Multilingual support add-on increases the benefits of information models

The information model developed by Stefan Berner sets out the terms and definitions to be used for a company. Any organisation can use this glossary to create their own terminology which helps prevent misunderstandings and thereby improves the quality of communication both internally and externally. However, this glossary is worth nothing to companies operating internationally if it is only available in one language. A language in which all participants are proficient should be used to create an information model. ‘Company English’ is not suitable in most cases, since as the lowest common denominator in terms of understanding language, it is not adequate for an intense debate on correct terms and phrases.

In order for an information model to impact on communication in a multinational company, it has to be translated into a company’s principal languages.

Our solution

At foryouandyourcustomers, we have added to the Oracle Data Modeler so that it can manage several languages.

Switching between languages takes place directly in the modeler. Any number of languages can be defined (however, this will then involve work on the equivalent number of translations!). Texts in the various languages are processed either directly in the modeler in the elements themselves, or in Excel files which are created from the modeler and imported again after processing. This makes it possible for a person who is not part of the modelling team to deal with the translation. Texts can also be translated automatically using an online translation service. When creating new elements, the original language text is copied with the label *DE* into the fields for the other languages. This enables recognition of the relevant text to be translated.

A change of name or text in a language means that next time the language changes, all translations of the changed name or text will be marked with an *. This indicates text that has already been translated, which may need to be adapted.

The add-on for the free Oracle Data Modeler tool will be offered in the context of our consultancy work and set up in the respective environment. A one-off automatic text translation service using Deepl can also be provided by foryouandyourcustomers.

Interested? Questions? Comments?

Please write an email to Stefan Berner: stb@foryouandyourcustomers.com