is it possible to add fonts of another language to NeXTSTEP, and how can I replace the system's text strings?
Warning: I could be wrong about a lot of what I'm about to type!
Technically speaking, localized strings are contained inside the various 'lproj' folders -- ex. '/usr/lib/NextStep/Workspace.app/WM.app/English.lproj/Alert.strings'.
So translation to another language should be as simple as generating new strings file for the target language in an 'lproj' folder for that language (e.g. Klingon.lprog)... except it's not that simple.
The manual states this:
QuoteIn the current release, language support is provided for English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. If you wish to provide other localized versions of your application, you'll need to contact NeXT Developer Support for additional information and support. In general, you can localize your application for any language that can be expressed in the standard NEXTSTEP character encoding.
I suspect the supported languages are hard-coded into the base system. The file /usr/lib/NextStep/Resources/language.strings has a mapping of English language names to their localized variants, but those English language names must come from somewhere.
Now, it might be possible to work around this. If your chosen language can be expressed in the NEXTSTEP character encoding, you could simply change every 'strings' table in every English.lproj folder so they are localised to your langauge (backup the originals first, though).
I'm wondering if you can also somehow abuse the Japanese version of NexTSTEP so that you can have both English defaults and localised strings -- I do not have 3.3J install media, so I cannot say if that would be worth exploring.
With that said, what I do have (even though I am not Korean) is a series of packages that add basic Hangul support to NS3.3. Alas, there's nothing of real use in those as they don't make any attempt to localise the system. They just provide fonts and some input utilities. This leads me to believe that, at some point, someone might have asked the same question, and after experimenting, come to the conclusion that it's not easy.
Came across this whilst randomly browsing comp.sys.next.programmer
QuoteTom Hageman
17 Oct 1997, 08:00:00
Sigthor Hrafnsson <si...@treknet.is> wrote:
> I want to localize openstep 4.x to my country language (icelandic).
>
> I have been trying to find some documentation regarding this,
> but can't seem to find any.
>
> Can somone point me out a starting point.
This is for NS3.x, and for Dutch instead of Icelandic, but it is probably still
valid for OS/Mach 4.x. It only helps for apps you develop (or localize) on your
own. The standard NeXT apps come with only 7 languages, and I'm afraid Icelandic
(like Dutch) isn't one of them...
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.programmer
> Organization: Antigone Press gateway, San Francisco
> Return-Path: <flexus!rfsc...@maze.ruca.ua.ac.be>
> Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 15:03:19 +0100
> From: Raf Schietekat <flexus!rfsc...@maze.ruca.ua.ac.be>
> Message-ID: <9503031403.AA00988@flexus>
> Subject: Locali(s/z)ation
> Reply-To: flexus!RfSc...@maze.ruca.ua.ac.be
> Lines: 48
>
> Hi,
>
> Want to have some fun and surprise your friends and/or LAN companions with a
> bit of local-language stuff? Or, on a more serious note, satisfy your
> customers?
>
> Here's what you should do to activate your own language, if it's not yet
> supported by NeXT (at least, it works for me):
>
> As root:
> - Edit /usr/lib/NextStep/Resources/language.strings by adding the relevant
> English-local pair for your language, e.g., "Dutch"="Nederlands".
> - Edit some stuff in /usr/lib/NextStep/Resources/English.lproj, and save it
> with the same name but in Dutch.lproj.
>
> For each user:
> - in a shell: ``dread System Language'' and ``dread System AvailableLanguages''
> - take the output of the previous two, and, with the English name of your
> language added, do things like ``dwrite System Language "Dutch;<output>"'', for
> both previous dreads, with <output> replaced with what came out of dread.
> I don't know the difference between Language and AvailableLanguages.
>
> Any program that is quit and launched again should now work with your own
> language (limited to available localisation).
>
> If your language does not figure in the language.strings file you might want to
> send me the appropriate pair to use (please use the subject ``Re:
> Locali(s/z)ation''). I'll publish the finished registry, and, who knows,
> perhaps NeXT will even most kindly and generously consent to add it to the next
> release... (If I have missed any existing registry, please tell me.) Here's
> what I have now:
> >>>>>
> "Dutch" = "Nederlands";
> <<<<<
>
> Note: Read NextAnswers.1102.
>
> Raf Schietekat, RfSc...@maze.ruca.ua.ac.be (NeXTmail), Flanders, Belgium
> If I don't answer: my mail relay can't handle !, % or .uucp, I think
>
> The language of the northernmost part of Belgium, where more than half of its
> population lives, is Dutch (as in The Netherlands), not Flemish (there is no
> such language). The southernmost part speaks French, except for a few cantons
> (?) in the east where they speak German. Belgium's capital is Brussels, also
> the capital of the European Union, and a lot of languages are spoken there.
> There, a real ``surprise package of Europe'' (cf. commercial on CNN
> International) :-)...
Hope this helps,
Tom.
--
__/__/__/__/ Tom Hageman <t...@basil.icce.rug.nl> [NeXTmail/Mime OK]
__/ __/_/ IC Group <t...@icgned.nl> (work)
__/__/__/
__/ _/_/ Confused? You won't be after the NeXT episode.