Localization Support in Bold BI Application

Localization is the process of adapting a website or application to different linguistic and cultural contexts. This involves more than just translating text. By default, the Bold BI application is available in English (en-US) localization. This article will guide you through the process of adding a new localization and editing an existing one.

Add a New Localization

Follow these steps to add a new localization:

1. Get the Bold BI pods running in your Kubernetes cluster by running the following command:

   kubectl get pods -n {namespace}
   

   

2. Create a folder called locale inside the app_data in the deployed location by executing any running pod:

   kubectl exec -it {podname} bash -n {namespace}
   cd /application/app_data/
   mkdir locale
   

   

3. Create a folder inside the locale folder and mention the folder name in the locale language code in which you want to generate the localization file. For example, create a folder called fr-FR, which represents the French language code:

   cd locale
   mkdir fr-FR
   

   

4. Create application folders with the following names inside the language code folder for each service:

   cd fr-FR
   mkdir bi bi-dataservice ums
   

   

   Note: By default, Bold BI is deployed in /application for Kubernetes.

How to Add the Default Locale File in the Application Folder

BI Service

1. Execute the bi-web pod and copy the messages.pot file present in the folder /application/bi/web/locale/ and paste the file inside /application/app_data/locale/[language-folder]/bi/ folder:

   kubectl exec -it {bi-web-podname} bash -n {namespace}
   cp /application/bi/web/locale/messages.pot /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/bi/
   

   

UMS Service

1. Execute the id-ums pod and copy the messages.pot file present in the folder /application/idp/ums/locale/ and paste the file inside /application/app_data/locale/[language-folder]/ums/ folder:

   kubectl exec -it {id-ums-podname} bash -n {namespace}
   cp /application/idp/ums/locale/messages.pot /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/ums/
   

   

Designer Services

1. Execute the bi-dataservice pod and copy the default.po file present in the folder /application/bi/dataservice/locale/ and paste the file inside /application/app_data/locale/[language-folder]/bi-dataservice/ folder:

   kubectl exec -it {bi-dataservice-podname} bash -n {namespace}
   cp /application/bi/dataservice/locale/default.po /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/bi-dataservice/
   

   

How to Generate the Localization File for Another Language

You can generate the localization file for the application in two ways:

1. Manual edit
2. Auto-generate using online tools

Manual Edit

1. For BI or UMS, execute the bi-web or id-ums pod and rename the above pasted messages.pot file into messages.po. Here, the localization file has been generated for the BI service:

   cd /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/bi
   mv messages.pot messages.po
   

   

   Execute the bi-dataservice pod and rename the above pasted default.po file to messages.po:

   cd /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/bi-dataservice/
   mv default.po messages.po
   

   

   There are two variables in this file: msgid and msgstr.

   • msgid: It contains the product content in the default language.
   • msgstr: It is empty and represents the translated language.

2. To edit the .po file manually, install nano by running the following commands:

   apt-get update
   apt-get install nano
   

3. Convert the content in the msgid into the equivalent language of the desired localization support. Replace this converted content into the empty string in msgstr. Also, change the locale Language code at the top of the messages.po file using nano:

   cd /application/app_data/locale/fr-FR/bi-dataservice/
   nano messages.po
   

   

4. After editing the messages.po file, press Ctrl+x to save the changes.

   

5. For Yes, click Shift+y and then click Enter. Now your changes will be saved in the messages.po file.

Auto-Generate Using Online Tools

1. Zip the locale file by running the following command:

   apt-get install-zip
   zip -r locale.zip locale
   

   

2. Create a folder named kube-local in your local machine.

3. Open the folder in PowerShell and run the following command to copy the file from the Kubernetes pod to local:

   kubectl cp {bi-web-pod-name}:/application/app_data/locale.zip ./locale.zip
   

   
   

4. Unzip the file and delete the zip file after unzipping.

   

5. Follow the steps in the Bold BI Localization documentation up to step 6.

6. Change the downloaded file name to messages.po and replace the files in the same location in the unzipped folder.

   

7. Follow the steps provided in the “How to Generate the Local JS File for bi-dataservice” section.

8. Zip the folder and copy the zip file to the app_data\locale\[language-folder]\ inside the Kubernetes pod by running the following command in PowerShell in the same directory (which is mentioned in Step 3):

   kubectl cp locale.zip {bi-web-pod-name}:/application/app_data/locale.zip
   

   

9. Unzip the file you have copied inside the pods using the following commands:

   kubectl exec -it bi-web-deployment-8564647c5d-p9dcr bash
   apt-get install unzip
   cd /application/app_data/
   unzip -o locale.zip
   

10. Delete the zip file once the unzip is done using the following command:

    rm -rf locale.zip
    

    

Note:

• After generating the messages.po file for bi-dataservice, you need to run the locale utility. Refer to the following section to generate the locale JS file. You need a Windows environment to run BoldBI.Locale.Utility.exe for generating the locale JS file for bi-dataservice.
• Restart the site to apply the generated language for the application.

How to Generate the Locale JS File for bi-DataService

1. Zip the default locale file for bi-dataservice by running the following command:

   kubectl cp {bi-dataservice-pod-name}:/application/bi/dataservice ./locale.zip
   

2. Unzip the file and delete the zip file after unzipping.

   

3. Download the locale Utility from the provided https://cdn.boldbi.com/downloads/utilities/boldbi_locale_utility.zip. Once the download is completed, extract the .Zip file.

4. Open the appsettings.json file in an editor and modify the boldbi_custom_locale_path as the deployed path of the designer locale files, boldbi_locale_path locale as the deployed path of Bold BI designer locale files.

   For example:

   boldbi_locale_path: D:\\kube-local\\locale – Default locale file path (en-US)
   Boldbi_custom_locale_path: D:\\kube-local\\locale – Locale file path for new language
   

   

5. Then, run the BoldBI.Locale.Utility.exe file.

   

6. Once you have run the utility, a locale.js file will be generated in the newly created localized folder path of the designer locale D:\kube-local\[language-folder].

Note: BoldBI.Locale.Utility.exe must be run in a Windows environment to generate the locale.js file.

How to Deploy Custom Locale Path for Kubernetes

1. You can use a custom locale folder path while deploying the Bold BI application in Kubernetes.

2. Open the deployment.yaml file by referring to boldbi-kubernetes/deployment.yaml.

3. In the deployment.yaml file, provide the custom path {Required Location}\locale\[language-folder]\bi-data-service\locale.js in the value section for the variable AppSettings_locale-path under the container named bi-dataservice-container.

   

4. Once you have run the application in Kubernetes, a locale.js file will be referred to in the provided custom location path, and the generated path structure will be as follows in the deployed location.

   

Note: After generating the localization file using the preceding steps, you can change the localization in the application by following the steps mentioned in the Localization Support in Embedded Bold BI v5.1+ documentation.

Additional References

• Bold BI Localization documentation
• Localization Support in Embedded Bold BI v5.1+