Internationalizing HydroServer - Multilingual Support for Water Data Sharing

Jeffrey M. Sadler, Stephen J. Bolster, Daniel P. Ames, E. James Nelson Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Abstract
The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science (CUAHSI) includes a number of international water science partners. With growing adoption and simplified deployment of CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System (HIS) tools and standards such as WaterOneFlow services and WaterML, it is expected that international interest in using these tools for data sharing will continue to grow. Additionally, international efforts at expanded data sharing (e.g. GEOSS) are also motivating use of such tools outside the U.S. Brigham Young University is currently actively involved in facilitating the adoption of CUAHSI HIS internationally through an extensive internationalization and translation effort. This presentation describes the technical details of the internationalization, and the specific challenges and approaches used for the translation of HydroServer Interactive Web Client into the Spanish language. A primary goal in this effort was to streamline the translation process to facilitate translation of HIS tools into any number of different languages. To do this the original static text (in English) was made dynamic through PHP scripting. For each webpage in the HydroServer Interactive Web Client, all displayed text strings were copied into corresponding *_text.php files. In these files, each string was assigned a PHP variable which, at run time, is read into the original page; the page reads the variable and displays the corresponding string. Following this approach, only the *_text.php files need to be translated into different languages rather than all HydroServer web pages. This approach has been shown to greatly simplify the translation process so that many languages can ultimately be supported. The first translation of HydroServer Interactive Web Client was for the Spanish language and was completed by six non-native Spanish-speakers and 3 native Spanish-speakers (largely providing quality control). Specific challenges we encountered and addressed include the use of nonEnglish characters and symbols as well as pre-populating an ODM database with Spanish terms for hydrologic variables. The Spanish version of HydroServer Interactive Web Client will be deployed in several Central American countries including Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala as part of an effort of the Organization of American States. The Spanish version of the software and information page can be viewed here: http://wwol.groups.et.byu.net/descargar/.

Background
International interest in CUASHI HIS tools is growing. To meet these needs and further diffuse HIS tools, a multilingual version of those tools is needed. Objectives : Create internationalized version of HydroServer Interactive Web Client Streamline translation process Create a Spanish version of HydroServer Interactive Deploy translated tool internationally

Full Translation into Spanish

375+ text strings translated into Spanish Six non-native Spanish speakers made extensive use of Google Translate Three native Spanish speakers provided proof reading and translation of more difficult files including 7 hours to translate the .sql file which houses the preloaded list of hundreds of units, sample types, site type definitions etc.

Challenges
JavaScript is more particular with some punctuation in conversion to PHP o organizations crashes page o organization\s Navigation bars functionality interference o Problem: Import function of import_data_file.php interfered with the slide toggle function of navigation bar o Solution: (function($){ //JavaScript code here. })(jQuery); Bringing Spanish accents and symbols (, , , etc.) into .sql (database) o Problem: UTF8 encoding not functioning and therefore not displaying accents o Solution: $mysqli-> set_charset(utf8) in do_add_table.php. This defines the encoding for the connection.

Internationalization Approach
Original Static Text Original Static Text

Conversion Process to Dynamic Text

1. Convert static text into PHP variables

Whats Next
2. Define PHP variables as corresponding text string in _text.php files (for site in English)

3. Translate text string in foreign _text.php file

File And Folder Structure

/client/internationalize.php Included at top of every page Defines language Includes list of variables and translated strings( _text.php for page and _common_text.php ) _common_text.php page of common terms : $Cancel = Cancelar; $Date = Fecha; etc.

Deployment in Central American Countries: Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala Translation into many languages o Crowd sourcing the translation to multi-lingual BYU students Dynamic, user-determined language option

Visit our site : worldwater.byu.edu Acknowledgements

This research project was funded through a 2012-2013 Mentored Environment Grant (MEG) from the Brigham Young University Office of Research and Creative Activities (ORCA).

End Result

Folder structure provides _text.php files for each page; only these files need to be translated, streamlining the process.