The Dynamic Language Translation Service (DLTS) is a sophisticated toolkit for implementing real-time language translation for web-based content. The DLTS technology combines the popular features of Java Server Pages (JSP) and the JSP Standard Template Library (JSTL) with online language translation to rapidly deliver international support for web applications. DLTS automatically translates the content for each user based upon the international location of the client browser. DLTS builds and maintains re-usable Translation Dictionaries to meet the high-performance demands of robust applications. The DLTS Translation Dictionary uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format to deliver flexibility to content providers for editing and customization. These translations are maintained for the life-cycle of the application. Installing the DLTS toolkit is easy and modifying existing applications is simple.

To demonstrate the ease in which DLTS can be implemented the "MailReader" example web application, distributed with the Struts framework, was updated with the DLTS toolkit following the instructions in the User's Guide in less than 15 minutes. The new international version can be examined by selecting the Struts-Example tab.

The "Transdoc" sample application for document management was also updated with the DLTS toolkit. The new international version of that application can be examined by selecting the Transdoc Example tab.

This is the familiar MailReader sample application enhanced with Dynamic Language Translation Service (DLTS) technology and deployed as an international web application. It now provides translated content in real-time for many well known languages.

This is the Transdoc sample application for document management enhanced with Dynamic Language Translation Service (DLTS) technology.

User's Guide

Installing the DLTS toolkit for Struts is easy and modifying the existing application is simple.

1. Download and Import the DLTS distribution JAR file.
2. Replace the struts-bean.tld and the struts-html.tld files with the DLTS versions.
3. Copy the xlate-services.tld file to the taglib directory.
4. Modify the home page (index.jsp) to include the following logic (part 1):
   Copy and insert these lines after the last taglib entry in the home page.

       
   				
   <!-- INFOBASE Technologies - DLTS -->
   <!-- START: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HomePageMods-1 -->
   <!-- Home page modifications for Dynamic Language Translation Services -->
   <!-- Copy and insert these lines after the last taglib entry in the home page -->
    
   <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/xlate-services.tld" prefix="xlate" %>
    
   <jsp:useBean id="XlateServices" scope="session" class="com.infobase_tech.xlate.XlateServices"/>
    
   <SCRIPT language='javascript'>
    
   <%
   //  Perform an automatic locale based translation
    
       java.util.Locale userLocale = request.getLocale();
       String userLang = "en";
    
       if  (userLocale != null)
           {
           userLang = userLocale.getLanguage();
    
           if  (userLang.equals("en") == false)
               {
               XlateServices.setFromLang("en");
               XlateServices.setToLang(userLang);
               %>	
                 window.location = "<%= request.getRequestURI() %>";
               <%	
               }
    
           }
    
   //  Process request to change target language
    
       String xlateTo = request.getParameter("xlateTo");
    
       if  (xlateTo != null)
           {
           XlateServices.setFromLang(userLang);
           XlateServices.setToLang(xlateTo);
           %>	
             window.location = "<%= request.getRequestURI() %>";
           <%	
           }
    
   %>
    
   function setXlateToLang(toLang)
   {
       window.location = "<%=request.getRequestURI() %>?xlateTo=" + toLang;
   }
    
   </SCRIPT> 
    
   <!-- END: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HomePageMods-1 -->
    
   								
   				

5. Continue - Modify the home page (index.jsp) to include the language selection drop-down (part 2):
   Copy and insert these lines after the <body> html statement.

   
   <!-- INFOBASE Technologies - DLTS -->
   <!-- START: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HomePageMods-2 -->
   <!-- Home page modifications for Dynamic Language Translation Services -->
   <!-- Copy and insert these lines after the <body html statement -->
    
   <%  if  (userLang.equals("en") == true)
   	{ %>
   	<table>
   	  <tr>
   	    <td>
   	    <font face="Verdana" size="2">
   	    <xlate:text>
   	    Now available in 12 universal languages! 
   	    </td>
   	    <td>
   	    <select name="languages" size="1" onchange="javascript:setXlateToLang(this.options[selectedIndex].value);">
   	    <option value="Select Language" disabled>Select Language</option>				
   	    <option value="en">English</option>				
   	    <option value="fr">French</option>				
   	    <option value="de">German</option>
   	    <option value="zh">Chinese Simplified</option>				
   	    <option value="zt">Chinese Traditional</option>				
   	    <option value="nl">Dutch</option>				
   	    <option value="el">Greek</option>				
   	    <option value="it">Italian</option>				
   	    <option value="ja">Japanese</option>				
   	    <option value="ko">Korean</option>				
   	    <option value="pt">Portuguese</option>				
   	    <option value="ru">Russian</option>				
   	    <option value="es">Spanish</option>				
   	    </select>
   	    </xlate:text>
   	    </font>
   	    </td>
   	</tr>	
   	</table>
        <% } %>
    
   <!-- END: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HomePageMods-2 -->
    
   								
   				

6. Convert any HTML pages to JSP files and update the struts-config.xml file accordingly. (part 1):
   Copy and insert these lines at the beggining of the new JSP file and remove any UTF-8 specifications.

   
   <!-- INFOBASE Technologies - DLTS -->
   <!-- START: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HtmlToJsp-1 -->
   <!-- Web page modifications for Dynamic Language Translation Services -->
   <!-- Copy and insert these lines at the beggining of the html file -->
    
   <%@ page contentType="text/html" language="java" %>
   <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/xlate-services.tld" prefix="xlate" %>
    
   <xlate:webPage> 
    
   <!-- END: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HtmlToJsp-1 -->
   								
   				

7. Continue - Convert HTML page to JSP file (part 2):
   Copy and insert these lines at the end of the new JSP file.

   
   <!-- INFOBASE Technologies - DLTS -->
   <!-- START: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HtmlToJsp-2 -->
   <!-- Web page modifications for Dynamic Language Translation Services -->
   <!-- Copy and insert these lines at the end of the html file -->
    
   </xlate:webPage>
    
   <!-- END: com.infobase_tech.xlate.usermods.HtmlToJsp-2 -->
   								
   				

Re-build the project and then deploy as an international web application with real-time multi-language support.

Technical Information

The DLTS Translation Dictionary uses the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format to deliver flexibility to content providers for editing, customization and database portability. Here is an example of the generated XML file.

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='ISO-8859-1' ?>
<!-- INFOBASE Technologies - DLTS Translation Dictionary -->
<!-- Translating from:en to:fr -->
 
<TranslationDictionary fromLang='en' toLang='fr'>
 
<entry>
  <phrase>
Now available in 12 different languages!
  </phrase>
  <translation>
Maintenant disponible dans 12 langues différentes !
  </translation>
</entry>
 
<entry>
  <phrase>
Dynamic Language Translation Services - Made Simple
  </phrase>
  <translation>
Services De Traduction Dynamiques De Langue - Rendus Simples
  </translation>
</entry>
 
</TranslationDictionary>
								
				

				

Translation Testing

DLTS Downloads

DLTS Questions and Answers ...