Multi-language

Since the system is to be deployed across African Parliaments, it supports multiple languages to allow users to access the system in their natural language. The system also makes it possible to add additional languages easily using localization tools. More specifically, the system:

• supports English, French, Portuguese and other languages using a UTF-8 character set;

• supports the adoption of indigenous languages by allowing the various parts of the system like the User Interface and the Thesaurus to support multiple languages beyond the required set, without re-engineering the system. Particular care has been used in making sure that screen "text" is stored separately e.g. in resource strings, allowing easy identification of text to be translated for addition of different languages to the user interface.

• provides tools to help in the translation process, and maintain coherence between the translated language and the master language sections to ensure a quick and error free translation that does not require re-formatting.