Multi-language issue

[Dan-A]

Hi All,

I have the following files MainStart, InvoiceHeader, InvoiceLines.

Right now InvoiceHeader & Lines are related by invoice#.

Both Header & Lines have a constant link (value of 1) with StartMain.

StartMain holds name labels for various buttons and layout titles.

The idea was to have the menu items switch languages base on a field in StartMain. All works fine....except that i now realize that in a multi-user

setting each user will be "stuck" with the same language choice.

Could i move StartMain to each computer (kind of a front-end) and can all

of the StartMains link to the Header & lines dbs??

What/How does FM work in multi-user, does it open a copy of the files for each user? does it link to the files?

Should i have gone the route of many layouts (one for each language choice)??.

If that is the case could i still use many StartMain files to have user individually select the language they want to work in?

A push in the right direction would be great!!

Thanks

--Dan

[ernst]

Hi Dan,

You can go two ways:

- move a (single-User!!) copy from StartMain to each user's computer. You will have to 'show' filemaker that the related files are now accessible via the network when you open StartMain for the first time.

- make 'language choice' a global field, so that every user can set it how she/he likes.

Regards,

Ernst.

[Dan-A]

Hi Ernst,

Thanks for the reply.

Option 1:

Move the file StartMain to each user's computer, Ok i thought of that.

(StartMain holds a field called LanguageChoice -- Global,text)

- What i'm not sure of is how will my other 2 files (header & lines) relate

to each startMain file to get the LanguageChoice. How will header & lines know

to relate to User-1 in french, User-2 in english.....

Option 2:

The "language choice" field IS ALREADY a global field, every user can set it to what they want

but it seems to have a common value for all user...

What i mean is that if user-1 selects French from the list then the field

value will be "french" and all menu labels will change accordingly.

When user-2 comes along and selects English form the list then the value of the field changes to "english" and all the menu labels follow. So the change happens for ALL users with no regards for who change the value in LanguageChoice.

The labels are Calc (result is text) fields with:

Choose (Left( Language, 1), "", "French text", "English text")

The language list choices are

1 - Francais-French

2 - Anglais-English

Thanks

for the help.

--Dan

[ernst]

Hi Dan,

If the language field is already a global then both possibilities will work. Global fields are actually local to the users workstation anyway, so user-1 can set it to French and at the same time user-2 can set it to English.

>>How will header & lines know

>>to relate to User-1 in french, User-2 in english...

The calculations that make you labels either English or French depend on your global 'language' field, so they are not stored anyway, but calculated every time they are needed. That's why they can have a 'French' result on the computer of user-1 and at the same time an 'English' result on the computer of user-2.

When StartMain is on the server the default value for language will be the one that was set the last time the file was edited in Filemaker Client, so the user will have to change that to the language he/she wants. If StartMain is on each users computer it will remember the last value set by the user of that computer, which may be more convenient.

Does this make things a bit clearer?

Regards,

Ernst.

[Dan-A]

YEEESSS

So then my set-up should work, i will move StartMain to each computer,

then make sure my relations on each computer are valid.

If I understand what you say & did my linking properly all should work well.

( that sounds too easy or too optimistic )

Thanks i will give it a whirl.

One last question...

Do you think this set-up is a proper way to go (system speed etc.) versus

doubling up on forms and eventually adding forms for other languages??

Right now I only have about 17 forms for 1 language, with the headers

that have more or less identical menu options (Main, Invoice, Clients, Suppliers etc.)

Thanks again

--Dan

[ernst]

Hey Dan,

'doubling up on forms' is actually a sort of 'hard coding' and as such perhaps a bit faster then having calculated fields as labels, but I doubt that you'll notice much difference. And using calculations is certainly more flexible and handier when you want to add a language or change a layout...

Regards,

Ernst.

[Dan-A]

That's what i thought but wanted a second opinion!!

Plus to choose the proper layout i would need to add

an if statement on all files for all GoTO Layout steps.

Still might be a bit faster then calculations

on approx. 40 buttons & field labels.

Thanks

--Dan