| "There is only one problem with common sense; it's not | | | | most operating systems today. However, developers |
| very common." | | | | should be cognizant of this requirement, particularly as |
| - Bryce's Law | | | | they are designing Inputs, Outputs, and Files. Check |
| GENERAL DISCUSSION | | | | with your hardware or operating system vendors for |
| In this day and age of "globalization" more and more | | | | specifics. Better yet, check it out on the Internet. |
| Information Systems are crossing geographical | | | | INPUT/OUTPUT DESIGN |
| boundaries. Because of this, serious consideration | | | | During design of the Inputs and Outputs, consideration |
| should be given to making systems universally | | | | should be given to the expression of certain types of |
| applicable to any country. Some mightconsider this an | | | | data elements; for example: |
| impossible task, but it is actually easier than youmight | | | | - DATES - How dates are to be expressed may vary |
| think. It just requires a little common sense and some | | | | from country to country; for example: Nov 13, 2004 - |
| planning. | | | | 13 Nov, 2004 - 2004-11-13. How a date is presented to |
| The biggest problem in making universal systems is | | | | an end-user is different than how it is physically stored. |
| that programmers tend to bury too many of the details | | | | - TIME - This is similar to dates; some people like to |
| of a system down in the program source code, which | | | | see AM/PM, others like military time, e.g., 14:30 (2:30pm) |
| is not a good place to tinker around in. Instead, certain | | | | NOTE: Regardless of how Dates and Times are to be |
| elements of the system should be placed in separate | | | | physically presented to the user, standards should exist |
| files thereby making it convenient to translate. | | | | to express how dates are to be physically stored, |
| Consideration should be given to creating separate | | | | such as "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" (Year/Month/Day |
| files for: | | | | Hour/Minute/Second). Failure to do so caused the |
| PRINT MAPS - An output, such as a report or printout, | | | | horrendous Year 2000 (Y2K) problem a few years |
| can be decomposed into various sections (records). | | | | ago. |
| When a program is executed, one of the parameters | | | | - TIME ZONE - Representing local time. |
| should be the desired language (e.g., English, Spanish, | | | | - CURRENCY - What form of monetary values |
| German, French, Japanese, etc.). Based on this | | | | should be expressed; Dollars, Yen, Marks, Pounds, Euro |
| parameter, pertinent print maps are called from a "Print | | | | Dollars? |
| Map File" to assemble the requested output. | | | | - MEASUREMENTS - Accommodate different units |
| SCREEN PANELS - This is similar to the "Print Map | | | | of measures for weights (pounds vs. grams), |
| File" whereby the sections or a screen can be | | | | distances (miles vs. meters), and temperatures |
| decomposed into its various panels (again using | | | | (fahrenheit vs. centigrade). |
| records). As a program is executed, pertinent panels | | | | - TEXT - The Western world prefers viewing text |
| are called from a "Panel File" to build the screen. | | | | horizontally from left-to-right, but as we go into the |
| MESSAGES - Messages are too often buried in | | | | Eastern countries, they like to see text vertically, |
| source code. Instead, they should be placed in a | | | | sometimes right-to-left. |
| separate file for printing or display in a screen. | | | | Many operating systems today provide the means to |
| HELP TEXT - Help text should also be maintained | | | | capture such settings. However, it might be necessary |
| separately for easy retrieval. | | | | to establish a separate "Personal Settings File" for a |
| Separating Maps, Panels, Messages, and Help text | | | | particular Information System. |
| from program source code, makes it easy to translate | | | | Attention should also be given to DEFAULT settings, |
| to foreign languages. Further, it encourages developers | | | | particularly at time of input. Further, where applicable, |
| to share and re-use resources, thereby contributing to | | | | consider auto "UPSHIFTING" or "downshifting" text as |
| integrated systems. | | | | needed. For example, most Internet addresses (such |
| A serious consideration in the Far-East is the Double | | | | as a URL or e-mail address)should be downshifted. |
| Byte Character Set or DBCS which is used to | | | | The techniques mentioned above are simple and |
| accommodate Japanese and Chinese Character | | | | effective to implement. It is important that a translation |
| alphabets with voluminous characters. To construct | | | | strategy be considered as part of the system design. |
| one such character, two bytes must be stored in a | | | | During design, your mantra should be "Know your |
| single byte (hence the name "DBCS"). Fortunately, the | | | | audience; make it usable; think Global. |
| technology has evolved and DBCS is implemented in | | | | |