Localization Recap
We have discussed the challenges of international DW/BI system in several chapters of the book. In addition to the international time zones and calendars discussed in the previous two sections, we have also talked about multi-currency reporting in Chapter 6 and multi-language support in Chapter 8: Customer Relationship Management.
All these database-centric techniques fall under the general theme of localization. Localization in the larger sense also includes the translation of user interface text embedded in BI tools. BI tool vendors implement this form of localization with text databases containing all the text prompts and labels needed by the tool, which can then be configured for each local environment. Of course, this can become quite complicated because text translated from English to most European languages results in text strings that are longer than their English equivalents, which may force a redesign of the BI application. Also, Arabic text reads from right...