Localization Definitions and Standards

Sisulizer supports several localization standards. Here you find a short description, and optional an external link to an organization or Wikipedia which provides further information.

ANSI

Abbreviation for American National Standard Organization; also used as the short form for the 8-bit ANSI code. A character set of 256 characters. The first 128 are the same for all countries; the higher 128 differ.

ASP.NET, ASPX

ASP.NET is a competitor of PHP and is used to create dynamic web site. It uses the .NET framework and can be written in e.g. C#, VB.NET or JScript.NET. ASPX is a file format used in ASP.NET that typically containing the static HTML or XHTML code. It is also the file extension for this type of files. The programming code is not stored in ASPX but in additional files called from the .aspx file. Read about ASP.NET on Wikipedia.

.NET Assemblies, .NET Assembly

An assembly is a code library used with the Microsoft .NET framework. On the windows platform it is stored in portable executables. For .NET there are two types on the Windows platform: process assemblies (EXE) and library assemblies (DLL). Sisulizer can localize both. Read about .NET on Wikipedia.

Bi-Di, Bi-Directional

Languages who write from right-to-left like arabic. Most of them are Bi-Directional because numbers are read from left-to-right. Read about Bi-Directional on Wikipedia.

EXE, OCX, DLL, Binaries, Binary Localization

Windows executable or library files for Windows. Sisulizer supports binary localization. This means that the executable can be localized without access to the source code and even without decompiling it. Read about Windows binaries on Wikipedia.

Binary Localization

Binary localization means that your application can be localized without touching the source code. Localization and development can be done in parallel.

Borland Technology Partner, CodeGear Technology Partner

Sisulizer got this partnership because it supports CodeGear (former Borland) development languages.

Borland Package Library, BPL (shortcut)

A library format used with Borland (now CodeGear) products. Sisulizer can help to localize this file type.

C, C++

Names of widely used programming languages. C and C++ most of the time use resources to store strings and can be easily localized with Sisulizer. Read more about C and C++ on Wikipedia.

CAT, Computer Aided Translation, Computer Assisted Translation

The main category Sisulizer belongs to. CAT does not only contain software localization software but also MTs, TMs and software used to localize documents. Read about CAT on Wikipedia.

Class

Classes are used in object-oriented programming to group related variables and functions. Sisulizer fully supports applications developed using object-oriented programming. Sisulizer supports virtual inheritance of classes and makes them visible in the WYSIWYG editor. Read about classes on Wikipedia.

Component Object Model, COM (shortcut), Distributed COM (shortcut DCOM), ActiveX, ATL

COM is mostly used as an umbrella term for OLE, OLE automation, ActiveX, COM+ and DCOM. The advantage of COM is that it makes it possible to create software objects which can be used from a lot of programming languages. This makes it possible, that e.g. a Delphi program can use an object created with Visual Basic. Sisulizer can be used to localize this objects. Mostly common extensions for these libraries are DLL and OCX. Read about COM on Wikipedia.

C#, CSharp

A .NET (spelled: DotNet) programming language. Some would say C# (spelled: csharp) is the native language of .NET. Read about C# on Wikipedia.

Culture name space

In Microsoft .NET, a whole name space is related to cultural differences. It contains nearby all information you need to prevent hard-coding localization traps.

Double-byte Character Set, DBCS (shortcut)

A character set that is defined with two bytes. Thus, you can define two power 16 = 65,536 characters, instead of the poor single byte and 256 characters stored in ANSI. UCS-2 is a double-byte character set.

Delphi

A software development created by Borland (now renamed to CodeGear). It supports the Delphi programming language (Object Pascal), C++ and C#. If developers speak about "Delphi" they mean the Pascal like programming language. Sisulizer can localize "Delphi", C++ and C#. Read about Delphi on Wikipedia.

Microsoft .NET, DotNet (spelling used, if a dot can not be used)

.NET is an umbrella term used for a lot of Microsoft products. If developers refer to .NET chances are high that they mean the .NET framework. Programming languages like e.g. C#, VB.NET, Delphi for .NET use the .NET framework as a runtime library. Sisulizer localizes a wide range of applications using the .NET framework. Read about .NET on Wikipedia.

Free Support Forum

Free support is something you should always ask for if you are looking for some software localization tool. Each localization project is unique and it is good to know that there is help like on forum.sisulizer.com.

FRM, VBP, BAS, CLS

File extensions used for Visual Basic source code files.

Gadget

Microsoft Gadgets are small applications used with the Windows Vista desktop. Microsoft Gadgets can be developed with Dynamic HTML (DHTML) or .NET. DHTML and .NET can be localized with Sisulizer. Read about Microsoft Gadgets on Wikipedia.

Globalization, Globalisation (UK), g11n (shortcut)

In the software localization this stands for localization of a software product for the whole world. Basically it means the same as L10n and i18n. Read about globalization on Wikipedia.

Global Market

The market your software successfully after it is localized.

Graphical User Interface, GUI (shortcut)

The visible part of your application. A GUI is mostly organized in forms having menus, buttons, frames, combo-boxes and much more. Read about GUI on Wikipedia.

Internationalization, Internationalisation (UK), i18n (shortcut -> i + 18 chars + n)

Another term used analog to localization. Read about internationalization on Wikipedia.

International Standard Organization, ISO (shortcut)

This organization defines internationally accepted standards for a huge range of fields, which influence our daily life. A huge number of standards defined by this organization is named with ISO followed by a number. Some examples for localization related iso standards are ISO 639, ISO 3166, and ISO 10646.

Java 2 Enterprise Edition, J2EE (shortcut)

J2EE is a collection of Java API's for the development of multi tier applications. Sisulizer supports the localization of applications using J2SE. Read about J2EE on Wikipedia.

Java 2 Micro Edition, J2ME (shortcut)

J2ME is a collection of Java API's for PDA's, cell phones, smart phones and other resource-constrained devices. Sisulizer supports the localization of applications using J2ME. Read about J2ME on Wikipedia.

Java 2 Standard Edition, J2SE (shortcut)

J2SE is a collection of Java API's. Sisulizer supports the localization of applications using J2SE. Read about J2SE on Wikipedia.

Java-Archiv, JAR (shortcut)

JARs are used to distribute Java libraries and applications. The content of this ZIP-files can be localized with Sisulizer. Read about JAR on Wikipedia.

English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Portugues, Chinese, Simple, Traditional, Russian, Polish, Czech, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish

Only a few of the languages Sisulizer supports. A list of languages spoken on this world can be found on Wikipedia. If a language is not already listed in Sisulizer's language selection you can define it yourself.

ListResourceBundle, PropertyResourceBundle

These are subclasses of ResourceBundle is used in the localization process of Java source code. Sisulizer supports the localization of sources using it. ListResourceBundle is an abstract subclass while PropertyResourceBundle is a concrete one.

Localization, Localisation (UK), L10n/l10n (shortcut -> L + 10 chars + n), Localize, Localise (UK)

The process of adapting something for a foreign market. It means much more than plain translation. L10n also covers date and time formats, numeric formats and much more differences. Read about localization on Wikipedia.

Multi-byte Character set, MBCS (shortcut)

MBCS use one or more bytes to code one codepoint (roughly a char). UFT-8 for example is using one to four chars. While the lower 128 chars are coded in one char others like German umlauts are coded in two. Read about MBCS on Wikipedia.

Microsoft Visual Studio

A software suite combining the programming languages of Microsoft to be used from one editor and debugger.

Cell phone, Smart Phone, Mobile, Pocket PC, EPOC, Symbian

Common names used in the mobile world. Sisulizer also supports these platforms.

Microsoft Software Developer Network, MSDN (shortcut)

Microsoft provides many helpfully information about software development, including localization and globalization. Read about MSDN on Wikipedia.

MT, Machine Translation

Automatic translation done by a computer without human intervention. It can help to make a rough translation of some text but can not replace human translation at the moment. Read about MT on Wikipedia.

Multilanguage, Multilingual

In the localization business these terms are used for applications where the language can be chosen at runtime. Sisulizer comes with samples showing you how to create multilingual applications.

PAS

File extensions used for Delphi source code files. PAS is a shortcut of Pascal, the language Delphi is derived from.

Portable executable, PE (shortcut)

Portable executable is the file format for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit applications. Basically it is a special data structure to keep all parts needed to execute some program together. A PE can contain resources localizable with Sisulizer. Read about PE on Wikipedia.

Hypertext Preprocessor, PHP (shortcut)

PHP is a reflective programming language to create dynamic Web pages. You can localize PHP sources with Sisulizer. Read about PHP on Wikipedia.

PO

Here we do not mean the Teletubby called Po but the file type to hold translations used with the GNU (GNU General Public License) gettext toolset. Sisulizer can be used to localize .po files.

Programming Language

Programming language are translated by compilers into binaries. There are a lot of competing programming languages around. The major ones are supportedby Sisulizer. Read about programming languages on Wikipedia.

RC, RESx, RC file

Common name of resources in source code format. Sisulizer can localize these and resources compiled into your binaries.

ReportBuilder

ReportBuilder is a common component used with CodeGear's (former Borland) Delphi. Sisulizer supports the localization of applications using ReportBuilder.

Resources, Resource, Ressourcen (DE), Ressource (DE)

Windows applications store GUI elements in a special type of data segment of your application. The resources of your application can be changed without decompiling it.

Right-to-Left, RTL (shortcut), Left-to-Right, LTR (shortcut)

Direction in which a language is read an written. Read about Bi-Directional on Wikipedia.

Satellite assemblies

Satellite assemblies are .NET assemblies containing only cultural information. The are often used to deploy resources containing the translations of strings. Sisulizer can create and maintain satellite assemblies.

Segmentation Rules

Segmentation Rules describe how to segment text items into text parts. Example: A text paragraph is a huge segment, which can be segmented into smaller parts, like the sentences. We can even further segment a sentence. The segmentation rule now describes how to find a segment, and the exceptions. Typical exceptions are e.g. abbreviations. Text is segmented to store the segments into translation memory. Smaller strings are more often reused. So with a good set of segmentation rules we raise the profit of a translation memory, too.

Software Development Tool, Software Development Tools

Sisulizer is a software development tool that supports you in the localization process of computer software.

Software Localization Tool, Software Localisation Tool (UK)

The category Sisulizer is mainly sorted in. This type of software helps developers to localize their software but does not automatically translates it.

Source Code, Sources

The files containing your program. Sisulizer can localize source code but it is better to localize binaries. With the help of Sisulizer your translator can localize your source code without seeing it. Read about source code on Wikipedia.

MySQL, SQL, Database, Access, DBASE, Oracle, Paradox, DBISAM, Interbase, db2

A few of the databases you can localize with Sisulizer. Read about SQL on Wikipedia.

Segmentation Rules, SRX (shortcut)

Segmentation Rules eXchange (SRX) is a xml-based format describing a set of rules how to segment text items to store the text segments into translation memory.

With SRX translators are able to reuse their work product and project independent.

[more about SRX by lisa.org]

Three Simple Steps to Localize

Our slogan. Even our competitors started to use our three steps schema. So it must be something good. Read about the three steps in Sisulizer.

Translation Memory, TM (shortcut)

Translation Memory is a database which stores combination of source text and one or more translations.

Using translation memory makes it easy to reuse your existing translation efforts, in example in updates, or other related products.

Besides classical TM Sisulizer has build in many translation memory like techniques to avoid double translations. Read about TM on Wikipedia.

Translation Memory Exchange, TMX (shortcut)

Translation Memory eXchange (TMX) is a xml-based format defined to help localizers and translators to exchange their existing work (translation memory) between localization tools.

[more about TMX by lisa.org]

Translate

The process of transferring text from one language to another. In the moment only humans can do this in perfection. MT is under development but the quality does not reach the class of native speaking humans.

Turbo Languages, Turbo Delphi for Win32, Turbo Delphi for .NET, Turbo C#, Turbo C++, C++ Builder, C# Builder, Delphi, Developer Studio

Product names of CodeGear (former Borland) development products. Sisulizer is Technology partner and supports these platforms.

Unicode

A replacement for char sets like ANSI. Char sets like ANSI work with code pages to support multiple languages. ANSI char sets can not display e.g. Russian and Chinese text on the same form. UNICODE can this because it has space for more than 256 chars like ANSI. Read about UNICODE on Wikipedia.

UNICODE Windows API

First Windows versions have been ANSI related. However, with globalization and the growing need for localized software applications, Microsoft established a Unicode-enabled API that accepts and returns all strings as UNICODE strings.

UTF-8

UTF-8 is a variable-length character encoding for UNICODE. While ASCII chars only need one byte others need up to four. UTF-8 is a standard for web pages and e-mail. Read about UTF-8 on Wikipedia.

UTF-16

UTF-16 is also a variable-length character encoding for UNICODE. The characters (code points) in the Basic Multilingual Plane are coded in two bytes (16 bit word -> 1 code unit). Other chars are stored in two 16 bit words. Read about UTF-16 on Wikipedia.

UTF-32

32-bit Unicode transformation format.

Visual Basic, VB, Classic VB

The predecessor of VB.NET. This programming language is still used by a large community of developers. Read more about Visual Basic on Wikipedia.

VCLForms

VCLForms are forms based on CodeGear's (former Borland) Visual Component Library (VCL) for Delphi and C++ Builder for Windows 32. Read about VCL on Wikipedia.

Virtual Inheritance

Virtual inheritance is a kind of inheritance to overcome problems related to multiple inheritance like the diamond problem. Sisulizer supports the localization of applications using virtual inheritance. Read about virtual inheritance on Wikipedia.

Visual Inheritance

Visual inheritance is a term used for inheritance of GUI elements. Basically it is used like a form template.

Windows API

The Windows Application Programming Interface that is a large set of DLLs, which include functions for every aspect of Windows. Or, in other words, nearly everything that can accomplished in Windows is available as an API function.

Winforms

A wrapper to makes it easy to access the Windows GUI API from the .NET framework. Sisulizer supports the localization of Winforms. Read about Winforms on Wikipedia.

WinFX

WinFX was bundled with the .NET Framework 2.0 for Windows Vista and renamed to .NET Framework 3.0. No matter how it will be called: Sisulizer is supporting this Microsoft programming API. Read about WinFX on Wikipedia.

World Wide Web, WWW (shortcut), Web Site, Web Sites, Web (shortcut), Hypertext Markup Language, HTML (shortcut)

Sisulizer can also be used to localize HTML files used in the world wide web. With Sisulizer you can even localize complete websites. Read about HTML on Wikipedia.

What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get, WYSIWYG (shortcut)

Sisulizer can show you the GUI elements of your application in the same was as it is seen by your users. While you localize your application you can already see how it will look like in the foreign language. Read about WYSIWYG on Wikipedia.

XML Localization Interchange File Format, XLIFF (shortcut)

XML Localization Interchange File Format is a xml-based format which contains translatable data and meta tags which can be used to visualize the data.

[more about XLIFF by oasis-open.org]

Extensible Markup Language, XML (shortcut)

XML is a general-purpose markup language. It is mostly used to exchange or store data. Sisulizer can localize strings stored in XML and it uses XML as its project format. Read about XML on Wikipedia.