That's an easy question to answerglobalization is simply deploying an I18N-ready application across several locales, no matter what some harebrained economists think. What's I18N? We're getting ahead of ourselves a bit here, so let's first define some terminology so we can actually understand the globalization concept. "Secret" Globalization Language RevealedI'm going to let you in on one of the most guarded "secrets" in the world of software globalization (and probably have to go into hiding as a result. I'm going to define the terms that folks in the industry use to communicate among themselves.
Now that we know what globalization really means, let's look at an overview of how we can accomplish it. Dancing the Globalization JigHow you go about globalizing your ColdFusion application depends on whether you have an existing code base. (And let me emphasize here that making an existing application I18N means you have a tough row to hoe.) The process entails these basic steps: First you review your existing application components to identify obstacles to the I18N process. Application components include your ColdFusion code, the application's display tier (including Flash, HTML, JavaScript, and so on), ColdFusion tags, middleware, and your back-end database. An I18N obstacle is an area where the component needs either amending to make it I18N, or replacement by an I18N-capable version. The next step is to amend or replace non-I18N application components. Wholesale replacement of existing components is by far the easiest thing to do. For instance, if your database doesn't support Unicode (the ins and outs of Unicode are discussed shortly), simply replace it with one that does. Amending existing components is another story. It's a task that's often described as "mind numbing," "brutal," "death by a thousand cuts," and "torturous," as well as a few choice adjectives that the editor wouldn't let me use here. We'll get into these devilish details later on in this chapter. Next, you localize the application by providing translated text resources and display tier layouts, graphics, and so on. Finally, you document the whole mess in the appropriate locale/language. The bottom line: Considering the amount of work required to make an existing application I18N, it's a darned good idea to design/code your application from the ground-up for I18N. If you do that, all you need do is localize and document. Much simpler, isn't it? Now that the background information's out of the way, we can get down to the real nitty-gritty of creating a G11N ColdFusion MX 7 application. |