Multilingual Flash
November 7th, 2007
When we enter the website, the sentences shown in the Flash banner will be in its original language, which is English. The variable and data (sentences) that shown in the Flash are stored in a php file. When want to change the contents of website to another language, the php file will call to translation part. Process of forming the translation file are as below:
A tool, gettext is run in order to extract all the translatable strings from the sources (which stored in php) and implant them in a single .POT file.
This .POT file is actually a .PO (Portable Object) template that you distribute to your translators in order for them to translate it.
The translators will send you back a .PO file, containing both the original English version and the translated strings.
After that, compilation of the .PO file into a .MO (Machine Object) file is done. It is stored at
the correct place in the defined directory and file naming organization.
Then, the _() function in the php file will automatically display the translated strings in the Flash banner at that website, depending on the locale set at runtime.
