How Do I Apply Translation for Default Reports for Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids in Oracle APEX

 

Introduction
Applying translation for default reports in Oracle APEX, including Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids, is essential for creating multilingual applications that deliver a seamless user experience. Since these report components automatically generate column headings, labels, and messages, translating them ensures that users see content in their preferred language. Understanding how to apply translations to these default elements helps developers build applications that are accessible and user-friendly across different locales.

Applying translation for default reports in Oracle APEX—specifically Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids—ensures that all automatically generated UI text, such as column headers, filter labels, and messages, appear in the user’s preferred language. Since these reports dynamically generate much of their interface, handling translations requires working with APEX’s translation framework and understanding how to customize or override default labels.

Here is a detailed process to apply translations for default reports:

1. Configure Application Languages
   Before translating reports, ensure your application supports multiple languages:

   • Go to Shared Components > Languages and add the languages you want to support.

   • Set the Primary Language and configure how language selection works (e.g., browser, application item).

2. Export the Application Translation File (XLIFF)
   Use the Translate Application feature under Shared Components to export an XLIFF file for the desired target language. This file contains all translatable UI elements, including Interactive Report and Interactive Grid default labels, messages, and system text.

3. Edit the XLIFF File
   Open the exported XLIFF file with an XML or translation editor that supports Unicode. Locate translation units related to Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids. These usually include:

   • Column headers and default labels like “Filter”, “Search”, “Reset”, “Download”

   • Messages such as “No data found”, “Loading”, “Apply”
     Translate these strings carefully, preserving any placeholder syntax.

4. Import the Translated XLIFF File
   After completing the translations, import the updated XLIFF file back into your Oracle APEX application using the Translate Application feature. APEX will store the translations in its repository and apply them dynamically based on the session language.

5. Translate Static Column Names (if needed)
   If you have columns with fixed names (defined in SQL queries or database columns), and you want their labels translated:

   • Use Shared Components > Text Messages to create translation keys for each column label.

   • Reference these keys in your report column headers using substitution strings or programmatic logic.

6. Use JavaScript or Dynamic Actions for Custom Messages
   For any custom text or messages generated by JavaScript in Interactive Grids, consider using dynamic actions or client-side localization techniques with the apex.locale API to translate labels at runtime.

7. Test Language Switching
   Switch the application language to verify that all default report UI elements reflect the proper translations. Pay attention to pagination labels, filtering options, toolbar buttons, and error messages.

8. Handle Regional Formatting Separately
   While translation manages text, remember that date, number, and currency formatting within reports should also reflect locale settings. Use APEX’s globalization features to ensure correct regional formats are applied alongside translations.

By following these steps, Oracle APEX developers can fully translate the default components of Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids. This approach maintains the dynamic and flexible nature of these reports while providing a consistent and localized user interface that enhances the usability of your application worldwide.

Oracle APEX provides built-in support for multilingual applications, including translating default labels and messages for Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids. These components include default system-generated text such as column headers, action menus, and pagination controls. Developers can translate these elements using the Translation Repository and XLIFF files.

Step 1: Understanding Default Reports in Interactive Components

Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids include system-generated elements such as:

• Column headings

• Filter labels

• Action menu items (e.g., "Save Report", "Download", "Reset")

• Button labels (e.g., "Apply", "Cancel")

• Pagination controls (e.g., "Next", "Previous")

These default labels appear based on the application’s primary language. To support multiple languages, these elements need to be translated.

Step 2: Defining the Application’s Translation Mapping

Before translating default report elements, define the primary and target languages.

1. Open your APEX application.

2. Navigate to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

3. Click Create Language Mapping.

4. Select the Primary Language and the Target Language.

5. Click Create to generate the language mapping.

This step ensures that APEX creates a translated version of the application for the selected language.

Step 3: Seeding the Translation Repository

Seeding the application extracts all translatable text, including default Interactive Report and Interactive Grid labels.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Seed Translations.

3. Select the Application ID and the Target Language.

4. Click Seed Translations to populate the translation repository.

Once complete, all translatable text, including default report elements, will be stored in the repository.

Step 4: Exporting the XLIFF File

The XLIFF file contains all extracted text elements, which can be translated.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Export XLIFF File.

3. Choose the Target Language and click Export.

4. Save the XLIFF file locally.

This file will contain text elements like:

<trans-unit id="SAVE_REPORT">

    <source>Save Report</source>

    <target></target>

</trans-unit>

<trans-unit id="DOWNLOAD">

    <source>Download</source>

    <target></target>

</trans-unit>

Step 5: Translating the XLIFF File

Edit the XLIFF file to provide translations for system-generated text.

1. Open the XLIFF file in a text editor or a translation tool.

2. Add translations within the <target> tags: 

<trans-unit id="SAVE_REPORT">

    <source>Save Report</source>

    <target>Guardar Reporte</target>

</trans-unit>

<trans-unit id="DOWNLOAD">

    <source>Download</source>

    <target>Descargar</target>

</trans-unit>

3. Save the file once all translations are complete.

For professional translation, this file can be shared with translators using XLIFF-compatible tools.

Step 6: Importing the Translated XLIFF File

Once the translation is complete, import the file back into APEX.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Apply XLIFF Document.

3. Select the Target Language and upload the translated XLIFF file.

4. Click Apply to update the translations in the application.

Step 7: Publishing the Translated Application

After importing translations, publish the translated version of the application.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Publish Application.

3. Select the Target Language and confirm.

The translated version of the application is now available. Users will see it based on their language settings.

Step 8: Testing the Translated Reports

To verify that the translations appear correctly:

1. Change the Session Language to the Target Language.

2. Navigate to pages containing Interactive Reports or Interactive Grids.

3. Check if all system-generated labels, buttons, and menu items are translated.

4. If any elements are still in the original language, repeat the export, translate, and import process.

Best Practices for Translating Default Reports in APEX

• Regularly seed translations after making UI changes to ensure all new elements are included.

• Use consistent terminology across translations to maintain user experience.

• Enable right-to-left (RTL) support for languages such as Arabic or Hebrew if necessary.

• Test the translated application thoroughly, especially in different browsers and devices.

• Store and maintain XLIFF files for future updates to ensure translations remain accurate.

By following these steps, developers can effectively translate Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids in Oracle APEX, ensuring a seamless experience for users across different languages.

Conclusion
Translating default reports in Oracle APEX empowers you to provide fully localized interfaces for Interactive Reports and Interactive Grids. By managing translation files, using the Translate Application feature, and testing language switching, you ensure that all report elements—including column headers and messages—are accurately presented in the target language. This attention to detail enhances usability and broadens the reach of your applications to a global audience.

How Do I get a Deep Understanding Of the Translation Process in Oracle APEX

 

Introduction
Gaining a deep understanding of the translation process in Oracle APEX is essential for developers aiming to build truly global applications. The translation process involves more than just converting text from one language to another—it encompasses managing language metadata, exporting and importing translation files, handling multibyte characters, and ensuring that dynamic content adapts seamlessly across languages. Mastering this process helps you deliver polished, user-friendly applications that resonate with diverse audiences.

To gain a deep understanding of the translation process in Oracle APEX, it is important to familiarize yourself with how APEX manages multilingual content and the tools it provides for exporting, translating, and importing application text. The translation process in APEX is centered around language metadata, text repositories, and standardized translation files (XLIFF).

Step 1: Understand Application Text Sources

Oracle APEX stores all user interface text, such as page titles, region headings, button labels, messages, and validation errors, within the application metadata. This text is the source content that will be translated. Additionally, developers can define Text Messages—key-value pairs for dynamic or reusable content that can also be localized.

Step 2: Learn About Language Codes and Globalization

Each language in APEX is identified by a language code (e.g., en for English, fr for French, zh-cn for Simplified Chinese). The Primary Language is the base language for your application, while additional languages are defined for translation targets. Understanding how these codes work and how they relate to session language settings is key to managing translations effectively.

Step 3: Use the Translate Application Feature

Within Shared Components, the Translate Application wizard is your primary tool for managing translations. Here you can:

• Export XLIFF Files: Export all translatable text into an XLIFF file, a standardized XML format widely used in localization. This file contains all strings from the application for a specific language, including labels, messages, and prompts.

• Import Translated XLIFF Files: After translation, import the XLIFF file back into APEX. The system updates the application metadata to include the translated text for the target language.

Step 4: Work with XLIFF Files

XLIFF files are the heart of the translation process. They include source strings (in the primary language) and target strings (translated text). To gain expertise:

• Open XLIFF files in an XML editor or a specialized translation tool that supports XLIFF and Unicode.

• Ensure that translations maintain the structure of the file to avoid import errors.

• Handle multibyte characters carefully by saving files in UTF-8 encoding.

• Review placeholders or substitution strings (e.g., #APP_NAME#) and preserve them in translations.

Step 5: Manage Text Messages and Dynamic Content

Besides static UI elements, dynamic text or reusable messages are stored in Shared Components > Text Messages. These messages also participate in the translation process and can be localized by exporting and importing translations. Use the APEX_LANG.MESSAGE API to reference translated messages programmatically.

Step 6: Test Language Switching and Fallback

Set up session language switching to test how your application behaves in different languages. Understand the fallback mechanisms Oracle APEX uses when a translation is missing—usually, it falls back to the primary language. Testing ensures your translations load correctly and that the UI adjusts accordingly.

Step 7: Explore Advanced Translation Management

For complex applications, consider:

• Automating translation exports and imports using APEX APIs or command-line tools.

• Integrating third-party translation services for machine-assisted translations.

• Using Application Items or Substitution Strings to dynamically control language settings.

By mastering these components—application text, language codes, XLIFF files, text messages, and language switching—you gain a comprehensive understanding of how Oracle APEX handles translations. This knowledge allows you to efficiently localize applications, maintain consistency, and deliver a polished experience to users worldwide.

Oracle APEX provides built-in functionality for translating applications into multiple languages. The translation process involves defining the primary and target languages, extracting text strings, translating them, and applying the translations to create a multilingual application. This tutorial explains the full translation process step by step.

Step 1: Defining the Primary and Target Languages

Before translating an application, define the primary and target languages.

1. Open Oracle APEX and navigate to your application.

2. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

3. Click Create to add a new translation mapping.

4. Select the Primary Language (the original language of your application).

5. Select the Target Language (the language to which you want to translate).

6. Click Create Language Mapping to establish the translation mapping.

Each target language creates a translated copy of the application, which users will see based on their language preferences.

Step 2: Seeding the Translation Repository

Seeding is the process of extracting text from the application and storing it in the Translation Repository. This includes all user-visible text, such as button labels, region titles, and report headers.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Select Seed Translations.

3. Choose the application and target language.

4. Click Seed Translations to extract all text elements from the application into the translation repository.

Once seeding is complete, the text is available for export and translation.

Step 3: Exporting the Translation File

The next step is to export the text into an XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) file, which can be edited for translation.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Export XLIFF File.

3. Choose the Target Language and click Export.

4. Save the downloaded XLIFF file to your local computer.

This file contains all the application text elements in XML format, allowing translators to provide the necessary translations.

Step 4: Translating the XLIFF File

The XLIFF file contains key-value pairs, where each text string in the primary language needs a corresponding translation.

1. Open the XLIFF file in a text editor or translation tool.

2. Locate sections like: 

3. <trans-unit id="REPORT_TITLE">

4.     <source>Sales Report</source>

5.     <target>Informe de Ventas</target>

6. </trans-unit>

7. Enter the translated text in the <target> tags for each section.

8. Save the file after all translations are complete.

For professional translation, the XLIFF file can be sent to a translation service or imported into translation management software.

Step 5: Importing the Translated XLIFF File

Once the translations are ready, import the XLIFF file back into APEX.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Apply XLIFF Document.

3. Select the target language and upload the translated XLIFF file.

4. Click Apply to store the translations in the application.

This updates the translation repository with the translated text.

Step 6: Publishing the Translated Application

After applying translations, the final step is to publish the translated version of the application.

1. Go to Shared Components > Globalization > Translate Application.

2. Click Publish Application.

3. Choose the target language and confirm the publishing process.

4. A new translated version of the application is now available.

Users will see the application in their preferred language if their browser or session language matches a translated language version.

Step 7: Testing the Translated Application

After publishing the translation, test the application to ensure all text appears correctly in the target language.

1. Set your session language to the target language.

2. Navigate through the application and check if all labels, buttons, and messages are translated.

3. Look for any untranslated strings and update them in the translation repository.

If necessary, repeat the export, translation, and import process to refine the translation.

Best Practices for Translating Applications in APEX

• Choose AL32UTF8 as the database character set to support all languages.

• Regularly seed translations to ensure new UI elements are captured for translation.

• Maintain a consistent glossary of terms to ensure uniform translations across different pages.

• Use substitution strings (&STRING_NAME.) for reusable text elements to simplify translation.

• Ensure right-to-left (RTL) support if translating into languages such as Arabic or Hebrew.

• Test different locale and formatting settings to verify date, number, and currency formats.

By following these steps, you can efficiently translate and manage a multilingual Oracle APEX application.

Conclusion
A thorough grasp of Oracle APEX’s translation process empowers developers to efficiently manage multilingual content and maintain consistency throughout their applications. By understanding the roles of XLIFF files, language codes, and translation repositories, and by following best practices for exporting, translating, and importing, you can streamline localization efforts and provide an exceptional user experience worldwide.