Configure languages for document creation and localization

The languages.xml file defines the list of languages managed in IXIASOFT CCMS for both authoring and localization.

In the languages.xml file, you define the list of languages supported by IXIASOFT CCMS for authoring and localization. You can specify which languages are used in the Authoring cycle and which are intended for the Localization cycle. Of the languages used in the Authoring cycle, you can also define one as the default language.

The <languages> element is the root element into which all the languages are defined. Each language is specified individually using a <language> element nested in the root element. For each <language> element, you specify the following attributes:

groups: specifies the language group for the language, as defined in the ISO-639-5 standard. This attribute is used to group languages; for example, it is used in the Language Selection dialog box of the Project Management view.
name: specifies the name of the language as it will appear in views and dialog boxes.
authoring: a value of "true" specifies that the language is part of the Authoring cycle and a value of "false" specifies that the language is part of the Localization cycle. Languages with the authoring attribute set to "true" are displayed in the list of options in the dialog boxes used to create objects.

Within the <language> element, you add a <code> element for each standard used for the language code and define value for the code; for example "en-us" for American English. The language code value is the value given to the xsl:lang attribute in objects that are authored in or translated to the language. On each <code> element, you also define a type attribute to specify the standard used (ISO-639-1 or ISO-639-2) for the language code.

For example:

<languages>
    <language groups="Indo-European" name="English" authoring="true">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">en-us</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">en-us</code>
    </language>
</languages>

Once you have defined the authoring languages (those with the authoring attribute set to "true"), you can define which one is the default authoring language. The specified language will be automatically selected in the dialog boxes used to create objects such as the Create Topic dialog box. The default authoring language is set as an attribute on the root element. On the <languages> element, you add a default attribute with the value being the name of one of the authoring languages.

If you do not set the default attribute on the root element, the IXIASOFT CCMS automatically uses the first language in the list whose name contains the word "English" as the default authoring language.

If you do not set the authoring attribute on the <language> element for each language, the CCMS handles them as if their authoring attributes were set to "true".

Once the languages are defined and the IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop instances are synchronized with the Content Store, all the languages (regardless of how the authoring attribute is set) will appear in the Languages pane in the Search view.

For example, the following languages.xml file configures English, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese as available. The default attribute on the root element defines that English is the default language. The authoring attribute defines that only English and French are authoring languages.

<languages default="English">
	<language groups="Indo-European" name="English" authoring="true">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">en-us</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">en-us</code>
	</language>
	<language groups="Indo-European" name="French" authoring="true">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">fr-fr</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">fr-fr</code>
	</language>
	<language groups="Indo-European" name="German" authoring="false">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">de-de</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">de-de</code>
	</language>
	<language groups="Altaic" name="Japanese" authoring="false">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">ja-jp</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">ja-jp</code>
	</language>
	<language groups="Sino-Tibetan" name="Chinese (Simplified)" authoring="false">
		<code type="ISO-639-1">zh-cn</code>
		<code type="ISO-639-2/B">zh-cn</code>
	</language>
</languages>

Using this example, the dialog boxes used to create objects would only offer English and French as options rather than the entire list of configured languages and English would be selected by default.

Figure: Example of how the `authoring="true"` attribute affects the Create Topic dialog box

Note: You should make these configuration changes in the Test environment and test them before copying them to the Production environment. In a dedicated SaaS deployment, after testing the changes, ask IXIASOFT Customer Support to copy the changes to the Production environment.

In the TEXTML Administration perspective, connect to your server.
Locate the languages.xml file in the repository's /system/conf collection.
Check out the file and open it for editing.
To add a language to the list, create a <language> element and set up its attributes and elements, as follows:
```
<language groups="[language group]" name="[display name]" authoring="[true or false]">
   <code type="[standard]">[language code]</code>   
</language>
```
Note: Do not use the underscore (_) character in the language code.
1. Specify the attribute values for the language element:
  - For the groups attribute, replace [language group] with the language group name for the language, as defined in the ISO-639-5 standard.
  - For the name attribute, replace [display name] with the name of the language as you want it to appear in the interface.
  - For the authoring attribute, replace [true or false] with true if you intend to author the content in that language or false if you only intend to use the language for localization. Languages configured with the authoring attribute set to false will not appear in the list of options in the dialog boxes used to create objects.
  Important: If the authoring attribute is not set, it defaults to the value of true.
2. Specify the values for the code element and the type attribute:
  - For the type attribute, replace [standard] with the standard being used (ISO-639-1 or ISO-639-2).
  - Replace [language code] with the language code according to the chosen standard.
For example:
```
<language groups="Indo-European" name="French" authoring="false">
   <code type="ISO-639-1">fr-fr</code>
   <code type="ISO-639-2/B">fr-fr</code>
</language>
```

In the root element languages set the default attribute to define which language is selected by default in the dialog boxes used to create objects.

Important: When you set the default attribute, ensure the chosen language has its authoring attribute set to true.

For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE languages PUBLIC "-//ixiasoft.com//cms//config//languages" "languages.dtd">
      <!-- defines the available language codes for a language name/group --> 
      <languages default="English">
              <language groups="Indo-European" name="English" authoring="true">
                       <code type="ISO-639-1">en-us</code>
                        <code type="ISO-639-2/B">en-us</code>
               </language>                
                . . .

Comment out or delete languages that you do not need (if applicable).

Important: Before you delete a <language> element, make sure that none of the files in the Content Store use that language. Tip: Comment out the unnecessary languages and perform some test to make sure that the CCMS still works as expected before you delete them.
Save, close, and check in the file.
Inform users of the changes.
The changes will be applied automatically once users close and then reopen their IXIASOFT CCMS Desktop. Users can also apply the changes without restarting their CCMS Desktop by clicking IXIASOFT CCMS > Synchronize Configuration.