What is i18n?

Internationalization (or the common abbreviation “i18n”) is a software design methodology that lets users interact with a software application using their native language. Internationalized software handles data so that the rules of the users’ language are respected. Users expect their software to meet the following requirements:

• Allow input, processing, and display of characters in the language they use.

• Allow them to interact with the system using their own language. Prompts and error messages must be displayed in this language.

• Format and process data according to the user’s local rules and environment.

Locale

Support of i18n by Views is based on the POSIX locale model. A locale is a collection of data and/or methods that allow internationalized C library and system-dependent library functions to comply with the users’ language, local customs, and data encoding. The locale determines the characters and fonts used to display the language. It also determines how programs display and sort dates, times, currency, and numbers.