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Platform Localization

  • Article

When you localize your platform, you adapt the Windows CE operating system (OS) for a specific international market, or locale. Once you have localized the platform, you build a localized OS image and test the OS to verify that it still works properly.

Platform Builder enables you to create a locale-specific OS image using the following elements of the platform:

  • Binary resource (.res) files
  • Configuration files
  • Project and platform files
  • Code pages
  • User interface (UI) elements
  • National language support (NLS) files
  • Currency symbols
  • Locale

When you begin to build a localized OS image, first verify that the localized .res files and configuration files are in the appropriate directories. In addition, because strings need to be translated from ANSI to Unicode, verify that the default code page for the selected locale is installed on the computer that you use to build the OS image. After you have verified these files and have localized the other aspects of the platform that are necessary for your OS, you are ready to build a localized OS image. You can also set environment variables from the command line to toggle localization on or off during the build process.

During the build process, you can choose to use strict localization. Strict localization requires all .res files to be available during the Makeimg.exe phase, and causes an error if the localization process fails to localize a module. Further, if you do not localize a module, the build process fails to generate an OS image.

If you do not select strict localization, but have selected a locale and language for building a localized OS image, Platform Builder constructs an image using non-strict localization. Non-strict localization does not require all of the .res files to be available during the Makeimg.exe phase of generating an OS image. Any missing .res files cause Platform Builder to retain the U.S. resources for the corresponding modules. Platform Builder also generates a corresponding warning for each missing .res file. You can use non-strict localization during the debug process to retest modules and features without having to have all of the .res files localized.

Note   Windows CE does not currently provide text handling for complex scripts. Complex Script language groups are Arabic, Hebrew, Indic, Thai, and Vietnamese.

See Also

Platform Creation with the New Platform Wizard | Creating a Platform | Localizing a Configuration File | Adding Project-Specific or Platform-Specific Files During the Makeimg.exe Phase | Creating Project Files in the Correct Directory | Creating Platform Files in the Correct Directory

 Last updated on Friday, October 08, 2004

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