Preparing a Project to Support Internationalization

The procedures in this section will help you modify existing MicroStrategy projects to support both metadata and data internationalization. These procedures perform several important modifications to your metadata, including making it Unicode-compliant, providing some new translations for system objects, and other project-level preparations.

These procedures must be performed whether you plan to support only metadata internationalization, only data internationalization, or both.

Adding Internationalization Tables to the Metadata Repository

The first step to internationalizing your data and metadata is to add the internationalization tables to your MicroStrategy metadata repository.

This step must be performed before you update your project's metadata definitions.

This step must be completed during your installation or upgrade to the latest version of Developer. For steps to install, see the Installation and Configuration Help. For steps to perform a general MicroStrategy upgrade, see the Upgrade Help.

To Add Internationalization Tables to the Metadata Repository

1. During the upgrade or installation process, select Upgrade existing environment to MicroStrategy Intelligent Enterprise in the Configuration Wizard, and click Next.
2. Continue working through the steps in the Installation and Configuration Help or the Upgrade Help to complete the process.

Updating Your Project's Metadata Definitions

After you add internationalization tables to your metadata repository as described above, you must update your project's metadata with the latest definitions.

This procedure may have been completed during your installation or upgrade to the latest version of Developer. If it was not part of the install or upgrade, it must be performed to support metadata and data internationalization. For steps to install, see the Installation and Configuration Help. For steps to upgrade, see the Upgrade Help.

To Update Metadata Definitions

1. In Developer, double-click the name of the project that you want to internationalize.
2. Log into the project. You are prompted to update your project. Click Yes.

The metadata is updated to the latest version of MicroStrategy.

Updating System Object Translations

This optional procedure lets you "automatically translate" system objects such as folder names, security roles, and user groups, by accessing translations that come with MicroStrategy for those objects.

If you prefer to provide your own translations (for example if you will be customizing folder names), you do not need to perform this procedure.

For projects created before MicroStrategy version 8.x, due to changes in folder structure it is possible that system objects cannot be updated if they have been renamed.

To Update System Object Translations

1. Reload the project before updating system object translations. To do this, in the Folder List on the left, within the appropriate project source, expand Administration, expand System Administration, and select Projects. Right-click the project, point to Administer project, and click Unload. After the project unloads, click Load.
2. Right-click the project you have upgraded, and select Project Configuration.
3. Expand Project Definition, expand Update, then select Translations.
4. Click Update.

Allowing Access to Languages and Language Objects

Internationalization for languages and language objects is controlled primarily through access control lists (ACLs). You can allow permissions to specific users for each object that needs to be translated, or for each language object (an object that represents a language in your system).

Access to Add or Modify a Translation

You can create a specialized user account for a translator that restricts their access in MicroStrategy to only translating objects into a specific language. For steps, see Creating Translator Roles.

By default, administrators and object owners can translate an object or modify an existing translation. Use ACLs to provide other users Write access to an object, if other users need to translate that object. To change ACL permissions, right-click the object and select Properties, then select Security on the left. For details on each ACL and what access it allows, click Help.

You can also provide a user with the Use Repository Translation Wizard privilege. This allows a user to perform the necessary steps to translate or modify translations of strings in all languages, without giving the user the ability to modify an object in any other way. To change a privilege, open the user in the User Editor and select Project Access on the left, then expand the Object Manager set of privileges on the right and select the Use Repository Translation Wizard check box.

Access to Select or Enable Displayed Languages: Language Objects

By default, MicroStrategy users are provided with appropriate privileges to Browse and Use language objects, such that analysts can select a language as their display preference if that language has been enabled for a project. Project administrators can enable any languages available in the system.

You can modify these default privileges for a specific user role or a specific language object.

To Modify Access to a Language Object

1. In the Folder List on the left, within the appropriate project source, expand Administration.
2. Expand Configuration Managers, then select Languages.
3. All language objects are listed on the right. To change ACL permissions for a language object, right-click the object and select Properties.
4. Select Security on the left.