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Language resources are files containing human-readable text strings that are displayed in the User Interface. In dBASE Plus, these files are identified, according to language, by a two-letter code at the end of the file name. The online documentation (such as the Help files) are identified in the same way. The codes are:

en = English

de = German

es = Spanish

it = Italian

ja = Japanese

While most users install dBASE Plus for a single language, it is possible to select multiple languages during installation. You may also re-run the Installer at any time to install additional languages.

As with other dBASE Plus settings you may indicate a specific preference. If you do not indicate a specific preference, dBASE Plus will follow the settings of the operating system (see Windows | Control Panel | Regional Settings). This is done on an as-available basis, dropping back to English when a target language resource cannot be found. For example, if the Windows Regional Setting is set to German and the "de" (German language) version of a resource is available, that language resource will be used. A similar protocol is used for loading the Online Help.

You can indicate a specific dBASE Plus language preference by making a selection from the Desktop Properties dialog. From the Desktop Properties | Country tab, you can access the User Interface Language picker. When you make a selection from the Country tab, your explicit preference will be written in the PLUS.ini file. It will not take effect, however, until you re-start dBASE Plus. Once restarted, dBASE Plus will use the new language preference when possible.

At startup, locate the desired core-product language resource file. This file is identified as dBASE_xx.dll - where the "xx" is the two-letter language code. dBASE Plus then attempts to load a language resource file by checking the following locations:

  1. The PLUS.ini file

  2. The operating system's Regional Setting.

If a language resource file was not found at either location, dBASE Plus will default to English and attempt to load any language resource file it finds. The language resource file that is successfully loaded determines the value of the _app. object’s language property. The value of the _app.language property is the two-letter language code mentioned above.

The _app.language setting will be used for the first attempt at locating relevant files when other language-specific resources and documentation files are needed. For example, when _app.language is set to "it", Italian, and a user invokes the Online Help system, dBASE Plus will attempt to locate and load a file called "Plus_it.hlp". If this cannot be found, the system will attempt to load the file’s English version.