The system can be used in a limited number of languages (currently English and Dutch), i.e. the screens, error messages etc. appear in only these languages. There are no separate language installation versions, and different users can use different languages to access the same data.

However, the system can use any language(s) required by the user. A number of languages are predefined, but as many extra languages as necessary can be entered into the system. This means that text blocks, web sites, etc., can be maintained in whatever languages the user defines.

As each language can be given its own default font, any language can be used which is written from left to right, including, for instance, Greek and Russian. Non-western languages, such as Arabic and Chinese, which are not written from left to right, can not currently be used.

Whenever a text is being used in the system, e.g. during the generation of a web page, an attempt will be made to find the text in the appropriate language; if this is not possible, another language can be used.

Texts can also be defined with language code "*ALL"; if a text cannot be found in the language being used, a version with language code "*ALL" will be the next choice. This can be useful in situations where a text (e.g. the name of a company, place or font) is identical for most languages but has to be different in one or two, e.g. a text might be identical in all European languages except for Greek and Russian.

see also:

web generation: file names for different languages

Text blocks are a central part of the system, making it possible to easily maintain multilingual web sites. A text block can be a single word or symbol, or any text up to 65,536 characters long, and can exist in a single version or in different versions for different languages.

It is referenced by a user-defined code or a unique number, and can be used anywhere in the system where text would normally be entered; whenever the text is required (e.g. during web page generation) it will be replaced by the actual contents of the text block in the required language.

Throughout the system, many fields capable of holding text can be replaced in their entirety by a text block. Text blocks can also be 'embedded' inside fields, or inside other text blocks; in this way it is possible to build an efficient system for retrieving texts in a multi-language environment.

see also:

text blocks screen: text blocks