Database

Database localization for application content.

Translate the text your application keeps in database tables, through ODBC, reuse earlier translations, check placeholders, and write the translations back into language columns or language rows. Your application keeps the schema and the queries.

Download free trial How it works

Database localization: Enterprise

Input: Tables through an ODBC connection: key columns and text columns
Output: Translations written back into language columns or language rows
Runtime: Your queries read the column or the rows of the user's language
Edition: Enterprise

On this page

Tutorial
How it works
How the application reads translations
Table settings
Do and don't
Troubleshooting
The database sample

Tutorial

Localize database content with Lingobit, step by step.

Four steps from the English column to translated columns or rows.

Translation assistance Translation workflow

Localization QA

Release workflow

Lingobit reads the tables, translates in the project, and writes back.

You tell Lingobit which tables hold user-facing text, which columns are the key, and how translations are stored. It reads the English values into the project, where they are translated and checked. Create Localized Files writes the translations into the language columns, or into the language rows, of the same tables.

Lingobit does

Reads the text columns of the tables you choose, with an optional rows filter.
Reuses earlier translations and the translation memory.
Checks placeholders, empty and too long translations, and more.
Writes the translations with UPDATE, and adds missing language rows with INSERT.

Your application keeps

The schema: the language columns, or the language-ID column.
The queries that read the user's language.
Which database Lingobit connects to: a copy or a staging database.
The final test in the running application.

Reference

Your queries read the user's language.

Lingobit only fills the language columns or rows; the application chooses which one to show. Fall back to English in the query, so a value that is not translated yet still shows text.

Languages in columns

SELECT ID, COALESCE(de, en) AS Title
FROM STRINGS

Languages in rows

SELECT s.ID, COALESCE(t.Text, s.Text) AS Title
FROM STRINGS s
LEFT JOIN STRINGS t ON t.ID = s.ID AND t.Lang = 'de'
WHERE s.Lang = 'en'

Table settings.

Each table in the project has its own settings, under the names Add Database shows.

Table settings and what they do
Setting	What it does	Example
Connection string	How Lingobit reaches the database through ODBC; a registered data source also works	`DSN=Shop`
Unique key columns	Identify each row; translations are matched by them on every scan. A key column can also group rows into folders	`ID`
Rows filter	A SQL WHERE expression that limits the rows Lingobit reads	`Localizable = YES`
Target column name template	Same row another column: the name of each language column, by template or per language	`de`, or `Title_de` set per language
Language-ID column and value template	Same column another row: the column that names the language and the value for each language	`Lang` with a numeric language ID by default, or `de` set per language
Enable SQL monitoring	Lists each SELECT, UPDATE, and INSERT in Output	—

Do and don't.

Do

Connect Lingobit to a copy or a staging database, and move the translations on with your release.
Create the language columns before Create Localized Files: Lingobit writes into them, it does not add them.
Keep key values stable between releases.
Use a rows filter to leave out technical rows.
Set a maximum length for values that must fit a column or a screen.

Don't

Point Lingobit at the production database.
Edit translated values in the database by hand: the next Create overwrites them.
Include IDs, codes, or settings in the columns to localize.
Give translators access to the database: they work in Lingobit.

Troubleshooting.

Symptoms, causes, and what to do
Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
Lingobit cannot connect	The ODBC driver for your database is missing for the platform Lingobit uses, or the connection string is wrong	Install the ODBC driver, test the connection string in the ODBC Data Sources tool, and try again
Create Localized Files reports an error for a table	A language column does not exist, or the key columns do not identify one row	Add the column, check the unique key columns, and turn on SQL monitoring to see the statement
The application still shows English	The query reads the English column or row, or the translations went to another database	Check the query and the connection string of the project
Technical rows appear in the project	The table has rows that are not user-facing text	Add a rows filter, such as `Localizable = YES`
German text is cut off in the application	There is no preview of database text, so long text shows only in the running application	Set a maximum length for the values in Lingobit; Validation reports translations that exceed it

The database sample.

Localizer installs a database sample with its project, so you can try the steps above without your own database.

SampleDB.mdb, an Access database, and the project DB Localization Demo.loc, in German and French.
Six tables show both schemes, a rows filter, and key columns that group rows into folders; SQL monitoring is on, so Output shows every statement.

More about database localization.

What database content to localize

Many applications keep user-facing text in tables instead of resource files: product descriptions, messages, labels, prompts, and help text. Lingobit reads the configured source-language columns or rows of ODBC-compatible databases and writes the translations into language columns or language rows.

Internal IDs, technical fields, audit columns, runtime-only data, stored procedures, and SQL code are not translated.

Prepare the database for localization

Identify the tables with user-facing text, and keep stable keys for localizable records.
Separate user-facing text from technical values, and do not build sentences from many database fragments.
Decide whether translations belong in columns or rows, and use consistent language identifiers.
Document which fields to translate, back up the content before writing translations, and test it in the application before deployment.

Clear boundaries

Lingobit does not design the database schema or replace database administration.
The application decides how localized content is loaded at runtime and what happens when a translation is missing.
Database permissions, backups, migrations, and deployment stay with your team.

Localization QA — Validation, placeholder checks, and maximum length.
Translation workflow — Translators work in Lingobit, not in the database.
Release workflow — Scan for Changes for every release.
Compare editions — Database localization is part of Enterprise.