Portfolio > Writing and Editing > Software Help Documentation > Localizing LabVIEW
Project Overview
The above image is the main page of the LabVIEW NXG online help manual.
At National Instruments, I write for the Applications and Embedded Software team. One of our main products is the company's flagship software, LabVIEW. Though the LabVIEW environment is localized into several languages, LabVIEW users often build applications for their own clients that contain custom text and user interface (UI) elements that do not localize automatically. The developers at NI built a feature that allows the LabVIEW user to export all the text strings in their application to an XML file that can be parsed by translation software. The goal of this project was to support the user through their journey of localizing their LabVIEW application by adding high-quality documentation about this process to the LabVIEW online help manual.
Tools
XML
XMetal
DITA Content Management System
Rally
Skills
Technical Writing/Editing
API Documentation
DITA
Interviewing Content Experts
Following a House Style Guide
The Process
Planning & Research
When I began this project, I was fairly new to the LabVIEW software. I began my initial research by reading the customer forums on NI.com to see what struggles or issues users had when localizing their LabVIEW applications. I played around with the feature myself in software to see what issues, pain points, and questions came up for me. When I had all my questions in order and some initial ideas of what documentation I might create, I scheduled a meeting with the content expert (CE) in charge of implementing the feature to get the full details on the user's workflow and the best way to approach creating the content. I used the information I got from the CE to create a documentation plan which I had reviewed by other writers.
Content Creation Phase
Once my documentation plan was approved, I was able to start drafting my content. I met with the CE several times over the course of the project to discuss my drafts and work towards technically accurate, minimalist, and refreshingly easy-to-use documentation. I then pushed my documentation through the writer review process on my team, implemented the writer feedback, and completed the process for publishing the content on NI.com.
The Product
Step-by-Step
I created the following task topic to walk the user through the process of exporting the strings in their application.
The image above is a portion of the task topic I created on how to localize a LabVIEW program.
Special Strings
The first topic I created covers the process for most strings the user might want to localize. However, the user has to go through a different process for strings that display at the time that when the application actually runs, such as pop-up dialog boxes. To make sure the user could easily localize all the strings in their application, I created a second topic that walks the user through how to add keys for the special strings to the XML file that contains the strings in their application. After the user completes the steps in these two topics, they can ensure that all the strings in their application, including the strings that display at run time, will appear in the desired language.
The above image displays the task topic I created to help the user translate strings that display at run time.