Software Internationalization and Localization in Web Based ERP Manuela Aparício DCTI/ISCTE and Adetti/ISCTE Lisboa - Portugal
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Elvis Hau DCTI/ISCTE Lisboa- Portugal
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their language. This is not for the national pride, but a matter of productivity. Users who understand the product fully will be more skilled and capable to avoid mistakes. So they will prefer applications in their language and adapted to their cultural environment.
ABSTRACT Today the computers are constructed thinking for an international use due to the increasing number of computers in the world. So the user interface should be construted thinking for globally use. And the softwares design may efforts follow more and more the evolution of the computers. Incresingly softwares are viewed as an instrument wich interact with cultures of societies in which it works.
The international market has become very important for software manufacturers. Many U.S. manufacturers derive a large percentage of their revenues and profits from international sales. Competition is strong, and the best companies anticipate their needs and preferences of international users will benefit most, regarding their needs and wants.
The manufactures of the softwares increasingly make efforts to adapt they product to market needs. Like adapting they product appearance to aesthetic and historical value in which they are sold.
With the advent of the Web, it has become vital for many manufacturers and distributors to maintain a world-wide presence. For this presence to be effective, it is not enough to simply be there. It is equally important to make sure the message gets across, and once again, that means: translation.
This paper presents and explains some issues of software translation and localization in web based ERP, in applied to an open source application WebERP. The paper also argues peculiarities of the accounting taxes of the especific region.
The market demands the usage of product in a large variety of language. This is especially true for the software market, where the product itself consists nearly exclusively of localizable information. Translation and customization of software involves a variety of specialists, such as programmers, translators, localization engineers, quality assurance (QA) specialists and project managers. Without specialized tools, localization of complex software is very difficult and time consuming and quite often involves the same task to be uselessly repeated over and over again.
We will present a practice application of the WebERP in the specific country and it´s translation, and we will see the impact in the accounting. We choose Portugal as a country that we will express some issues considerated when we realise a transaction operation based in a cenario.
Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.11 [Software Engineering]: Software Architectures. H.5.3 [Information Systems]: Information Interfaces and Presentation Group and Organization Interfaces - Web-based interaction. J.4. [Social and Behavioural Sciences]: Economics.
Nowadays the internet has become revolutionary the way we work. Like all IT technologies, ERP has profundly influenced and transformed by the Internet. The Internet allows information flow across the firm boundaries and the companies is more and more working together and sharing information in order to solve their business problems and better meeting the needs of custumers. Nowadays the Internet brings the entreprise online, one of the keys conditions for success of an application. So permit their business seamless transaction from web to the entreprise execution system and also to supplier relations in real-time response.
General Terms Design, Human Factors, Documentation
Keywords ERP, Internationalization, Localization, WebERP, I18N, L10N, PoEdit.
1.INTRODUCTION Users in the wideworld expect their softwares to “talk” to them in
In the following section we discuss the issues of international, localization of an ERP based in web and we analise practices and technical theories of accounting, company and its specificities arround the world. Then we present a case-study for a specific application called WebERP.
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2.WHAT IS ERP? An ERP (Entreprise Resource Planning) is a software plataform developed to integrate various areas of departments of an
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documentation, web pages or software is a corporate objective, such strategies are indispensable [2].
organization allowing this working only in one plataform that across all organization. The advantage in have only a single plataform is having the informations coherent and consistent across all the organization.
Localization is the process of preparing locale-specific versions of a produt and consists of the translation of textual material into the language and textual conventions of the target locale and the adaptation of non-textual materials and delivery mechanism to take into account the cultural requirements of that locale. Localization is currently one of the fastest-growing sectors of the international economy. Localization vendors provide critical international business services such as web-page translation and software localization [2].
A typical ERP implementation has the following phases: a fit/gap analysis to define business processes and the need for custumizaton; system design and development; data conversions from legacy system; testing of the new system; training of the super-users and end users; and deployment [22]. Consulting or system integration firms coordinate most ERP implementations, at least in the initial stages. Consultants work with employees of the company that is implementing ERP to define and tweak end-to-end business processes, custumize the system, develop new features if required and test the system for deployment [22].
There exist three methodologies for the internationalization and localization cycle: compilation time, link time and run time localization. The compilation time methodology requires changing the application source code, in order to adapt it to a local market. The link time methodology uses one version of source code, but links different libraries for different locales. The run time methodology uses a single internationalized product, which can use different dynamic libraries, or user-defined local resource files [7, 8, 9, and 10].
Global ERP deployments run, on average, between one and three years. The number of modules used and the global reach of the deployment are factors that influence the time it takes to implement ERP solutions. The global system needs is basicaly based on the market needs, although the translation of language is considered a critical factor during planning. Many companies prefer roll out new system in engish first to avoid the complexities of multilingualism [22].
In software desing it is important we consider peculiarities of a different language. Some of the issues that the internationalization needs to grapple with include:
ERP software is highly configurable for user needs of most of sectors of economy. Currently ERP software exists in three diferent forms: generic, preconfigured, and installed [23]:
The generic one is focalize to target a range of industries and must be configured before it can be used.
The preconfigured one is destinated to a specific industry sector, and the requirements have been compreensive. For example, indutries automotive, retail or small and medium size of companies.
For most users, ERP-software present itself as operational installation the generic or preconfigured package has been individualized according to the particular firm´s requirements on site.
Date and time format
Currency format
Alphabets, numerals and left-to-right script vs. right-to-left
Language character coding sets for textual display
Name and titles
Sorting of name and text
Telephone numbers, addresses and international postal codes
Weights and measures
The better internationalized an application is, the easier it is to localize. This is because a wellinternationalized application will have built-in support to cater to items that are needed for localization. These may include [23]
3.INTERNACIONALIZATION AND LOCALIZATION In computing, Internationalization and Localization are means of adapting computer software for non-native environments, especially other nations, cultures and environments. Due to the lengh of Internationalization and Localization, the terms are abreviated to I18N and L10N. Where 18 stands for the number for letters between the I and the N in Internationalization. And so on for Localization. I18N and L10N together comprise a complete process that makes the adaptation of a product line for a diferent linguistic and cultural locale cost-effective and sucessful. Internationalization is an engineering process whose objective is optimizing the design of products so that they can be more easily adapted for delivery in different languages and in locales with different cultural requirements (localization). Internationalization is a precursor to localization and its purpose is both to lower the effort and cost of localization and translation and to increase the speed of accuracy with which localization can be accomlished. In an age where the simultaneous release of multilingual
Language translation
Hardware support for certain languages, e.g. input devices and methods
Local customs
Local content
Aesthetics
Cultural values and social context.
The colors are also another issue to consider in the internationalization of the application. Same color may have different interpretation in different cultures. For example, in U.S. while red means danger, in China it means happiness. Similary, yellow in U.S. means cowardice but Egypt it means prosperity [16]. There are various issues of translation to be considering when a company implementing a localization or translation of your software. It is important for their strategic business and decision consider following points [23]:
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Availability of the module in the required language – Identifying the language gap.
Business and regulatory requirements in the market – Most countries have financial reports for taxation in their language.
Level of customization – Mostly the customization is done in zero level because the vendor don´t provide local language.
Technical infraetructure limitations – Code page, Unicode, hardware requirements for language packs, data conversion, etc.
4.1.2.Codified Law Code law is based primarily on Roman law and, subsequently, in the Napoleon code. In code law countries, laws are a set of allembacing “thou shalt” requiretments. These countries incorporate the accounting rules into national laws and then tend to be highly perspectives and procedural. It’s prevails in some countries like France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Netherland and Portugal [3].
4.1.3.Commercial Law Sometimes known as business law, it is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law. Commercial law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. This type of law is prevails in country like Japan.
Translation business case – Number of users, market demands, frequency of use, return of investment, etc.
Considering these aspects it is important involve qualified human resources to do translation. These human resources should be chosen, because they need to have technical, terminological and domain expertise to make translations that the can users urderstand. They need to know terms may have different meanings, for example some words in a determine language may have various significant meaning in other language.
Nobes [6] suggested a hierarchical legal system classification. The author considers two types of classes (micro-based and macrouniform) aproximately correspond to the two types of legal system (comom law and code law already discussed.
4.2.Accounting Models
There are some standards of the product or software which are using in I18N and L10N.
4.2.1.Anglo-American-Model
UNICODE and ISO/IEC 10646 The international standards ISO/IEC 10646 and the Unicode Standard (Unicode) describe and define the Universal Character Set (UCS), which is a superset of all other character set standards. It guarantees round-trip compatibility to other character sets. This means simply that no information is lost in the conversion of any text string to UCS and then back to its original encoding [2].
4.2.2.Continental-European-Model
An orientation towards decision need of investors is emphasised in the countries of this model [11]. The security of the creditor is of subordinated importance according to that approach. In foreground stand performance and financial position of the company. The financial statement shall be used in order to give information about the future development of company.
Countries as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Switzerland or Egypt belong to the Continental-European-Model [12]. In contrast to the Anglo-American-Model, countries of this cluster rely on banks as capital providers and have therefore a close relationship with them. These countries rely less o public equity market than countries of the Anglo-American-Model. Henze, the task of financial statements is not in first line to provide information (to capital providers) but to please government imposed requirements (e.g. tax collection and to protect creditors).
The Unicode Standard Version 4.0 and ISO/IEC 10646:2003 make use of the same character set tables and character encoding methods, but the Unicode Standard additionally provides details of character properties, processing algorithms, and definitions that are useful to implementers [2]. The underly assumption behind software internationalization is that “all the culturally and linguistically sensitive software components need to be separated from the core of the application” [14]. Internationalization enables the construction of software architectures wherein all of the locale-sensitive elements are separated from the locale-independent core [15].
4.3.Culture Culture may be thought of as the values and attitudes shared by a society. There are four national cultural dimensions (or societal values) defined by Hofstede [4]: (1) individualism, (2) power distance, (3) uncertainly avoidance and (4) masculinity. Hofstede analysis is based on data from employees of a large U.S. multinational corporating operating in forty countries. Briefly, individualism (versus collectivism) is a preference for a loosely knit social fabric over an interdependent, tightly knit fabric (“I versus We”). Power distance is the extent to which hierarchy and an unequal distribution of power in institutions and organizations are accepted. Uncertainly avoidance is the degree to which society feels unconfortable with ambiguity and an uncertain future. Masculinity (versus femininity) is the extent to which gender roles are diferentiated and performance and visible achievement (traditional masculine values) are emphasized over relationships and caring (traditional feminine values) [3].
4.ACCOUNTING SPECIFICITIES 4.1.Legal System 4.1.1.Commom Law It is a legal system originating from England, used there and in most of the countries that were colonies or British territories. The main characteristic is the valorization of the jurisprudence to the detriment of the statutory laws. Only 30% of the world populations live at the countries that have the common law as legal base. It’s prevails in United Kingdom, in United States of America and in most of the countries of commonwealth (with exceptions like Scotland, South Africa, State of Lousiana, the province of Quebec and Sri Lanka, that adopt mixed system). In commom law countries accounting rules are not incorporate into statute law. Instead they are estabilished by professional organizations working in the private sector, which permits them to be more adative and innovative [3].
Drawing on Hofstede analysis, Gray [5] proposed a framework linking culture and accounting. He suggests four “accounting
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values dimensions” that impact a nation’s financial reporting practise [3]. They are:
were also done adjustments into the legal accounting Portuguese report.
1)
In Portugal accounting is very attached to the fiscal law [17]. Although they say that accounting should only address to the financial information system of the organizations, it happens that Portuguese fiscal law takes accounting as base to calculate various taxes (IVA, IRS, and IRC) among other local taxation.
2)
3) 4)
Professionlism: Is more likely to be accepted in a small power-distance society where there is more concern for equal rights, where people at various power levels feel less threatened and more prepared to trust people. Uniformity: Preference for strong uncertainty avoidance leading to concern for law and order and rigid codes of behaviour. Conservatism: A conservative for measures of profits. Secrecy: Restrict information to avoid conflict and competition.
Portugal has an official and mandatory accounting plan since 1977[18], which are applied to all type of organizaions. This plan is a large list of the financial and economial accounts used within the various organizations. The POC (Plano Oficial de Contas – Official Chart of Accounts) also includes in the various types of reporting documents. Another imporant document that was modified was the invoice, which also has to include various aspects, written in law [19].
4.4.Taxation In many countries, tax legislation effectively determines accounting standards because companies must record revenues and expenses in their accounts to claim them for tax purposes. In other countries, financial and tax accounting are separate: taxable profits are essentially financial accounting profits adjusted for differences with the tax law. Even where financial and tax accounting are separate, tax legislation may occasionally require the application of certain accounting principles [3].
The VAT taxes were also modified, because in Portugal it´s use tree type of VAT taxes (5%, 12%, 21%), they differ according to the type of product or service. Other particular case of the system is the General Ledger. In order to realize transaction operations according the Portuguese rule it must be alterate the default accounts of the General Ledger of the WebERP.
5.CASE STUDY
The reporting accounting document were remade, specially the general ledger. In the WebERP localization process were taken multiple adaptations, the table below sumarize them:
The case that present here is an academic project denominated ERP Open Source. The project is focused essentialy in the translation and parametrisizing the system ERP Open Source, WebERP. In an abbreviated way, WebERP is a financial and accountant system for small and averages companies. The focus in this project is to translate and realize the parametrisize operations of the WebERP according Portuguese principles accounting.
Table 1. Multiple adaptations of localization process Translation
Download the PoEdit application from apropriate website
The application WebERP is an Open Source application AngloSaxon; therefore it’s done in English language and can be downloaded freely. If you prefer runing the application in some other language you can use a translation file of such country also available for download in the internet. Or you can translate the default language of the application your self by using the application called PoEdit. PoEdit is a tool translator and it also can be downloaded freely in the website. The poEdit is an open source application released under MIT Licence. The application is simply to use, following the next steps:
Install and run the application poEdit
Find the .po file called messages and open it in the directory \wamp\www\webERP\locale\en_GB\LC_MESSAGES
In the left side show the original text corespond the default language of the WebERP system. By clicking in a line we’ll note the text selected for translate, and then introduce below the equivalent text
Description
For Portuguese language must download from www.weberp.org (it will redirect to Translation tool PoEdit www.sourceforge.net) following file pt PT 3.06.zip Extract and copy to the directory c:\wamp\www\webERP\ locale\
Accounting Chart of Accounts
The work done was more than a simple customization, including a test company, it´s vendor, clients, products and commom users. In this case we had to localize the software, regarding aspects such as accounting Portuguese plan, which is different from the others European accounting plans, and from the one that come with the ERP, by default. Another aspect was taken into consideration were the various taxes that are applied to an organization. The taxes included were VAT, in Portuguese named IVA which is the tax that aplicable to the companies’ profit. Another issue here was a parafiscal matter that has to be with the social security. There
Counts of general accounts using in Portugal
Taxation
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VAT
Tax accounting for purchases transaction.
Sales
and
IRS
Tax accounting for workers salary. In another words, for accounts retention.
IRC
Tax accounting for organizational income
SAFT
Standard Audit File for Tax Purposes
Let’s see one cenario of accounting compel of a purchase transaction realise in Portugal. There are three moments must to consider: purchase, in into the warehouse and payable. In each moment the sum of total of each counts in debit and credit must has same value.
Accounts reporting Trial Balance (Balancete)
Is the Trial Balance using to demonstrate the sum of all period of each item of general account
Balance Sheet (Balanço)
Relate values of all counts relatively active, passive and capital of the organization of an period
Income Statement (Demonstração de Resultados)
Cenario: A company ALFA realise a puchase of 5 computers to BETA supplier in the value 5000€. The value it is subject for 21% of tax. The solution for this case is: 1)
Gives values from costs and profits of organization
The first step is the moment of puchase and compel the following counts of classes in credits and debits and has the same value of total of both: Debit 31.2 (the purchase count) – 100€ Debit 2432 (the tax count, VAT) – 21€ Credit 22.1 (the supplier count) – 121€
Best Practices In the translation of the language it´s matter consider various files exists in the default WebERP. There are two files default, one is the English of England version and another one is the American version. The English of England version file of the WebERP we use contain 5056 entries to possible translate and the American version contains 4723 entries for translate. We suggest that if you pretend to translate for another language, you better use the England version because it covers all the entries of the WebERP. If you translate all the entries, it is possible you obtain the all application translated. If you use the American version, it is possible that some of the entries will not be translate totaly.
2)
The second step is the moment of when the material in into the warehouse and compel the following counts of classes in credits and debits and has same value of total of both: Debit 32 (the count of merchandise) – 100€ Credit 31.2 (the count of purchase) – 100€
3)
The third step is the moment of payment to supplier and compel the following counts of classes in credits and debits and has same value of total of both: Debit 22.1 (the supplier count) – 121€ Credit 12.1 (the bank count) – 121€
WebERP is an ERP Open Source application that needs to connect to data base server MySQL, web server Apache and PHP programing language to work properly. There is an application that joins the three applications in only one application. The application is available for three plataforms, Linux, Windows and Machintosh. For the Linux plataform is denominated LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP); For Windows plataform is the WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP); For Machintosh plataform is the
For future deployment of the ERP system it must consider new features of accounting of each countries, because in accounting in nowadays sufer arrangement of various orders. For example: in Portugal was introduce recently by the public authority that every organizations have to deliver they annual bill and accounting information in order to simplified information of organization, denominated IES, via electronic. It´s also matter, for future deployment, consider some notions about aspects refers in table 1. Let´s begin with SAFT. SAFT is a normalized file XML, preconized by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), that contains entrusted accounting data relatively to an especific period of data that can export faster and in the easy way independently the program used [20]. This file is demand for all the passive subjects of IRC in active exercise an activity of nature comercial, industrial or agricultural that organise the accounting and facturng recuring to information technology resources. All the organizations are obligated to available the file always if it´s requested by authority inspection services for posteriorly analise all transaction realized.
Another case that is important reference is the charts of accounts. It´s important before realize some of transactions operations like a purchase or a sale realise changes of the counts of the chart os account because it´s different of a country to another. For example, in Portugal the operations of a purchase compel accounting counts, named counts of classes of the balance sheet. And the sales operations compel accounting counts of classes of balance sheet and income statement. In the chart of accounts (composing by balance sheet and income statement) practice in Portugal exists eight algarism that we have to consider to represent all of the counts of classes. Begining in first degree, these eight are even decomposing to subdegrees. These eigth counts os classes, five of them represent counts of the balance sheet (counts with algarism 1 to 5), and three of them represents counts of the income statement (counts with the algarism 6, 7, 8). The algarims 1 represents counts of the avaibility (means disponibilidade); Algarism 2 represents the providers of services or products; Algarism 3 represents the existence or stock materials; Algarism 4 represents the immobilize (vehicles, equipments, office equipments, etc); Algarism 5 represents capital, reservs and transitions result. While the counts of income statement like the algarism 6 represents cost and losses; Algarism 7 represents provits and gain; Algarism 8 represent results.
Because the XML file is complex to analise by an official technical, there are an application concebible to analise the data in easy way. The tool is called ATD. It´s an analiser tool of the SAFT file. After this the accounting declaration data will be convey by eletronical via and totally desmaterialized (IES). Up to now, the organizations were forced to declare them anualy accounting declarations to several public entities through different ways, for example: Deposit of the annual bills and corresponding regist, in paper, near the conservatories of the commercial regist [21].
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[12] Wolk, H.; Tearney, M.; Dodd, J. (2001): A Conceptual and intestinal Approach: Accounting Theory, South-Western College Publishing, 5th edition.
6.CONCLUSION We presented the case study of the WebERP using in Portugal with the local language for the application. The opeartions has considered envieronment like purchases and sales tax using in Portugal that named IVA, means Imposto de Valor Acrescentado (In English VAT) and some other taxations and accoounting specificities.
[13] Epstein J., M. (2001) Interpretation and application of International Accounting Standard, John Wiley and Son, Hoboken, USA. [14] Hall P. and Hudson R. (1999) Software without Frontiers. New York, Wiley.
There are various aspects of accounting that are different and have to be considering for the WebERP application. In order to realize correctly operations like purchasing or sales the diary of the application must be modified according Portugal accounting.
[15] Nakakoji K. (1996), “Beyond Language Translation: Crossing the Cultural Divide.” IEEE Software (November): 42-46.
Localization is the modification of a software product to meet the requirements of a specific market, or locale. This adaptation does not include only translation of the user interface and integration of the appropriate keyboard driver and input methods. It must also take care of local conventions, like date, time, currency and number representation formats, collating sequence, perhaps spelling, hyphenation, grammar and syntax rules, ordering, sorting, searching and matching rules, as well as local peculiarities about the use of color, sound and symbols.
[16] Russo P. (1993), “Designing for International Users”, Interchi93.
In other hand the internationalization refers to the process of conception or modification of a product for a determine countries or region with different cultures and conventions.
[19] DGCI (2008), “Artigo 35º - do código do IVA”, available in http://www.dgci.pt, Acessed in 10/04/2008.
7.REFERENCES
[21] IES (2008), Available in http://www.o-informador-fiscal.pt, Acessed in 28/04/2008.
[17] Albuquerque F. (2008), “A entidade do Sistema Fiscal Português”, Revista TOC nº 94, p.42-45, Lisboa, ISSN 16459237. [18] Assembleia da República Portuguesa (2005), “POC – Dec – Lei nº 35/2005, 17 de Fevereiro”, Diário da República, 1ª Série.
[20] : SAGE (2008), Available in http://www.sage.pt, Acessed in 28/04/2008.
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[22] Ivaylo Ivanov (2005), Available in Translator.com, Acessed in 28/04/2008.
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http://Bulgarian-
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