Defining the Internationalization Keys

In the Domain Designer, the name of the internationalization keys are defined by the Label Key and Description Key properties on each set and item on the Display tab. By default, these properties are blank. You may name the keys in any way you want, as long as each key is unique among all keys within the Domain. However, because keys are used in a Java properties file, they may only use characters from the ISO Latin-1 set, digits, and underscores (_).

To automate this process, use Export Bundle on the Display tab of the Domain Designer. The Confirm dialog box appears.

Exporting a bundle performs two tasks:

You have the option of generating only the label keys, only the description keys, both, or neither. When you click OK, the generated key names are added to all the blank Label Key and Description Key properties; any keys that already exist are not be modified. In order to guarantee uniqueness, the generated key names have the following format:

<setID>.LABEL

<setID>.DESCR

<setID>.<itemID>.LABEL

<setID>.<itemID>.DESCR

The locale bundle stub is a Java properties file in the proper format containing all the defined keys, ready for translation. The locale bundle stub is further explained in the next section.

In the design file, the name of the keys are given by the labelId and descriptionId attributes on each itemGroup and item element. If these attributes are missing or defined with an empty value (""), the keys are not defined. To define the keys, give these attributes a value that is unique among all the keys. Again, keys may only use characters from the ISO Latin-1 set, digits, and underscores (_).

If you have many sets and items, it may be easier to upload the design file in a Domain and open it in the Domain Designer. You can then generate the keys automatically, export the bundle as explained above, and export the XML design file that now contains the generated keys.