Internationalizing the Nebraska Transit Invoice Portal
Presenter Type
UNO Graduate Student (Masters)
Major/Field of Study
Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis
Other
Management Information Systems
Advisor Information
Approved by advisor - Clay Stevens, Research Software Engineer
Location
MBSC Ballroom Poster # 304 - G (Masters)
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
24-3-2023 10:30 AM
End Date
24-3-2023 11:45 AM
Abstract
The Nebraska Transit Portal automates receipt and reimbursement processes between the state government and transit agencies to support rural public transit in the state of Nebraska. The portal is used by a variety of users across the state. However, the portal currently only supports "English-US" and its data is formatted for the US region. To make the portal accessible to a more diverse set of users, we need to implement internationalization and localization, making it adaptable to different languages, cultures, regions, and locales. This portal is accessible to Transit Managers, Nebraska Department of Transportation Staff, and Nebraska Public Transit employees from diverse backgrounds. Given different character sets, date-time interpretations, and numbering formats, website users should be careful while submitting forms for approval. To ensure everyone's understanding, a training service is provided for all levels of website users. Hence, this effort will enable the portal to cater to diverse user preferences, thereby reducing training time and the likelihood of misinterpretation errors. To implement internationalization and localization, it's crucial to consider unique grammatical structures and cultural variations in displaying currency and dates. Effective collaboration among developers, translators, and cultural experts is necessary for full adaptability. The invoice portal website has multiple forms with various data display methods, including PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL. Navigating and investigating the extensive codebase is time-consuming. Overcoming these challenges is vital for successful internationalization and localization implementation. To solve the translation problem caused by different string display methods, such as hardcoding or fetching from a database, we use translation files that are stored separately and linked to all code-containing files. Our translation files are structured so that each region has two files: one for users and another for the machine to interpret, called portal object and machine object files. These files contain key-value pairs, where the value is the translation. The keys are used in PHP and JavaScript files to display translated data based on the user's preference. The usage of keys differs for PHP and JavaScript files, so we have helper files that use a global object for easy key usage in both languages. This approach to internationalization and localization, while it takes more time for initial setup, will ultimately make implementation in the codebase easier. Furthermore, it will also simplify implementation in future code when creating new features.
Scheduling
10:45 a.m.-Noon
Internationalizing the Nebraska Transit Invoice Portal
MBSC Ballroom Poster # 304 - G (Masters)
The Nebraska Transit Portal automates receipt and reimbursement processes between the state government and transit agencies to support rural public transit in the state of Nebraska. The portal is used by a variety of users across the state. However, the portal currently only supports "English-US" and its data is formatted for the US region. To make the portal accessible to a more diverse set of users, we need to implement internationalization and localization, making it adaptable to different languages, cultures, regions, and locales. This portal is accessible to Transit Managers, Nebraska Department of Transportation Staff, and Nebraska Public Transit employees from diverse backgrounds. Given different character sets, date-time interpretations, and numbering formats, website users should be careful while submitting forms for approval. To ensure everyone's understanding, a training service is provided for all levels of website users. Hence, this effort will enable the portal to cater to diverse user preferences, thereby reducing training time and the likelihood of misinterpretation errors. To implement internationalization and localization, it's crucial to consider unique grammatical structures and cultural variations in displaying currency and dates. Effective collaboration among developers, translators, and cultural experts is necessary for full adaptability. The invoice portal website has multiple forms with various data display methods, including PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL. Navigating and investigating the extensive codebase is time-consuming. Overcoming these challenges is vital for successful internationalization and localization implementation. To solve the translation problem caused by different string display methods, such as hardcoding or fetching from a database, we use translation files that are stored separately and linked to all code-containing files. Our translation files are structured so that each region has two files: one for users and another for the machine to interpret, called portal object and machine object files. These files contain key-value pairs, where the value is the translation. The keys are used in PHP and JavaScript files to display translated data based on the user's preference. The usage of keys differs for PHP and JavaScript files, so we have helper files that use a global object for easy key usage in both languages. This approach to internationalization and localization, while it takes more time for initial setup, will ultimately make implementation in the codebase easier. Furthermore, it will also simplify implementation in future code when creating new features.