LLTE (Live Language Translation Engine) is the component of Chasys Draw IES that enables the software to support user interface languages other than English. The LLTE translates text from English to any target language in real time, prior to displaying it on the screen.
To convert text from one language to the other, LLTE uses special files called LLTE Language Files, with an extension .lang. These can be found in the /language sub-directory of your Chasys Draw IES installation. A language file contains a list of words or phrases with their corresponding translations, separated by an equals sign “=”. Chasys Draw IES uses this list to find the best match for translating the text it wants to display.
LLTE Language Files are text files that can be created using any standard text editor and that follow an easy-to-understand format; this design was deliberately chosen to make it possible for end-users without programming skills to build them. In deed, you are encouraged to write, modify and share LLTE Language Files.
Although you can edit LLTE Language Files manually using any text editor, it is highly advisable that you edit them using the LLTE Studio utility.
You can install as many language files as you wish and change languages at any time. To make this easy for you, Chasys Draw IES provides a configuration dialog where you can select, manage and even download language files:
Language Files can be added or removed at any time, even if Chasys Draw IES is running; however, changes only take effect at application start.
LLTE Language File Format
LLTE Language files follow a very straight-forward human-readable format:
Line 1:
The first line of the file contains the word #LANG, this indicates that the file is an LLTE language file.
Line 2:
On the next line, you have a #VER= tag, indicating the LLTE version the file is meant for. The current version is 1.8.
Line 3:
The third line should contain a #CODE= tag, indicating the language code in IETF Language Tag format, e.g. "en-US" for "English - US".
Line 4:
The fourth line should contain a #TYPE= tag, indicating whether the file is a machine or human translation. Legal values for this tag are "Machine" and "Human".
Line 5:
The filth line contains the #APP_NAME= tag, indicating the target application name, e.g. "Chasys Draw IES".
Line 6:
The sixth line contains the #APP_VERSION= tag, indicating the target application version, e.g. "5.11.01".
Line 7:
The seventh line contains a #DESC= tag containing the description text for the file, e.g. "Swahili Translation by John Paul Chacha".
Content:
The header section above is followed by the translations. The beginning of the translations is marked by the #XLAT_BEGIN tag and terminated by the #XLAT_END tag as shown below. Empty lines are allowed within this section, this makes it easier for a human translator to build the file.
The frame below shows a sample language file. You can use this as a reference, or just download the official template:
#LANG
#VER=1.8
#CODE=ar-SA
#TYPE=Machine
#APP_NAME=Chasys Draw IES
#APP_VERSION=5.11.01
#DESC=Arabic sample by John Paul Chacha. Edit and extend at will.
#XLAT_BEGIN
a color=لون
a critical engine failed initialization=فشل محرك الحرجة التهيئة
a problem with the filter module interface=مشكلة مع واجهة وحدة التصفية
a requested property could not be found=لا يمكن أن خاصية طلب يمكن العثور عليها
a video sequence is being composed using=تسلسل الفيديو من حيث كونها تتألف به
#XLAT_END
The text may be encoded as either ANSI or UNICODE, but UNICODE (UCS-2) is preferred. Unicode formats should include a byte-order-mark (U+FEFF) and may be either big-endian or little-endian, although the use of little-endian encoding (Windows/Intel) is highly encouraged.
Please note that language files for LLTE 1.8 cannot have more than 32768 entries. This is actually a lot – the standard template, which can translate all the text in Chasys Draw IES, contains less than 2500 entries.
