Using the S2X Document Editor
The S2X Editor has two purposes. Firstly, to have your strings translated in the standard system, they need to be stored in the appropriate format. At SAP, this is the XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) format (extension: .xlf), which the editor generates automatically. Secondly, the editor allows you to change the attributes of your strings, which improves the quality of the foreign-language version of your application.
Prerequisites
You have created a Java application and externalized its strings in a separate
properties file.
More information: Externalizing
Strings.
Procedure
1. In the Package Explorer, select the .properties file that the system has generated.
2. From the context menu, choose Open With… → S2X Document Editor.
The system automatically generates an .xlf file (from the.properties file) and opens it in the S2X Document Editor. (These two files look identical in the editor. However, you cannot edit the attributes of the .properties file. If you try to do so, an exception occurs.)
3. On the Header tab, the Tool and Data Type fields are filled by the editor and are read-only. Enter the source language, your user name, and (if you wish) a default maximum length for all texts. (It is often better, however, to specify an appropriate length for each text individually.)
4. On the Resource Text tab, check the values assigned to each string. In particular, note the following:
○ Resource Name: The key in the .properties file is known as the resource name in the S2X Editor. It must be made up entirely of alphanumeric characters. No other character is permitted, except the underscore character (“_”)
○ Text – Abbreviations: Try to avoid using abbreviations wherever possible.
○ Text – Verbs: Where possible, use the active voice – for example, “Enter a company code”, rather than “The company code has not been entered”. This clarifies the meaning of the text for translators, who may not be able to test the application for themselves.
5. Save your changes.