Report template translations

rbuser

I'm using Delphi 7 and RB 9.02.

I need to create report templates for different languages (English, Russian
and Hungarian). By setting the TppReport template format to ftASCII I can
save the files and extract the strings that need to be translated into an
excel spreadsheet. These are then translated and inserted back into the
file. I don't really want to deploy the rtm files in this format as the file
size is quite large and can easily be edited. Is there a command line
compiler option to convert the files from ftASCII to ftBinary ?

I am using this approach because if I manually change the strings in the
report designer to be Russian, they look correct under English Windows but
are incorrect when run under Russian Windows. I guess this is due to the
different code pages. Is there another way to approach this ? I've not seen
anything on translating the report templates, only the designer / preview
dialogs.

Ian Munro

nicocizik

Hi Ian,

Rather than trying to translate your template on the fly, I would suggest
creating three different templates, each pre-translated. Then load each
template based on which language you would like to display. If you have a
translation app that you need to send strings into, you can create a report
object loop and loop throught each text component inside the report after
the template has loaded and translate the text.

----------------------------------------------
Tech Tip: Loop Thru All Objects in a Report
---------------------------------------------

A ReportBuilder report is composed of a set
of components. The basic structure is

Reports.Bands[].Objects[]

The bands and objects within the report can
be accessed directly by object name or
via the Bands and Objects array properties.

Below is an example of using the Bands and
Objects array properties to change the font for
all objects on a report.


uses
ppClass;


procedure AssignFontToReport(aFont: TFont; aReport: TppCustomReport);
var
liBand: Integer;
liObject: Integer;
lObject: TppComponent;

begin

for liBand := 0 to aReport.BandCount-1 do

for liObject := 0 to aReport.Bands[liBand].ObjectCount-1 do
begin
lObject := aReport.Bands[liBand].Objects[liObject];

if lObject.HasFont then
lObject.Font := aFont;

end;

end;


--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hello,

I'm using your "AssignFontToReport" function as shown below and have
written a small program that opens an Excel spreadsheet and dumps the
reports strings into it. The problem I have now is accessing some hard coded
strings in the RAP code. I saved the report template in the ftASCII format
so that I could open it up in notepad. Would I be right in saying that the
RAP code is held at the end of the file in the "TraCodeModule" section ? If
so, Is there a way to access this using a similar method to the
"AssignFontToReport" function ? The only other way I though of getting round
the problem was to place these hard coded strings on the report (and make
them invisible) and then access them from the RAP functions.

Ian

rbuser

I should just clarify that I have modified the original function so it now
looks like this :

procedure TForm1.AddToSheet ;
var
liBand : Integer ;
liObject : Integer ;
lObject : TppComponent ;
iCnt : integer ;

begin
iCnt := 1 ;

for liBand := 0 to m_RptCtrl.BandCount - 1 do
begin
for liObject := 0 to m_RptCtrl.Bands [liBand].ObjectCount - 1 do
begin
lObject := m_RptCtrl.Bands [liBand].Objects [liObject] ;

if lObject.Caption <> '' then
begin
XLSheet.Cells.Item [iCnt, 2].Value := lObject.Caption ;
inc (iCnt) ;
end ;
end ;
end ;
end ;

As you can see, I'm grabbing the lObject Caption.

nicocizik

Hi Ian,

Take a look at the following example on accessing and modifying the RAP code
present within a template. This should get you on the right track to
accessing any RAP code you may need to.

http://www.digital-metaphors.com/tips/RAPModifyPrograms.zip

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hello,

After a few hours work I have now created some code that extracts all
the report strings that need to be translated into an Excel spreadsheet. I
also have some code that takes the translated strings from the spreadsheet
and inserts them back into the report file. The problem I am seeing now is
that when I try my "translated" report under Russian Windows, all the text
is displayed as question marks, eg "???????? ??? ??????" etc. I'm assuming
that this is because when I save the report the Report Builder code is
manipulating the data. Is there anyway to change this ?

Ian

nicocizik

Hi Ian,

This can be caused by a number of items. The article below may offer some
insight to the issue.

1. ReportBuilder does not currently contain any support for Unicode. We are
hopeful that Borland will add Unicode support to the VCL in a future
release - to make this a manageable task for us.


2. It is our understanding that Unicode is not required to display a
language properly. Any language can be displayed properly by configuring the
Windows regional settings properly. However, if an application needs to
display multiple languages, then Unicode is required. As an example, below
is a tip from a customer for configuring a computer for Japanese.


Note: RB also does not contain any support for Right to Left languages.


-------------------------------
Tech Tip: Configure XP for Japanese
-------------------------------


Please try the following steps:

1. Install MS XP with Japanese support
2. Change the value of Non Unicode Application setting to Japanese (in
Advance tab of Control Panel's Countries and Language)
3. For RB, you can set charset of ppLabel/ppDBEdit to SHIFTJIS_CHARSET or
DEFAULT_CHARSET (for Multi-Lanugage application).
4. For Paradox db file, you can set the LANGDRIVER of Paradox (in BDE) to
Paradox 'japan' or 'ascii' ANSI (for Multi-Lanugage application).

This method works for me.

Contributed by Earnest Tse (ReportBuilder customer)

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com