Crystal Tools  > International

1. A UFL that installs three new functions in the "Additional Functions" list in the Functions section of the Formula Editor inside Crystal Reports. Simply add the translated words into the dictionary and use these functions in the formula editor.
2. An extractor utility that automatically extracts translatable objects (text objects, plus parameters, alerts, and literal text inside formulas) in Crystal Reports. It can store the imported translations in the translation memory database, allowing automatic pre-translation of all the texts that have not changed from your new source reports. You can concentrate on "what changed" in the future versions of your reports.

• The International UFL gives report headings in different languages, depending on the country you select. The theory behind this function is that you can write one report, and then use some functions to select the appropriate report title, column heading, and font for each country.
• Write just one report and the column headings, report title. etc will print in the language of the country you select.
• Maintain just one report and the translated strings are automatically inserted into the report title, column headings etc. The content is not translated, as it's in the database rather than being part of the report.
• The demo version holds only five words, but the full version supports 1000 words and includes a fully functional dictionary editor to manage and maintain the lists of words in each language.

Benefits:

• Save time by not having to rewrite reports for different languages.
• Enjoy ease of customization/localization.
• Make translation projects easier, more accurate, and less costly.
• Reduce report inventory and needless redundancy.

• Text object, data fields in text objects are supported.
• Text in graphs.
• Text in report parameters.
• Formula returning text value. Translated formula are validated automatically after input.
• Text in report summary such as title, keywords.
• Text in alerts.

It allows provides such benefits as:

• Immediate preview of the resulted target report as you translate with resizing capability.
• Words count analysis and fields count of translatable objects before or during translation.
• Date, time, currency, number format and font localization.
• Translation editor with multi-line capability.
• Support Unicode and font replacement.
• Extensive pre-translation options.
• Comprehensive online help and samples included.
• Compatible with Crystal Reports 7, 8, 8.5, 9 and 10.
• No need to buy and learn the comprehensive Crystal Report product.
• No report development skills needed, can be used by translators.

Crystal Translator Freelancer is the core package. You can step up functionality from there by choosing Professional or Enterprise.

Crystal Translator Professional provides all the advantages of Crystal Translator Freelancer, plus it allows you to import reports you have already translated. This will boost your productivity, save you time, and save you  money. Here are some highlights of the additional functionality of Crystal Translator Professional

• Pre-translation of multiple target languages simultaneously.
• Words count analysis on several source reports at once.
• XLS Export: export of translatable properties to Ms-Excel files.
• XLS Import: import translated Ms-Excel files.
• TMX Export: translation memory export to industry standard TMX files.
• TMX Import.

Crystal Translator Enterprise provides all the advantages of Crystal Translator Professional, but scales at the enterprise level. Its big advantage is it saves you time and money when translating large numbers of Crystal Reports. Consider these features, which are exclusive to Enterprise:

• Batch XLS Export: export the translatable texts of hundred of reports into an MS-Excel file in one operation for outsourcing the translation.
• Batch XLS Import: import a translated MS-Excel file of several reports in one operation. Each translated value is automatically validated before being imported, to ensure the integrity of the TM database
  with truncated texts detection.
• Batch generation of translated reports: create/generate several translated reports in one operation, by simply selecting the source reports/folder and the target languages with truncated texts detection.

The confusion here is due to not understanding the difference between transliteration and translation.

Transliteration is a word by word translation of a phrase or sentence. It is not the same thing as translation. Translation completely converts from your native syntax to the target syntax. And translation incorporates cultural nuances, while a translation does not.

Languages vary in their syntax. For example, in English the adjective comes before the noun while in Spanish it comes after the noun. So, translating a string of words one at a time in sequence results in a string of words that have been translated one at a time but not translated as a whole.

The challenge to the international report designer is to communicate the same ideas to audiences in different cultures speaking different languages. The tools here will definitely help.

What will also help is keeping your message simple. By keeping reports free of complex statements, you reduce the difference between translation and transliteration. Simpler is better.

Avoid sentences, using noun-verb combinations in their place wherever practical. In some languages, such as Chinese, this is how people speak in the first place.

Another reason to write this way is most Americans have rejected Standard Written English (SWE) in favor of a less structured way of using words. When translated into another language, the result can be gobbledegook. Even in English, it's often gobbledegook. Go to a management seminar, and you'll see a perfect example.

Many English speakers misunderstand each other though they speak the same language. For example, most Americans misuse the word "only," by placing it in the wrong place in a sentence. If you will observe where "only" appears when people speak and write, you will find they are nearly always saying something other than what they mean.

This is only (ha!) one example of the complexity involved in sentence translation--even with a live person. A software-based translation system can't possibly second guess you and try to figure out what you mean vs. what you are saying. It doesn't have the context. This same factor is why e-mails are so widely misunderstood. English speakers rely more on context and other factors than sentence construction to convey meaning.

It's the old "garbage in / garbage out" rule catching up to you.

While sloppy speech may work fine within a given culture--and that's debatable because misunderstandings are so common--it completely undermines communication when translating between languages.

So keep your reports simple and you overcome much of the complexity because it's simply not there to deal with.

In addition to our international tools, consider using our graphics tools to clearly convey your messages.