FOSI supporting multiple languages
By multiple languages, we mean a FOSI that is used to support bilingual documents and multiple languages independently. This could be two languages in the same document or separate documents in different languages. It is a good idea to finalize the DTD design before developing the FOSI. Some decisions regarding the FOSI will depend on the design of the DTD; for example, the single-element and separate-element approaches already discussed.
We recommend that you use FOSI file entities in your design for multiple language support. For instance, you could have file entities for hyphenation if you are supporting several different hyphenation schemes for different languages. The main FOSI would be used for all languages and the entities only for specific languages. This saves you from having to create a separate FOSI for each language, thereby minimizing maintenance efforts. Changes need only be made once rather than to several individual FOSIs. It is strongly recommended that the document designer attend Arbortext training to fully understand how to design this type of FOSI.
Following are some of the most important points to consider when designing a FOSI for multiple languages:
• The two most common methods for supporting multiple languages with one FOSI are:
◦ Check a language attribute on the top element using a test value and apply the appropriate Save Text or Use Text string
◦ Design a FOSI that contains the coding specific to each language
• If you want to print two languages side-by-side in one document, the DTD must support two languages. A container element can have a content model requiring the presence of an element for each of the two languages.
• Generated punctuation for each language must be defined in the FOSI. This is not an issue if your authors are required to insert the appropriate punctuation.
• Generated text for each language must be defined in the FOSI. Make a table listing each element-in-context and its generated text in each language. This should be done during the requirements phase of FOSI development.
• Varied ordering of generated text is specified in the FOSI. You might need to save text and output it in an order different than that specified in the DTD.
• Fonts are often specific to a certain language. Be sure that the fonts specified in the FOSI are appropriate for the languages supported. You might need to install fonts for specific character sets. Then make sure the proper fonts are specified in e-i-cs for the elements for each language.
• Different font sizes might be required for certain circumstances in each language to ensure that the size and layout of the documents match.