If you are working on a program in the ABAP Workbench and are logged onto the system in a language other than that in which the program was created, the following happens:

• In display mode, the system warns you, using a message in the status bar, that the original language and logon language are different. Any text elements that exist in the logon language are displayed in that language, otherwise, they appear in the original language. The language key is displayed in the last column. You can use this method to find text elements that still require translation.

• In change mode, the system asks whether you want to maintain the text elements in the original language or change the original language of the program. If you change the language and not all of the text elements yet exist in that language, the system fills the missing entries with the texts from the old original language.

The following sections explain how to create and maintain different kinds of text elements: