switches)

The external string DLL can be changed at runtime using the routine “EslXstrSetPrimaryDLL( )”, however; the text within the Window dialog controls will not change until the statement ‘use “xrefresh”’ is performed.

ESL allows for a secondary external string DLL that holds words that are different from the standard. For example, if your Application is normally used in America then you could create a secondary DLL to hold the words that different in England, such as “Color”, which is spelt “Colour” in England. To use this feature, you need to manual create a string table in a resource file, containing just the words that differ, maintaining the same identifiers, and compile using Visual Studio or an equivalent Resource Compiler. During the “on start” response call the routine EslXstrSetSecondaryDLL passing the name of the DLL. From then on, when ESL attempts to load an external string, the Secondary DLL is checked first, only if the identifier cannot be found is the primary DLL used to load the string.

With numbers, always use the integer or float variable directly when working with a dialog control, as using an intermediate string variable will bypass the processing that using the number formats set with the Windows Control Panel. With dates, we recommend you use the “Date” module, as demonstrated by the Date sample, as this can not only accept dates in various formats, but also handle the possibility of two digit years.