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Add New Languages to Your Android Application

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Add New Languages to Your Android Application
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Add New Languages to Your Android Application

Bruce Meng
Bruce Meng
January 7, 2021
Created by
Dan van Leeuwen
January 30, 2019
Beginner
20 min.
Android SDK for SAP BTP, SAP Business Technology Platform, Mobile, Tutorial, OData, Android, Beginner
See how the SAP Translation Hub can be used to quickly add support for a new language to your app.

You will learn

  • An overview of how the generated app supports different languages
  • How to sign up for the SAP Translation Hub
  • How to use the SAP Translation Hub from within an Android Studio Project
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Prerequisites

Step 1: Language Support in the Generated App
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The wizard generates an Android app that contains translated strings for multiple languages as shown below.

Languages Localized

The language codes (ar, cs, da, de, en, es, etc.) can be looked up at Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages.

Strings used within the app are read from the appropriate version of the strings_localized or strings.xml file. The strings.xml file contains strings that are provided at design time, such as the screen names from metadata.xml or the app name. Android Studio provides a Translations Editor that you can use to view the values across the localized strings files. Right-click on the strings.xml file and choose Open Translations Editor.

Notice in the screenshot below that the resources that are from the strings.xml file, such as Suppliers, are not translated. These will get translated in Step 3.

Translations Editor

The following code in the WelcomeActivity class, in the onCreate method, is an example of the code used to read from a strings file.

new LaunchScreenSettings.Builder()
                .setHeaderLineLabel(getString(R.string.welcome_screen_headline_label))

LaunchScreenSettings.Builder()
                .setHeaderLineLabel(getString(R.string.welcome_screen_headline_label))

The getString method determines what the current local language is on the device or emulator and then reads from the matching strings file.

You can set the language on an Android device or emulator using Settings > System > Languages & input > Languages. A second language, such as French, can also be added.

Additional Languages

Select the default language by long pressing on a language and dragging it to the top of the list.

Default Language

When the app is restarted, it now shows strings in the preferred language if that language is supported by the app. If the language is not currently supported, the strings will be in English by default.

French Welcome Screen

For additional information, see:

How many languages does the wizard generated app provide support for?
×
Step 2: Sign Up for the SAP Translation Hub

The SAP Translation Hub enables translation of resources to specified languages. SAP Translation Hub is currently only available on Neo trial landscapes and not on SAP Cloud Foundry. You have to create a workaround to access SAP Translation Hub in your Neo trial environment, as follows:

  1. Open SAP Cloud Platform cockpit.

  2. Scroll down to the Environment section and click Access Neo Trial to go to SAP Cloud Platform management cockpit page.

    Access Neo Trial

  3. In the SAP Cloud Platform management cockpit, in Services, click Enable for the SAP Translation Hub.

    Enable SAP Translation Hub

  4. Click on the tile and then choose Go to UI for Translation Workflow. This navigates to Translation Hub service UI page.

    Go To Translation Hub UI

    Notice that there are no existing translation projects in the Translation Projects page. In the next section ( Step 3 ), you will use an SAP Translation Hub wizard integrated into Android Studio to create a translation project and request new language files for Catalan, which is currently not supported by the generated app.

    Translation Hub UI

    Note that the SAP Translation Hub wizard in the SAP Cloud Platform SDK for Android is currently not compatible with the SAP Translation Hub in the SAP Cloud Platform trial account. You can, however, press the + icon to create a new translation project, upload strings_localized.xml, and request a translation, as shown below. One of the benefits of this method is that feedback is returned on the expected quality of the translation.

    1. Click + to create a translation project:
      Create a translation project

    2. Fill in the required information (marked with a red star) in Project Metadata.
      Fill in information of the project

    3. Click Upload File.
      Upload file

    4. Browse to select strings_localized.xml to upload and translate.
      Browse to select strings_localized.xml

    5. When translation has completed successfully, click the Translations tab.
      Switch to translations page

    6. In this page, you can view the feedback of the translation:
      File upload translation

Done
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Step 3: Add a new Language to Your Project

  1. Right-click on a file in the Project Explorer and choose Translate Resources with SAP Translation Hub.

    Translation wizard Context Menu

  2. Fill in the necessary information:

    • Account Name – (optional) To save your settings for reuse, provide a name for this profile and select the Save Account Information check box. This name is used to identify the profile in the Accounts List available from Accounts.

    • URL – The URL of the Translation Hub service. You can obtain this URL from the SAP Translation Hub service cockpit (refer to point 4 in Step 2 above where you are navigated to Translation Hub service UI page).

      Translation Hub URL

    • Username and Password – The credentials of your SAP Cloud Platform account.

    Translation Wizard Page 1

  3. Click Next and choose Create New SAP Translation Hub project.

    Translation Wizard Page 2

  4. Choose the Domain of the application, specify the Source Language as English, and select the target language to add (in this case, Catalan).

    Translation Wizard Page 2

  5. Select the source file to be used for the translation, either strings.xml or strings_localized.xml.

    Translation Wizard Page 2

  6. Press Finish and wait for a few moments. The Event Log should print Success: Project translated successfully.

    There should now be two additional files, strings_localized.xml(ca) and strings.xml(ca).

    Translation Result

  7. In the emulator or device, set the preferred language to be Catalan, then run the app and notice that the app now displays Catalan strings.

    Translation Result in App

Some of the strings in the app are part of the foundation or Fiori library and their strings are not easily accessible to be localized. A couple of examples are the basic authentication screen and the passcode screen.

For further information on this feature, see SAP Translation Hub.

Congratulations! You have learned how to use the SAP Translation Hub to quickly add translations to your application!

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Next Steps

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