Understanding the File Translation Dictionary

You can replace user-created text in ClearSCADA with alternative (or translated) text. To do this, you need to create a Translation Dictionary which contains the user-created text and associated translations. You then mark the text in ClearSCADA that you want translated and ClearSCADA will perform a search and replace using the Translation Dictionary.

There are two types of Translation Dictionary you can create: A File Translation Dictionary or an In-Database Translation Dictionary. For more information on which type will meet your specific needs, see Introduction to the ClearSCADA Translation Dictionary.

This topic refers to the File Translation Dictionary only. For information about the In-Database Translation Dictionary, see Understanding the In-Database Translation Dictionary.

To create a File Translation Dictionary:

1. In ClearSCADA, specify that you want to use a File Translation Dictionary (see Define the Translation Dictionary Type).
2. Create a File Translation Dictionary folder on your computer.
3. In the Server Configuration Tool, specify the location of the File Translation Dictionary folder (see File Translation Dictionary Server Setting).
4. In the File Translation Dictionary folder, create the File Translation Dictionary files so that they contain search text (text marked for replacement in ClearSCADA) and associated translations (text that will replace the marked text). For information about how to do this, see Creating a File Translation Dictionary.

When you have configured everything, the File Translation Dictionary search and replace works like this:

1. In ClearSCADA, mark with a @ prefix the text that you want ClearSCADA to translate (see Defining the Format of Displayed Values in the ClearSCADA Guide to Core Configuration).
2. ClearSCADA detects the marked text and begins a search.
3. ClearSCADA compares your locale (set in your User account) to the locales of the country-specific Dictionary files. If it finds a match, ClearSCADA searches for the marked text in the Dictionary file. If ClearSCADA cannot find a locale match it checks the region-specific Dictionary files (see step 5).
4. As ClearSCADA searches the country-specific Dictionary file, it reads the search text items. If any of them match the marked text, ClearSCADA reads the associated translation. It then uses the translation in place of the marked text and the process ends.

   If ClearSCADA cannot find the marked text in the country-specific Dictionary file, it continues the search in the region-specific Dictionary files (see step 5).

5. ClearSCADA tries to match your locale to the locale of the region-specific Dictionary files. If the locales match, ClearSCADA searches for the marked text in the Dictionary file. If ClearSCADA cannot find a match it checks the default Dictionary file (see step 7).
6. As ClearSCADA searches the region-specific Dictionary file, it reads the search text items in the file. If any of them match the marked text, ClearSCADA reads the associated translation. It then uses the translation in place of the marked text and the process ends.

   If ClearSCADA cannot find the marked text in the region-specific Dictionary file, it continues the search in the default Dictionary file (see step 7).

7. ClearSCADA reads the search text in the default Dictionary file. If it finds a match for the marked text, ClearSCADA reads the associated translation. It then uses the translation in place of the marked text and the process ends.

   If ClearSCADA cannot find the marked text in the default Dictionary file, it ends the search. ClearSCADA will continue to use the marked text in its current form, but will remove the @ prefix.

   Example:

   A user logs on with a User account that is set to the English (UK) locale and configures a Mimic text box to have the value:

   @High Level

   The server is associated with a Dictionary folder that contains Dictionary files named en-GB.txt, en.txt, and Default.txt. The 'High Level' text and its translation are included in the en.txt file:

   "High Level", "High Pressure".

   This means that the client will replace the text 'High Level' with 'High Pressure'.

   As the text box value text is prefixed with the @ character, the client will search for the 'High Level' text in the Dictionary files and attempt to replace it. The client searches the Dictionary file as its file name represents UK English which matches the Locale setting of the user's User account. For information on the dictionary file names, see Creating a File Translation Dictionary.

   The client begins by searching in the country-specific Dictionary file (en-GB.txt). As the country-specific Dictionary file does not contain the search text, the client continues its search in the region-independent Dictionary file (en.txt). It locates the search text (High Level) and its replacement (High Pressure). The client automatically replaces 'High Level' with 'High Pressure' in the Mimic text box.
   

Further Information

ISO Standards: For information on ISO standards, please refer to www.iso.org