XenCraft and ABLE Innovations Globalize Progress Applications

I am very pleased to announce a partnership between XenCraft and ABLE Innovations, which will be very beneficial to the Progress Software community.

Both companies have developed proven technologies and techniques, specifically tailored to the globalization of applications developed in PROGRESS 4GL.

I believe that in ABLE Innovations' language technology and localization services, I have found the perfect complement to XenCraft's internationalization services for Progress Software applications. The combined solutions represented by both companies form an unparalleled commitment to the localization of Progress applications. Contact either company for support in globalizing Progress applications and gain the benefits of working with both companies. We look forward to helping you go global.

Globalization Solutions for Progress Applications

Internationalization

As the former architect of Progress Software internationalization and Unicode-enabling strategies, Tex Texin knows how to leverage the Progress architecture for efficient internationalization. As a specialist in multilingual text processing and user interfaces, Unicode, and web internationalization, and with his deep knowledge of Progress architecture, Tex can design and implement the lowest cost strategy of internationalizing your Progress applications.

Features of WizTom™ for Progress

I have been advising ABLE on how best to customize WizTom, its localization tool, to support easy localization of Progress applications. I know many of you have not designed your applications to be localized, have not planned for text expansion or used string attributes. You can now localize your applications efficiently and cost effectively with WizTom. I know others among you struggle with maintaining homebrew localization tools and processes, or have projects that have outgrown Progress Translation Manager. WizTom can relieve you of unwieldy localization processess and bring you to a modern and supported methodology.

Briefly, here are some of the features and benefits of WizTom for Progress:

• knows the formats of Progress 4GL source and database dump files, and can extract strings directly.
• displays translations in context. This helps translators choose text with the correct meaning and fitting the available space, eliminating costly errors and retranslation.
• separates language from code. Source code is not changed to include translations; translations are maintained separately from the code. This eliminates a significant cause of programming errors. It also reduces conflicts between localization and development schedules and improves time-to-market.
• very fast extraction. Unlike Progress Translation Manager, lengthy overnight compiles of the entire application are not required in support of string extraction.
• supports translation memory and glossaries. Reusing previously-approved translations, saves money and reduces translation errors.
• translators can resize dialogs. Programmers are no longer needed to modify source code to accommodate string expansion due to translation. Translators resize dialogs while they translate, so programmers can focus on other tasks.
• provides support missing in Progress 4GL for right-to-left languages. WizTom will mirror-image screens and change the direction of text to accommodate the writing direction of Arabic and Hebrew languages, without changes to source code.
• supports Unicode and all languages used in Progress markets, including European, Asian and Middle Eastern.
• supports multiple development environments— Java, C++, HTML, XML, and others. Having one localization methodology for all development frameworks is important for open environments like The Progress® OpenEdge™ Business Platform.
• does not require access to sources. WizTom translates components that you don't have the source code for, such as DLL and OCXs.

WizTom for the Web

This version of WizTom provides localization for Progress WebSpeed and other web applications.

About XenCraft

XenCraft provides internationalization consulting and training services, specializing in supporting the Progress Software application market. XenCraft's founder, Tex Texin, was the architect for Progress Software's internationalization capabilities and has extensive experience across Java, C, C++, Progress 4GL, and many other programming languages. Services provided include double-byte enabling, Unicode-enabling, Web-enabling and adding support for numerous character encodings, collations, and presentation formats.