XWorkplace NLS packages identify themselves to the XWorkplace core via country codes, as described on the "COUNTRY" page in the OS/2 Command Reference (CMDREF.INF).

XWorkplace's language depends on exactly one setting in OS2.INI (application "XWorkplace", key "LanguageCode"). If that setting is changed, XWorkplace assumes a whole new set of language files to be present. The setting is only checked once at WPS startup or later if you explicitly load a new language in the XWorkplace Setup object. If no code is present, "001" for US English is assumed.

The XWorkplace sources contain everything for creating the US English NLS package, as it comes with the standard XWorkplace binary release. The language code for US English is "001". Everything that is related to English NLS is therefore in the 001\ directory tree.

The first step you'll have to take is finding out your country code. For example, Italian would be 039.

Unfortunately, XWorkplace's National Language Support (NLS) is spread across quite a number of files, which have different file formats.

Basically, XWorkplace's NLS can be separated into three parts:

1. Run-time NLS: this is all the language-dependent things that XWorkplace will ever display to the user, such as menus, dialogs, messages, and notebook pages.

   Here we have:
   

   • The NLS DLL to be put into the XWorkplace bin subdirectory. This file contains all language-dependent Presentation Manager (PM) resources, mostly dialogs and menus. Also, a lot of strings are stored here.

     The NLS DLL is called xfldrXXX.dll, with "xxx" being your three-digit language code. The files neccessary to translate this DLL are in the 001\dll directory. All this goes into bin\xfldr001.dll in the binary release.

     See "The main NLS DLL" for details.

   • The XWorkplace message file, help\xfldrXXX.tmf. This file holds all kinds of messages which are mostly displayed in XWorkplace's message boxes and are too large to be put into the resources of the NLS DLL (because PM string resources are limited to 256 characters, unfortunately).

     The file has a format similar to that of the source files for the IBM MKMSGF.EXE utility, but using that utility is not necessary for XWorkplace. There are several *.tmf files in the 001\misc directory in the sources, which are combined to form help\xfldr001.tmf in the binary release.

     See "Other files" for details.

   • The WPS class descriptions which are displayed on the "WPS Classes" settings page in the "Workplace Shell" object. This was introduced with XFolder 0.80 also.

     This file is called XFCLSxxx.TXT, with "xxx" being your three-digit language code. It also resides in the 001\misc directory.

     See "Other files" for details.

   • A number of REXX .CMD and text files for XWorkplace's installation. The files to be translated are in the 001\misc subdirectory and go into install\ in the binary release.

     See "Other files" for details.

   
   
2. Documentation: the XWorkplace User Guide (INF file) and online help (HLP file). This is not absolutely necessary and probably the larger part of the translation work, since I have written so much text over time.

   Here we have:
   

   • The XWorkplace Online Reference (INF) in the XWorkplace main directory.

     This file is called xfldrXXX.inf, with "xxx" being your three-digit language code. The HTML source files neccessary to translate this file are in the 001/inf.001 subdirectory.

     See "The INF and HLP files" for details.

   • The XWorkplace HLP file in the HELP subdirectory. This file holds all the help panels that are displayed when you press F1.

     This file is called xfldrXXX.hlp, with "xxx" being your three-digit language code. The files neccessary to translate this file are in the 001/xwphelp2 subdirectory.

     See "The INF and HLP files" for details.

     (Yes, I know the directory naming conventions might seem strange, but if you have ever tried to rename a directory with CVS, you will understand.)

   
   
3. Installation: a number of files which are only used while XWorkplace is being installed. These set up XWorkplace objects and INI keys in a certain language. Please see the README in the MISC directory for details.

4. The Warp 4 SmartGuide script which was present with XFolder and XWorkplace before V0.9.7 is gone now.