We provide language and cultural support for Swiss French.

A French version of the desktop messages and some online documentation and applications are available when you install the French language support from the WorldView(TM) family of language support products, available in a separate CD.

Localization

To customize your system to recognize certain language and cultural conventions used in French-speaking Switzerland, such as date and time formats, currency format, and sorting order, please follow these steps:

• Select Desktop Customize Language from the Toolchest to invoke the ipanel(International Settings Control Panel).

  or

• Type ipanel at a shell prompt.

Country

• Click the left mouse button over the Country icon at the bottom of the ipanel, then select Suisse (Francais) from Country Selection window.

Language

• Click the left mouse button over the Language icon at the bottom of the ipanel, then select the language you wish to use from Language Selection window.

Keyboards

Your system has one of several possible keyboards. Although ipanel provides you with a default keyboard configuration, you should either confirm the default or select a different configuration.
 

• Click the left mouse button over the Keyboard icon at the bottom of the ipanel, then select the keyboard configuration you wish to use from Keyboard Selection window.

Timezone

• Click the left mouse button over the Time Zone icon at the bottom of the ipanel, then select the timezone you wish to use from Timezone Selection window.

When you have made all your selections:

• Click either Set System button or Set Personal button.
• In the next window, ipanel confirms the new setting you've made.  Click Logout Now button to log out.
• Log in again with the same account so that these modifications can take effect in any new window.

  
   

Notes

The standard keyboard shipped with most SGI systems can enter only ASCII characters by default. Configured as shipped, it does not allow Swiss-French users to enter or use non-ASCII characters needed for French or certain other languages. However, the Suisse (Francais) location makes it possible to use non-ASCII characters with most system tools.

The "US ASCII with Compose key" keyboard layout is exactly like the default layout for the (101-key) US keyboard, except that the right Alt key (the key immediately to the right of the space bar) acts as a Compose key, which makes it possible to enter many non-ASCII characters. See the compose(5) and composetable(5) man pages for more information about using the Compose key.

Many systems sold in Switzerland may include a keyboard designed for the French language. If your system has a French language keyboard, you should choose the French keyboard selection from the Language Controls panel; this will make your keyboard generate the characters that appear on each key. The right Alt key on the French keyboard selects alternate characters for many of the keyboard keys. Pressing Shift and the right Alt key and then releasing both keys activates the compose function, as described in compose(5), on the French keyboard.

If you are not certain which keyboard you have, first look at the Enter key. If your Enter key is rectangular, you have a US keyboard and should use the "US ASCII with Compose key" keyboard layout. If your Enter key is non-rectangular, you probably have a French keyboard.

If your keyboard has a non-rectangular Enter key, and selecting the French keyboard layout does not make it work properly, it is possible that you have a national keyboard for some other country. You can try each of the keyboard layouts listed in the Language Controls panel until you find the one that matches your layout, or contact your sales and support office for assistance.

Support

For further assistance with language and cultural customization questions, please contact your local SGI representative.