International Coding Checklist
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Abstract
This paper provides a checklist, guidelines, and suggestions for creating international software for the Windows and Windows NT operating systems.
Introduction
The process of creating software for global markets has two distinct phases: internationalization, which covers generic coding and design issues, and localization, which involves translating and customizing a product for a specific market. This paper provides a checklist of guidelines and suggestions for developers to use when internationalizing software for the Windows and Windows NT operating systems. The suggestions in this checklist will simplify localization of your program
This document is intended as a checklist only. For complete information on developing software for international markets, see Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT, Microsoft Press.
Coding Checklists
DBCS Enabling
To write double-byte character set (DBCS) enabled code |
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Unicode Enabling
To write Unicode-enabled software |
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Font Technology
To select the appropriate font and output text in local script |
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Bidirectionality
To support bidirectionality in your software |
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Vertical Writing
To implement vertical writing in your software |
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Changing Input Language
To handle changing the input language properly |
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Locale Awareness
To make your software locale-aware |
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Localizability
To make your software localizable |
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Multilingual UI
To implement a multilingual interface, do one of the following |
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To enable dynamic switching between languages |
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For More Information
When developing software for an international audience, see Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT by Nadine Kano, Microsoft Press, 1995, or visit https://www.microsoft.com/globaldev.
For the latest information on Windows NT Server, check out our World Wide Web site at https://www.microsoft.com/backoffice or the Windows NT Server Forum on the Microsoft Network (GO WORD: MSNTS). To access information via the World Wide Web, go to https://www.microsoft.com and select Microsoft BackOffice.