T.O.C.

Intro

QuickStart

Basics

Databases

Glossaries

Advanced

Scripting


 

 

WHAT IS POWERGLOT?

PowerGlot is a new kind of tool for software localization. It brings the ease of use of the MacOS system to developers willing to make their product available in the native languages of their users worldwide.

PowerGlot is here to help you in the process of translating MacOS software from one language to another. In a lot of cases you will automate a part of the process by using glossaries, which provide for automatic translation of common terms and sentences. But it does not totally eliminate human work, nor is it intended to.


WHAT IS IT NOT?

PowerGlot is not a spell checker, a dictionary or a word processor. All it does is read text from files that are usually difficult to edit, presents the text in a simple and straightforward form, lets the user translate what he or she wants and then generates translated (localized) copies of the original files.


A BRIEF DESCRIPTION...

PowerGlot removes the burden of finding and editing all those darn resources everywhere in your applications to let you concentrate on the translation itself.

PowerGlot has a unique user interface to achieve this. Just drop your resource files on it, or even compiled applications, and let the tool extract, sort and present all the text contained in the application in a comprehensive way. All your text is just one click away, nicely organised in sorted lists, in a single window. Just browse it, translate it, click a button and youŐre done! PowerGlot has generated your localized application. Building a localized version of your software is now a matter of hours, if not minutes once you understand how to take advantage of the full power of PowerGlot.

To take the ease one step further, PowerGlot provides glossaries that help you automatically translate common terms with powerful options.

PowerGlot supports all script systems (single-byte and double-byte), as well as the Text Services Manager and Input methods (for languages like Japanese, Chinese, Korean...).

PowerGlot is scriptable, mostly recordable, supports drag and drop, comes with an Apple Guide to assist you if necessary, and also provides balloon help. You can easily build AppleScripts to integrate PowerGlot in your development process and automate most tasks related to building and updating databases.

Last but not least, PowerGlot knows how to read and translate PowerPlant resources (after all it IS written with PowerPlant) for all you CodeWarrior users!


WHICH COMPUTER AND OS DO I NEED TO USE POWERGLOT?

Any Macintosh or MacOS compatible computer with at least System 7.5 will be able to run PowerGlot. Although the software could run on a System 7.1, you could not take full advantage of all the features of PowerGlot and access to foreign script systems (non-roman writing systems) would be restricted.


WHICH LANGUAGES CAN I TARGET?

All languages supported by MacOS compatible computers can be targeted. If you have a U.S., European or any other flavor of what is called a Roman system (with a roman writing system), you can target any roman-written language. If you want to target (or translate from) another writing system, such as Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Cyrillic or others, you must install the appropriate Language Kit on you system. Language Kits give roman System users full access to non-roman script systems by providing fonts, input methods and display formats appropriate for those languages.

Language kits can be purchased from Apple Computer, Inc. For more information, please consult Apple ComputerŐs Web Site (http://www.apple.com/)


WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

The first time you use PowerGlot, it is a good idea to have a look at the Quickstart section. It shows you the basic features of the software.

After that, we strongly recommend you read the database section which explains what databases are and how to use them.

Then, when you get accustomed to PowerGlot, read the glossaries section. Using glossaries is the way you can become more productive, automate your tasks and simplify the localization task.


READ THE MANUAL!

While you may want to try the software now without reading the whole manual, remember that it is always a good thing to read everything about PowerGlot. The software is very powerful and you may miss crucial features just because you didnŐt read the appropriate section!