Adding a custom Language Module to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2, NAV 2016

Hi All,

Please refer my previous post on how to add a new language Module.
https://nandeshgowda-navblog.blogspot.in/2016/09/adding-languages-to-microsoft-dynamics.html


Microsoft Dynamics NAV comes with some predefined languages with it, but in some cases the language in need may not be available.

In that case we need to build a Custom Platform Translations for the required language

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 includes three large areas for translation:
• Application code and metadata in application objects in the database.
• Platform strings maintained in managed assemblies, and fin.stx and fin.etx files.
• Creating a country/region-specific installer.

To create a Custom Platform Translation will need Partner Translation tool kit.
Please refer  "Creating Custom Platform Translations.PDF" for detailed explanation. 

Below is the Link for NAV 2013 R2 Partner Translation tool kit
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/global/deployment/downloads/product-releases/MSDNAV2013R2DownloadPage

For NAV 2016 Partner Translation tool kit
https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/Global/NAV/downloads/product-releases/msdnav2016download



I will explain the process in brief steps :

• Extract the Partner Translations zip file downloaded
• Install the WiX Toolset. ( Refer Note 2 below)
• Create the Language resource assembly for all files by using Microsoft ResX Translator tool which comes with Partner Translation Tool Kit ."Microsoft.MCSUK.RESXTranslator.exe" ( Refer Note 1 below)
• Open the Visual Studio PartnerTranslations.sln solution in the translation kit. And add all the translated resource file to respective project.
• Apply the Strong Name Signature to each files in the Signing tab of the Project Designer properties of each project
• Change the properties in Globals.wxi & Local.wxi file. ( Refer the PDF).
• In addition to the satellite assemblies, the fin.stx files, and the fin.etx files are also picked up for deployment by the language pack installers. Visual Studio does not translate these files. Instead they must be placed in the folder structure where they will be picked up during the build process.
• Build the solution, 3 files will be generated ( Refer note 3 below)
• Install the language files generated in above step.
• After installation you will see the respective language folder added in Service/Client/Webclient folder directory.
• Please add all the newly created translated files to Client Add-in table 2000000069 and register them with strong name signature key.
• Add the new language in Languages page 9 in NAV Client with 3 character code.
• Restart the NAV service
• Open NAV RTC and the new language will be available for selection.

Note 1 : Resource file and Translation 
{
Platform strings are maintained in Assemblies (.dll) and fin.stx & fin.etx files.
Translated Resource/Strings for a language is maintained in Satellite assemblies. In addition, a satellite assembly for a certain language must be placed in a subdirectory of the target assembly with the name of the language identifier for that language.

For example , for the assembly with common strings that are used by the Microsoft dynamics NAV platform, Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Language.dll, the satellite assembly for the Kannada language can be provided in the following subdirectory:

kn-IN\Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Language.resources.dll

Refer below link to identify the language identifier for any language as this is very crucial step.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd318693(v=vs.85).aspx

The resource files can be found in every project directory. These files contain the platform translations that Microsoft provides for the various countries/regions. In order to create a new translation, for example, for kannada, kn-IN, a translator could take the following manual steps:

1. Select a language to translate from and identify the respective .resx file that is shipped with the translation pack. For example, for English IN this would be the .resx files that contain the term "en-IN" in the file name.


2. Use a translation tool to open the .resx file. The translation result must be saved in a file that is renamed according to the target language, for example, Common.Language.Lang.kn-IN.resx for Kannada.
}


Note 2 :Install the WiX Toolset
{
The Visual Studio solution contains three projects, which will output the language pack installers for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 Server, Windows Client, and Web Client. 

Building these projects requires that you have the WiX Toolset version 3.6 is installed on the computer. Download Link http://wix.codeplex.com/
}


Note 3 : Setup files
{
1) Server.msi – Located in the Server\Bin\Debug folder.
2) RTC.msi – Located in the RTC\Bin\Debug folder.
3) WebClient.msi – Located in the WebClient\Bin\Debug folder.
}
Thanks & Regards,
Nandesh Gowda