Overview

You can use the Manage Translations page to manage all the translatable strings that are displayed throughout APM for all Security Users whose APM Culture and Language settings correspond to a set of installed translation files. You can access this page from the Configuration Manager.

Any changes that you make to a translation file using this tool will be applied wherever the affected translation is used.

UI string and Metadata string translations are stored in APM as MTM files. You can download the translations to your local machine, where they will be converted to Microsoft Excel files so that you can work with the translations. After you are finished, you can upload the Microsoft Excel file, and the APM system will create or update the MTM files stored in the APM as needed.

The name of each Microsoft Excel file appears as <Language>.xlsx, where, <Language> is the language into which the UI or metadata content is translated.

When you open a Microsoft Excel file containing translations for a language, you should modify only the strings that are stored in the Translated Word column. Before you do so, you should review the following guidelines:

• If a string includes {0}, {1}, {2}, and so on, you should not modify the numeric value or remove the brackets { }. These values are used by APM system.
• If a string includes an ampersand (&), such as (&S), you should not remove the & symbol, change the letter of the alphabet that appears beside the & symbol, or remove the parentheses that appear around the & symbol and the letter of the alphabet. These values are used by APM system.
• If a string includes special characters such as a colon (:) or ellipsis (...), you should not remove these characters. These characters are used by APM system.

The translation files are named according to the abbreviation for the culture associated with the language that is stored in that file. For example, the Spanish translation file is named es.MTM, where es is the abbreviation for Spanish.

If you customize baseline translations or add new translations, custom translation files will be created automatically to store those translations. For example, suppose that for Spanish, you want to modify the translation for the baseline string Equipment. Suppose that the same string Equipment appears both as a button label (UI string) and as a datasheet caption (metadata string).

To modify a translation, you can download to your local machine the translations stored in the appropriate translation file from the APM. These translations will be downloaded to a Microsoft Excel file, which you can use to modify the translations. After you modify the translation strings, you can upload the Microsoft Excel file, and the APM system will automatically convert that file to a translation file (that is, with the extension MTM) and save it.

The APM system will display only the strings that are stored in translation files in APM. If you have uploaded custom translation files, the APM system will use your custom translations instead of the baseline translations.

When you create or customize metadata string translations, a custom metadata string translation file is created automatically in APM. If you want custom translations to appear in APM, you will need to upload your custom metadata string translations to the APM.

You can translate metadata strings from the following locations:

• The Manage Translations page in the Configuration Manager: From this location, you can download the baseline metadata string translations to a Microsoft Excel file, modify the translations, and then upload the Microsoft Excel file to the APM. You can also use download your custom metadata string translations, customize the translations, and then upload the modified file.
• The Localize <Strings> window, which is accessible from the buttons that appear throughout APM wherever you can translate a metadata string. From this location, you can add or modify metadata string translations using a grid, and they will be uploaded to APM automatically.

Custom translation files will be used instead of the baseline translation files. Because only one custom metadata string translation file can exist per language, after you create a custom metadata string translation file, if you want to make further changes, you should download your custom metadata string translation file, customize the translations, and then upload it again. The most recent file that you upload will be the file that is used by the APM system.

Metadata strings are case sensitive. This means that if the metadata string translation file contains a translated string that contains a capital letter, and you create a translation for the same string except it contains a lowercase letter, the string with the lowercase letter will be considered a new custom string (because it did not already exist in a translation file). For example, if the string, Produce (capitalized) exists in a translation file, when you create a query named produce (lowercase) and translate it, the string produce and its translations will be added to a custom translation file.

The following lists identify the metadata strings that can be translated. You can use these lists as a reference when you are translating metadata strings.

You can modify the baseline UI string translations using the Manage Translations page in the Configuration Manager. On this page, you can download the baseline UI string translations to a Microsoft Excel file, customize the translations, and then upload the Microsoft Excel file to the APM. When you do so, a custom application string translation file will be created automatically, and will contain all the UI string translations, including your custom translations. This custom translation file will be used instead of the baseline translation file.

If you delete a custom UI string translation file, the APM system will automatically use the baseline UI string translation file.