Dictionary structure

In the following, I would like to discuss the structure of the dictionary, as well as the translation of the various parameters of the elements most commonly used for display and the differences that arise.

The dictionary consists of records. Each record contains a Key, which can be the name of the given variable or one of its properties (see below), as well as the associated phrases, where the translated Phrases must be entered in the same order in which they were entered in the “Languages” section of the dictionary.


{
   "Format Version":"",
   "Languages":[
       {
           "Language":"English",
           "Font":"",
           "Color":"",
           "Size":""
       },
       {
           "Language":"Hungarian",
           "Font":"",
           "Color":"",
           "Size":""
       }
   ],
   "Phrase Dictionary":[
   	{
           "Key":"Status Message.TipStrip",
           "Phrases":[
               "Show Status Messages",
               "Státusz Üzenetek megjelenítése"
           ]
       }
   ]
}

During the build process, under the Category/Source Files menu, you must add the Dictionaries folder to the “Always Included” window. Otherwise, the translation will not work in the project after the .exe file is generated. It is important that the .json file be saved with UTF-8 encoding; otherwise, accented characters will display incorrectly. You can set this in Notepad++ here:

Keywords for machine translation

Variable Name Translation STRING

Key: “VariableName”

Translation only works for variables where Visible Items/Caption has been selected.

→ The translated equivalents of the given variable name.

Bool Button Control Label Translation BOOL

Key: “VariableName.BoolText”

Use when the same label appears for both the True and False states of the button.

→ The label text to display in different languages.

Bool Button Control (Different Labels) BOOL

Key: “VariableName.True” / “VariableName.False”

When using different labels for the True and False states, split the syntax into two records.

→ The labels to display for the True and False states, respectively.

Ring Variable Item Label Translation RING

Key: “VariableName.Item0”

Each element must be added as a separate record, where the number in the key name identifies the element (in the example, “0” refers to the ring variable’s 0th element).

→ The translated equivalents of each element’s label.

Chart Axis Label Translation CHART

Key: “ChartName.xAxisLabel” / “ChartName.yAxisLabel”

The X and Y axis labels must be added as separate records in the dictionary.

→ The translated equivalents of the X-Y axis labels.

Translation of other captions

In addition to the cases discussed above, it is also possible to translate strings, which can be useful, for example, when translating various labels or chart legends. In this case, although not mandatory, it is advisable to define the record key in a format such as “Label.Something” for better distinguishability, to avoid conflicts with existing variable names. In this case, the translation can be performed using the Get Localized Phrase.vi, which should be placed in the <Module Events.Language Changed> event so that the translation occurs immediately after the language change. An example of this is shown in the figure below, which also demonstrates that it is possible to translate multiple labels at once.