 |
 |
|
|
- Home - Products - Tech Support - Downloads - Order - Other Localization Links -
Localization Guru is a software tool for Visual Basic programmers that enables a Visual Basic application to support multiple languages. The programmer develops the application in his native language and then exports all of the native language text from the application into a language database. The linguist who performs the translation uses the Localization Guru Language Editor to translate the native text in the language database into one or more foreign languages that also are stored in the language database. When the application program runs in a foreign locale it opens a language database, selects the desired language, and all of visible text of the application's user interface appears in the selected foreign language.
Localization Guru is available in a Lite and a Pro version.
The Localization Guru Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ) is a good source of more information about the product.
Screen shots and more information about the Localization Guru Language Editor are available here.
Localization Guru comes with a sample Visual Basic project that shows how easy it is to localize an application for multiple languages. Click here to look at the sample application and the Localization Guru code that was added to the project to localize it to support multiple languages.
Localization Guru Lite can be downloaded here and includes a sample Visual Basic project that has been localized for English, French, Spanish and German. By studying the sample project you will see that Localization Guru is both powerful and easy to use.
After using Localization Guru Lite if you decide that you would like to purchase Localization Guru Pro you can place your order here.
Localization Guru is licensed royalty-free. You can use it to localize as many Visual Basic applications as you like and never pay any royalties. And, Localization Guru Lite is available for FREE!
You may freely distribute the Language Editor along with your application. Some companies have customers who say, "I would purchase many copies of your product if it were available in language XYZ. I am willing to do the translation myself if you will help make that possible." With Localization Guru you can tell the customer, "No problem, here is a language database that contains all the Native text that needs to be translated and here is the Language Editor that you can use to perform the translation.
You have only one set of source code for your application. A competitor’s localization product takes the source code for your project and generates a new project to support one or more foreign languages. With Localization Guru you deal with only one source code project that you develop in your native language and that project can be localized to multiple foreign languages without any further change to the project’s source code.
Localization Guru has a mechanism to handle localization of any arbitrary ActiveX control that you can place on a form. Some ActiveX controls store the text that needs to be localized in obscure places within the control. This is not a problem with Localization Guru because of an event callback mechanism whereby the localization engine gives the event routine an opportunity to localize the text stored in a control before the engine attempts to perform this task. The application programmer can easily add a few lines of code to the event routine to handle any unusual controls that are used in the project.
The source code for the localization engine is provided (in the Pro version). If there is a feature that you really would like to see in the localization engine you don't have to wait until Beta-Sigma Data Systems LLC decides to add that feature. You can do it yourself since you have the source code. You will find that the source code is generously commented and easy to understand.
The source code for the Language Editor is provided (in the Pro version). If there is a feature that you really would like to see in the Language Editor you don't have to wait until Beta-Sigma Data Systems LLC decides to add that feature. You can do it yourself since you have the source code.
In the Pro version (that comes with source code for the localization engine) you can include the localization engine in your project as a class module (LocGuru.cls) and avoid having to distribute another ActiveX Component (LocGuru.ocx) with your application.
Localization Guru is very fast. Even though Localization Guru performs its translation from Native text to Foreign text at run-time it does not add a perceptible delay to the amount of time it takes for your Visual Basic forms to load. Don't just take our word for it. Download the free version and see how Localization Guru Lite performs with your project.
All it takes is one line of code added to the Form_Load event of a form to handle translating the form (and all the controls on the form) from the Native language to any Foreign language that is stored in the current language database.
If you have ever used a resource file to localize the text of a Visual Basic application then you will appreciate the simplicity of using Localization Guru. Localizing with a resource file requires you to fetch the current language version of each visible text string that appears anywhere on your Visual Basic forms. You end up having a line of code to replace each Caption, ToolTipText, etc. property of each control on each form in your project. That can be quite a lot of work! With Localization Guru you only have to add one line of code to the Form_Load event to handle translating the form. The text that is stored in a resource file typically has to be linked into your program at build-time. The foreign language text in Localization Guru's Language Database is supplied at run-time. As a result you only have one version of your compiled program that you can use with all foreign languages, even if additional foreign languages are added after the program is built!
Localization Guru has the ability to check your application to determine whether you are going to have a problem with the layout and width of the controls on your forms when your application is translated into a language that results in longer text strings than those of your Native language. You can customize the amount of extra width that is checked for. For instance, you can specify that text up to 4 characters will grow by 100%, text up to 10 characters will grow by 80%, etc.
The order in which phrases must be combined together to form a larger or more complex message is typically different from one language to another. Localization Guru gives you a mechanism to combine strings together to form a larger or more complex message in a language independent manner.
The Localization Guru Language Editor allows you to export all the text of a specified language from a language database as a text file that is in a format that can be processed by a software translation program. Or, you can give the file to a linguist for translation. After the translation is completed, you can easily import the translated text back into the language database.
Visual Basic is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Copyright © 1998-2005 Beta-Sigma Data Systems LLC