WD: Translating WordBasic Macros to Other Languages

ID: Q86365

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word for Windows versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, and 2.0b
Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 6.0, 6.0.1

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Word for Windows macro language is stored in a "tokenized" format. This means that Word saves a code that represents each keyword, such as ".Name" or "EditFind." When you load a macro into a macro window, Word decodes these tokens into words for the native language of the Word for Windows program. As a result, macro translation is much simpler across languages if the macro is stored as part of a template rather than in a text file format.

MORE INFORMATION

Literal strings are not translated between languages. This includes the menu text for user macros and macro descriptions that appear on the status bar. Additionally, none of the messages or macro comments are translated. Accelerators in dialog boxes differ between different localized versions of Word for Windows; therefore, the WordBasic SendKeys command must be translated. Field keywords are translated to different languages, but text literals in fields such as QUOTE are not translated. The Word for Windows automatic style names are translated, but user-created style names are not translated.

Bookmarks (including special bookmarks), glossary names, and field names within macros are not translated between languages. The name of the Spike glossary is translated, but other glossary names are not translated. Keywords in the Win.ini file are not translated.

Built-in macro names are translated to the native language of Word for Windows. As a result, the following ToolsMacro command would not work in another language:

   ToolsMacro "ShowHeading1", .Run

If you specify FormatPageSetup .LeftMargin = "1" in the United States version of Word, it will indicate 1 inch in the United States version; however, in the German version, the same command will indicate 1 centimeter. A possible workaround for this situation is to use numeric variables that are interpreted as points (for example, FormatPageSetup .LeftMargin = "72 pt").

NOTE: The default measurement unit and decimal separator in most languages is different from the defaults in the English version of Word for Windows. For example, FormatPageSetup .LeftMargin = "72.5 pt" causes an error message in countries that use a comma as the decimal separator.

Additional query words: winword2 winword translate international localized convert foreign

Keywords          : kbmacro wordnt winword word6 winword2 word7 word95 kbhowto 
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: November 26, 1997