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ArcGIS for INSPIRE localization

After installing the ArcGIS for INSPIRE desktop extension, server extension, and geodatabase templates, you may want to customise your implementation to support additional European member state languages. The software itself is localized to the French, Spanish and German languages. To localize the Esri Geoportal Server component, see Localization on the Geoportal Server GitHub page.

Localize ArcGIS Server Object Extension (SOE) service response messages and other localizable strings

ArcGIS for INSPIRE network services support the multi-lingual feature defined in the technical guidance documents of the View and Download Services. The system administrator can add European member state languages to the INSPIRE Server extension.

The messages are currently available in English, French, Spanish and German. To localize to other languages, it will be necessary to adjust resource bundles. Resource bundles are packages that store messages in a single location and are independent of the compiled code. Resource bundles provide the capability for a user to add a new language to a system without recompiling the software. The resource bundle files are packed into JAR files (*.jar). These JAR files are ZIP files that may contain a folder structure inside. It is suggested users use a proper utility to gain access to the jar files. Most of the messages are bundled in a single jar archive called a4i-ags-messages.jar.

For the ArcGIS for INSPIRE ArcMap Desktop extension, the file can usually be found here: <installation location>\ArcGIS\Desktop<version>\java\lib\ext\a4i-ags-messages.jar

For the ArcGIS for INSPIRE Server extension, the file can be found inside of the ArcGIS for INSPIRE Server Object Extension file, which usually can be found here: <installation location>\arcgisserver\config-store\extns\arcgis-for-inspire.soe. Extract the contents of the arcgis-for-inspire.soe file using a file archiver utility and locate the a4i-ags-messages.jar file in the Install folder.

Steps to follow for localizing the SOE service messages are described below:

  1. Make a backup copy of the a4i-ags-messages.jar file.
  2. Extract the soe_messages_<language code>.properties files from the a4i-ags-messages.jar file using a file archiver utility.
  3. In the extracted a4i-ags-messages folder, add a new resource file that has the language code and variant suffix for the language you want to add.

    For example, if you want to support the Polish language, add a soe_messages_pl.properties file. You can do this by copying the original English file, renaming it with the Polish suffix, and then translating the strings in that file.

  4. Bundle the a4i-ags-messages folder into the JAR format once you have added all of the new language files to the a4i-ags-messages folder.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • For the ArcGIS for INSPIRE ArcMap Desktop extension, copy the new a4i-ags-messages.jar file to <installation location>\ArcGIS\Desktop<version>\java\lib\ext\a4i-ags-messages.jar.
    • For the ArcGIS for INSPIRE Server extension, bundle the arcgis-for-inspire in ZIP file format using the .soe extension and copy the arcgis-for-inspire.soe file to <installation location>\arcgisserver\config-store\extns\arcgis-for-inspire.soe.

Other localizable files and their meanings

FileDescription

cat_featuredownloadservice_<language code>.properties

ArcCatalog configuration page for INSPIRE Feature Download Service

cat_predefineddatasetdownloadservice_<language code>.properties

ArcCatalog configuration page for INSPIRE Predefined Dataset Service

cat_viewservice_<language code>.properties

ArcCatalog configuration page for INSPIRE View Service

gemet_themes_<language code>.properties

Official Gemet Theme translations

layer_resource_<language code>.properties

Translation of INSPIRE Layer names to member state languages

map_inspireaddin_<language code>.properties

ArcMap AddIn "INSPIRE Tools"

soe_messages_<language code>.properties

Response messages of ArcGIS for INSPIRE SOE