Configuring multilanguage fields support

Before you start the configuration of multilanguage fields support, we recommend that you create a backup of the application data. For example, you can extract your application data through the Create Sequential Dump of Table (ttaad4226m000) session.

  1. Enable support for Multilanguage Fields.
    1. Start the Parameters Multi Language Support (ttadv4106m000) session.
    2. Select the Multi Language Fields Support check box.
    3. Use the All Data Languages Always Available check box to specify whether all language variants should be read:
      • If this check box is selected, then for multibyte fields that are “Multi Data Language Enabled” all language variants are read.

        This might result in reduced performance in sessions with multilanguage fields.

      • If this check box is cleared, then only the language variants of the user's language are read. When a report is printed, the application can select the language that is read from the database or force to read all languages.
    4. Save the changes and close the session.
  2. Define data languages.
    1. Start the Data Languages (ttaad1111m000) session.
    2. Define the desired data languages. A data language consists of an ISO 639-1 language code and, optionally, an ISO 3166-1 country code. You can zoom to the ISO 639 Languages (ttaad1512m000) session and the ISO 3166-1 Countries (ttaad1513m000) session.
    3. Define the base language: Select a data language and, on the appropriate menu, click Make Base Language .
      Note: The base language is used as a fall back language. Application data is displayed in the base language if both of these scenarios occur:
      • No data language is defined in the user data of an LN user.
      • No data language is linked to the user's software language.
    4. Convert the data languages to the runtime data dictionary. On the appropriate menu, click Convert Data Languages to Runtime .
      Note: 
      • Only perform this step if you are sure you no longer want to change the base language. See the restrictions listed in the online help of the session.
      • During the conversion to runtime, all users must be logged off.
      • When the conversion to runtime has finished, you must restart the LN environment.
    5. Close the session.
    Data Languages have a status that is used to control their life cycle. For details, refer to "Life cycle of a data language" in the online help of the session.
  3. Link data languages to the corresponding software languages.
    To link a data language to a software language:
    1. Start the Software Languages (ttaad1510m000) session.
    2. To start the Software Languages (ttaad1110s000) session, double-click a software language. In the Data Language field, enter the desired data language.
      Note: 
      • You can zoom to the Data Languages (ttaad1111m000) session.
      • You can only select data languages with status "Base Language" and "Available".
      • You can also leave the Data Language field blank. Then the application data is shown in the data language that is defined in the user data of an LN user, or in the base language.
    3. Save the changes and close the sessions.
    To ensure that application software and application data are displayed in the same language, link the data languages to the software languages.
  4. Register the tables and table fields that must be multilanguage-enabled.
    To ensure that application software and application data are displayed in the same language, link the data languages to the software languages.
    1. Start the Registered Tables with Multi Language Fields (ttadv4137m000) session.
    2. Add the tables you want to be Multilanguage Enabled.
    3. Per table, specify whether all languages should be read for records from the table:
      • If all languages should be read, select the check box.
      • Otherwise, clear this check box.
      Note: 
      • If all data languages are always available, this might result in reduced performance in sessions with multilanguage fields.
      • Whether you can clear this check box depends on the version of the application feature pack.
      • The All Data Languages Always Available setting is saved in the data dictionary of the table. Therefore, after a change in this setting, a conversion to runtime for tables is required.
    4. Double-click a table. The Registered Multi Language Fields (ttadv4138m000) session starts.
    5. For each field you want to be multilanguage enabled, select the Enabled check box.
    6. Save the changes and close the sessions.
  5. Convert the multilanguage settings to the runtime data dictionary.
    1. Start the Manage Operation Status (ttmtm3501m000) session.
    2. Click Admin Only to switch the environment to Admin only mode.

      In this mode, normal users can no longer log on to the environment. Users that were already logged on are forcibly logged off.

      1. Log off.
      2. Wait for a few minutes to stop the shared memory correctly.
      3. Log on again. The shared memory is down now.
    3. Start the Convert to Runtime Data Dictionary (ttadv5215m000) session.
    4. Select the Tables check box and the Reconfigure Tables check box.
    5. For packages and tables, specify the appropriate selection ranges.
    6. Click Convert to Runtime
    7. Optionally, start the User Data (ttaad2500m000) session, and define a data language per user. The data language that is specified in the user data takes precedence over the data language that is linked to a software language.
    8. Start the Manage Operation Status (ttmtm3501m000) session.
    9. Click Bring Online to bring the environment online again, so that normal users can log on again.
      1. Log off.
      2. Wait for a few minutes, to stop the shared memory correctly.
      3. Log on again. The shared memory is reinitialized.

        This actualizes the processed domain and table definition changes for all users. Do not stop the logon process by closing the browser (tab) during the logon process. You must wait until the LN menu is displayed.

Note: If you use the Enterprise Modeler Content Pack with LN, consider using the MAA0050 (Multi Data Languages for Descriptions) wizard to set up multilanguage support. You can execute this predefined wizard from the Wizards by Project Model (tgwzr4502m000) session after you specified the business function model for your company.