Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
C H A P T E R 5
Globalization
by Francis Mignault
As of its first release, APEX has supported globalized applications. Since, by definition, a web application
can be accessed from anywhere, globalization is an important feature to consider. APEX and the Oracle
database provide the functionality to help you build applications that can display data based on the
location of the end user.
In this chapter, we will cover two major aspects of globalization: translation and localization.
Translation
allows you to run applications in multiple languages without having to duplicate the logic.
Localization
is used to format and display the content in the application based on where the end user is
located. Even if your applications are internal or intranet applications and do not need to be translated,
the globalization parameters may still be useful for date and number formatting.
The first part of this chapter will be about translations. It will show you how to install the builder in
different languages, how to translate an application, along with the configuration required to do so.
Translation also covers how to implement the mechanism to switch from one language to another while
executing an application. The second part of the chapter will cover localization, including time zones
and date formats.
As you probably know by now, APEX is built with PL/SQL and runs directly in the database, allowing
for the use of all language specifics available in the Oracle Database. As an example, you could change
the time zone or
NLS SORT
using either an alter session or, in certain cases, built-in APEX utilities. Using
the Oracle language capabilities allows you to build applications in 132 supported languages while the
APEX builder is available in ten different languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
Loading Languages
When APEX is first installed, English is the default language. In order to be able to use the builder in
other languages, you must install them. This will also translate Interactive Reports menus and error
messages that will be used by the translated applications.
The scripts required to load any of the nine other languages available for the builder can be found in
the APEX zip file within the
builder
folder, as shown in Figure 5-1. This directory contains one
subdirectory for each of the available languages.
Note
APEX is available in two different downloads, English Only and All Languages.
