Multilingual Support

Any application is written in a particular language. The language with which the application was designed is called the default language. This is the language in which the application runs unless any resources files have been added to it. It is exactly when multilingual resource files are added to the oml (Stands for: OutSystems Markup Language) file that the multilingual support is enabled for your application and the Multilingual Locales is updated with the languages of the added resources.

At compilation time, these resource files are placed in the application running directory in the OutSystems Hub Server you are connected to. The application runs either in the language explicitly specified within the application for that user session; or, in case no language is explicitly set within the application logic, in the default language of the OutSystems Hub Server where the end-user is connected.

For multilingual in your application, OutSystems Platform provides you with the following mechanisms:

Multilingual command line tool - packs and unpacks the language resource files (Files packed with the oml that contain the text translations for the languages supported by the eSpace. You must have a resource file for each language.) and image resource files (Files packed with the oml that contain the images translations for the languages supported by the eSpace. For each localized image, you must have a resource file per language.) into the application oml. Language and image resources are translated differently as you can check in the Multilingual Support Technical Note. Once the translation process is finished, the Multilingual command line tool must be used in order to pack the new resource files. The application is, then, localized to the languages of the added resources.

OutSystems Service Studio built-in mechanisms - allows you to retrieve and sets the current language for the current user session, within the application logic.

Translatable elements

Multilingual support only works for Web applications.

You can localize the following elements of your eSpace: the Text content directly typed in the screens, the Screens Title, the Labels of the buttons, the Text in links, the Special List Options of the Combo Box widget, Messages displayed to the end user that are embedded in the application (validation messages, widgets' confirmation, and empty messages), the Text literals found in all types of expressions used in web flows (including Unescaped Expressions and JavaScript), and Images. You can also localize Text literals that are not visible in the application runtime: Comments on flows and properties such as Example, Description, and action flow element Labels.

You can also change the default language of an application for design purposes, actually changing the language in which the eSpace is written.

If you want to support the multilingual feature in your application, it is strongly recommended that you read the technical note about Multilingual Support, available at the OutSystems Community.