Localizing Language Skins - where's the English?

[acarrico]

I'm trying to create a localized WebHelp skin for Russian, but I'm having a very hard time locating the basic English skin. Because I am working on localizing a client's files, I do not know for certain what features/tools they included in the English. Therefore, I need to translate ALL the strings that could possibly be used to ensure that nothing gets overlooked in the final Russian file.

I created a new language skin under Tools>Manage Skins, but when I open it using the Flare skin editor, it does not display all of the strings that actually appear in the skin, e.g. the tooltips for toolbar buttons, the "Search" button text. Instead of displaying the English text, the Label and Tooltip attributes are blank. I can add my own text, but I cannot see what text will be displayed if I do not customize. When I create a new language skin based on the English and open the *.fllng file in a text editor, the file is essentially empty.

Where can I find the master English skin to send to my translator?

[JamesLi]

I met the same problem while using Flare8. We need to collect the English interface terms in a file for localization. But the EN.fllng file contains nothing.

[ibmgeek]

I'm in the same boat. I thought selecting the appropriate language using the Language side-tab on the Target Editor would cause the text in the skin to be translated. Where do I find the labels that need to be localized for each language within the Skin editor?

[alt_jennifer]

I wish I could help you... I've searched in the program files before (not v9, but probably v8), and I can't ever seem to track down the full set of EN strings. I'm not sure where they're stored. I haven't checked all the possible file types yet, but the files that I could open in Notepad++ didn't have anything.

Like you said, when creating a new language skin, some of the English text will appear in the fields, but some fields are blank. So the blank ones are the issue.

I would recommend generating (or viewing, if you have it) the client's WebHelp and simply scouring it for all possible text in the skin. You might not find everything, but you can maybe identify tooltip text etc.

As for selecting the language in the Target Editor, ibmgeek, that will only translate the skin if you select a language for which MadCap has already translated the skin. Any other language will stay in English unless you localize the skin yourself. Either the .fllng file or the actual Skin (.flskn) file. FLLNG works across projects, on a single Flare installation, while FLSKN works in a single project, on any Flare installation.

[ibmgeek]

Hi Jen,

Thanks for responding! So that we're on the same page, I need to find out how and where to edit the UI labels within the HTML Help Window (Hide, Locate, Back, Forward, Home, and Print) and also the tabs (Contents, Index, Search, Favorites). We're translating into Spanish, Swedish, German, Chinese, French, and Brazilian Portuguese. I'm using Lingo; the English text has been returned into the appropriate languages and I've created the new targets in the translated languages. Now, how do I get these strings on the UI translated?

For Spanish, I was able to create an es.fllng file but how do I tie it in with my skin? I created copies of my skin in the various languages but when I build, I do not see in HTML Help Window UI strings in Spanish. The text within the HTML Help is displayed fine in Spanish.

Thanks for your help!

-Thomas

[Msquared]

I think the Russian skin was missing from the Flare install pack in Flare 8, if I remember correctly, although it is present in Flare 9. It should be supplied as part of Flare, like the other language skins are. MadCap support should be able to provide you with a copy, so there is no need to explicitly translate the English version.

I discovered this when I was checking translations returned from my translators, and my translators had located the Russian skin and added it to their project. So when I built the Russian project to check it, I got English for exactly the strings you mentioned, because my Flare installation didn't have the Russian skin. But when I looked at the prebuilt Russian project the translators had returned with the translated sources, I found the strings were Russian, since they had added the Russian skin.

I've not got time to dig out the exact file name now, but let me know if you need more info, as I should be able to do a bit of digging and find out where the file is - I certainly did know where it was some months ago.

[Msquared]

Here's part of the dialog I had with MadCap support about the language skins and the missing Russian skin in Flare 8.

This is MadCap Support telling me how you should be able to get the correct language skin for your WebHelp target, (that worked for most languages, but not Russian in Flare 8 ).

For a WebHelp Output, you can set the language specifically in the Target, which will adjust all WebHelp Tabs to that specific language.

This is done in the "Language" Tab of the WebHelp Target.

This is MadCap Support confirming that the Russian skin is missing . . .

After investigating a bit, I see that a Russian language skin is not available for Flare v8, but is now available with Flare v9. I was able to take the Language skin from v9 and paste it into the file for Flare v8 and then, when setting the language for the WebHelp Target, build with the Russian language in the Accordion Tabs.

I have attached a copy of the Russian Language Skin. To test this on your end, please navigate to the following location in Windows Explorer:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V8\Flare.app\Resources\LanguageSkins

You will then paste in the file I have attached. Then, when you build your Russian project in V8, you should see Russian phrases as long as the Target is associated with the Russian language.

So, should you want to manually translate the language skins, that's where they are. But I'd recommend getting the missing skin from MadCap support, as the best solution in the longer term [or PM me with your email address and I'll send you a copy].

[alt_jennifer]

Ah excellent Msquared -- I hadn't noticed it was present in Flare 9 yet, but that's good to know. If I need to work with Flare 8 again, I know now how to get Russian in there

ibmgeek -- I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond. Have been moving to a new state for the past few weeks! HTML Help (CHM) outputs are the exception to all the rules. You cannot actually control the skin text with Flare. Because it's a Microsoft creation, when a CHM file is opened on a computer with a different locale than English, then the skin will automatically update with text for that locale. So if someone in Argentina, with their computer set to Spanish (Argentina), opens up that CHM file, they'll see Spanish for Argentina for all of those buttons and tabs you mention. It's a bit nerve-wracking to not confirm that on our end, but that's they way they work!

You should still set the language for HTML Help targets though, because that can also affect text inside the topics, like cross-references, See Also, breadcrumbs, etc. (Unless of course, you do what I do and set the language for the whole project, and then set all the target languages to "default". That works the same way as setting the individual targets to that language.)

[ibmgeek]

Cool! Thanks Jen!