Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Basics: Multi-language support in DB2 Information Center

Today, I want to point you to something very basic, something that many of us take for granted: Multi-language support in the DB2 Information Center. When you click on the link in the previous sentence, a new window should open and the DB2 Information Center with a page about its features should be displayed. Depending on your browser settings the page should display in German, Spanish, Italian, Traditional Chinese, etc. or English. On that page is a section that reads like this:


Basically, the DB2 Information Center displays the pages in YOUR language. This is nothing special and expected. By changing my browser settings and choosing a different language like shown here
and then reloading the frame inside the DB2 Information Center, I can now see the same section in a different language, e.g., German:

Now you may ask, why is he telling me? I often get asked about how things work in DB2 and where to find information. Just sending a link to a page in the DB2 Information Center and not worrying about the language is something I find very useful when working in an international context. Most prefer to read manuals in their native language. Moreover, using the integrated search works best when you know the search terms. But do I know the right terms when helping in a Spanish or French team? I can switch the browser, utilize the English search, then switch back to another language for the piece of information I found. And thereby learn another language just through reading about DB2 in Italian...