International Application Development (Windows CE 5.0)
Making software that accommodates differences in language, culture, and hardware is called internationalization. The goal of internationalization is to present users with a consistent look, feel, and functionality across different language editions of a product. Users expect localized software to support the same basic functionality that the original-language edition of the product does, and they expect it to have the same level of quality. They also expect different language editions to interact smoothly with one another.
Microsoft® Windows® CE provides support for numerous character codes, as well as linguistic and cultural conventions through Unicode and national language support (NLS). Unicode is a universal character encoding system, while NLS carries information on date, time, calendar, number, and currency formats. NLS also provides sorting and character-type information for all the locales supported by the operating system (OS).
In addition to character and locale codes, The Internationational support in Windows CE includes a handwriting recognition engine that is extremely useful when working with East Asian languages and the Multilingual User Interface (MUI), functionality that makes it possible for users to switch the language and locale of the user interface (UI).
Windows CE also supports a range of language-specific technologies. These technologies include several East Asian language Input Methods (IM) and Input Method Editors (IME) that are uniquely designed for specific languages. East Asian languages require IMEs in order to input characters from a keyboard or stylus tablet. Windows CE also provides support for Complex Scripts, as well as the locales that use Complex Scripts. Windows CE includes the Unicode Script Processor to handle and process Complex Scripts.
In this Section
- Programming and Designing a Global Application
Describes the Unicode standard, and shows how to work with Unicode surrogates. Describes how to specify locales with NLS. - Complex Scripts Overview
Provides a general overview of Complex Scripts and the supporting technologies. - Window Layout and Mirroring
Provides an overview of the mirroring concepts and describes how to mirror specific user interface elements.
Related Sections
- Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Application Development
Provides an overview of the MUI architecture that is implmented in Windows CE. Provides instructions on how to work with fonts in a multilingual user interface-environment and shows how to use MUI with applications. - Programming with Unicode and NLS
Provides guidelines on internationalizing software and shows how to create an international user interface. - Working with the Input Method Editor
Provides an overview of the Input Method System and the IME user interface. Shows how to work with the Input Method Editor using the Input Method Manager (IMM) programming elements. - Fonts
Provides a comprehensive overview of the fonts that are supported in Windows CE and shows how to customize fonts for an application. - Software-based Input Panel
Provides a comprehensive overview of the Software-Based Input Panel (SIP) architecture in Windows CE. Explains how to program input methods and a Software-based Input Panel.
Send Feedback on this topic to the authors