Internationalizing a GUI Form

Opening the Example Project

1. Download and unzip the InternationalizeDemo.zip project to any location on your computer.
2. Choose File > Open Project (Ctrl-Shift-O), navigate to the InternationalizeDemo project that you extracted in the last step, and click Open. The project folder might be in a containing folder that is also called InternationalizeDemo.
3. Expand Source Packages > Demo and double-click FindDialog.java. The sample form opens in the GUI Builder.
   
   

   

Switch Automatic Internationalization On

Select the root node in the Inspector Window (named Form FindDialog). In the Properties window, select the checkbox in the Automatic Internationalization On property. If the checkbox is selected, the IDE creates the Bundle.properties file in the demo package as it is set in the Properties Bundle File property. If you need to have this file in a different location, you can click the ellipsis (...) button and choose a location or directly type the path in the property's text field. In the Projects window, double-click the Bundle.properties node in the Projects Window or right-click the node and choose Edit. The properties file is opened in the Source Editor. As you can see, all appropriate Keys and Values for Form FindDialog.java are generated. (The name of each key is derived from the form file name and the component Variable name. For example, the key FindDialog.jLabel1.text is generated for a component with the variable name jLabel1 placed in form file FindDialog. The value jLabel1 represents component's Text property in this example.

Internationalizing Individual GUI Components

We will now use the GUI builder to enter internationalized strings for the JLabels and JButtons in the form.

1. Select the appropriate GUI component (e.g. jLabel1) in the Design Area.
2. In the Properties window, click the ellipsis (...) button for the Text property. Note that you can also internationalize other properties that have String values, such as Mnemonic, Accessible Name, Accessible Descriptor, and ToolTip.
3. The property editor is switched to resource bundle mode. Check that the Bundle Name fieldis set to demo.Bundle and the Key field contains the string FindDialog.jLabel1.text
4. Type Find What: in the Value field.
5. Click OK.

Repeat the previous steps for all components so that the form looks like the following picture:

Note: Steps 1-5 can be done in a simpler and faster way: just double click jLabel1 in the design view, change the text from jLabel1 to Find What: ,and press Enter. The result is the same as from the steps given above.

Adding a New Locale

1. Select the root node in the Inspector Window (the Form FindDialog node).
2. In the Properties window, click the ellipsis (...) button for the Design Locale property
3. Enter ES in the Country Code field.
4. Click OK.

   The new locale appears below the Bundle Properties node, as shown below:

   

5. In the Projects window, right-click Bundle.properties and choose Open.
6. Translate individual messages in the correspondent column of table to the new (e.g. Spanish) language, as shown below:
   
   

   

7. Right-click the root node in the Inspector Window and choose Reload Form (or press Ctrl-R). The form is reopened and the Spanish locale is loaded in in the design, as shown below:
   
   

   

Testing a Non-Default Locale

1. In the Projects window, right-click the InternationalizeDemo project and choose Properties.
2. In the Categories pane, select the Run node.
3. Enter -Duser.language=es -Duser.country=ES in the VM Options field.
   
   

   

4. Click OK
5. Right-click the InternationalizeDemo project and choose Run Project.

   The IDE runs the FindDialog dialog in the Spanish locale.

Creating a Sample Project

Choose File > New Project or click on the New Project icon in the IDE toolbar. In the Categories pane, select the Samples > Java node. In the Projects pane, select GUI Form Examples. Click Next. Enter GUIFormExamples in the Project Name field and specify the project location (e.g /space/projects). Ensure that the Set as Main Project checkbox is selected. Click Finish.

Preparing a Properties File

Choose File > New File or click the New File icon in the IDE toolbar. In the Categories pane, select the Other node and in the File Types pane, choose Properties File. Click Next. Enter ContactEditor in the File Name field and specify the src/examples folder as the file location. Click Finish. The IDE creates the ContactEditor.properties file and opens the ContactEditor(default language) file in the Source Editor. Repeat previous steps to create another Antenna.properties file.

Invoking The Internationalization Wizard

1. In the Projects window, right-click the Source Packages node and choose Tools > Internationalization > Internationalization Wizard.
2. For demonstration purposes, select Find.java and click Remove Source(s) button.
   
   

   

3. Click Next.
4. Check if the Internationalization wizard offers the correct properties files examples.Antenna and examples.ContactEditor. If it does not, use the Select Resource button to choose the correct properties file.
   
   

   

5. Click Next.
6. All hard-coded strings are displayed in the last step of Internationalization wizard and it is possible to decide which of them will come from the properties file (use checkbox). You can further customize individual keys, values, comments, and format of replaced strings by clicking on the ellipsis (...) button for a string.
   
   

   

7. Click Finish.

   Now, the internationalization of source code is finished, other locale can be added and tested as it was shown previously.

Using the Internationalize dialog box Box

1. In the Projects window, right-click Find.java and choose Tools > Internationalization > Internationalize.

   The IDE shows Internationalization dialog box and pre-fills the first hard-coded string from the Find.java source code .

2. Click Browse to select a particular properties file or create a new one (e.g. Find.properties).
3. You can modify format of replaced string, key, value or comment if it is necessary. We'll just leave the default values.
4. Click Replace to confirm the change and move a focus on the next hard-coded string.

   If a hard-coded string does not need to be replaced, click the Skip button.

   

Inserting a Single Internationalized String

1. In the Projects window, right-click Find.java and choose Edit.

   The IDE opens the Find.java file in the Source Editor.

2. Scroll through the source code and find the main method.
3. Insert the following line in bold in the main method:

       public static void main(String args[]) {
           System.out.println();
           java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
               public void run() {
                   new Find().setVisible(true);
               }
           });
       }

4. Press Ctrl-Shift-J to invoke Internationalized String Dialog.
5. For Bundle Name, click the New button, select the Source Packages > examples folder, and enter Find as the Bundle name. Then click OK. The Bundle Name field shows examples.Find.
6. Type Start in the Key drop-down box and Start Find Dialog in the Value field. Then click OK.
   
   

   

7. The IDE inserts an internationalized string:

       public static void main(String args[]) {
           System.out.println(java.util.ResourceBundle.getBundle("examples/Find").getString("Start"));
           java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
               public void run() {
                   new Find().setVisible(true);
                   }
               });
           }