Re: [Gnumed-devel] SOAP display

[Karsten Hilbert]

On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 06:15:46PM -0800, Jim Busser wrote:

>>> Internationalization will always be a problem if we do not have
>>> CUSTOMIZATION abilities.
>> Note, however, that internationalization and customization
>> are different beasts: i18n needs to be concerned mainly with
>> configurability of *functionality* while customization is
>> mainly concerned with configurability of *appearance*.
>
> maybe i18n and "customization" could each mean something more or  
> different than "just" functionality or "just" appearance?

Yes, it is not that clear cut.

> I thought that i18n, by determining the strings displayed in i18n- 
> supported applications,

That is the *easiest* part of i18n. Actually translation is
not really about i18n at all, it is localization l10n - what
a user wants locally. Building into the code the *potential*
to be translated and switch languages - that is i18n. That
is a functionality change. The actual translation is just a
customization - or l10n.

> would configure the language and/or idiom (human 
> context) in which the user interacts... I suppose that this is more than 
> just appearance because the user might, through i18n, be "instructed" to 
> use the program in a manner *different* from the manner in which the 
> application "natively" ships.

That is true but a corner case. IMHO it would smell of bad
core design.

> Is there any other "functionality" that i18n would alter?

Sure, a Germany-only application could hardcode access to a
particular drug database while a properly i18ned application
would need to offer configuration and modularization of
access to several different ones. Examples like that abound. 

> Likewise, would "customization" potentially alter not just appearance, 
> but function as well?
Sort of, yes, when a user choses to not load any progress
notes editor they limit the (accessible) functionality.

It's only a fuzzy distinction and not really that important.

Karsten
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