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      1 page.title=Localization
      2 parent.title=Application Resources
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      5 
      6 <div id="qv-wrapper">
      7     <div id="qv">
      8 
      9 <h2>Localization quickview</h2>
     10 
     11 <ul>
     12   <li>Android lets you create different resource sets for different locales.</li>
     13   <li>When your application runs, Android will load the resource set
     14 that match the device's locale.</li>
     15   <li>If locale-specific resources are not available, Android falls back to
     16 defaults.</li>
     17   <li>The emulator has features for testing localized apps. </li>
     18 </ul>
     19 
     20 <h2>In this document</h2>
     21 <ol>
     22   <li><a href="#resource-switching">Overview: Resource-Switching in Android</a>
     23 
     24 </li>
     25 <ol><li><a href="#defaults-r-important">Why Default Resources Are Important</a></li></ol>
     26 <li><a href="#using-framework">Using Resources for Localization</a>
     27   <ol>
     28     <li><a href="#creating-defaults">How to Create Default Resources</a></li>
     29     <li><a href="#creating-alternatives">How to Create Alternative Resources</a></li>
     30     <li><a href="#resource-precedence">Which Resources Take Precedence?</a></li>
     31     <li><a href="#referring-to-resources">Referring to Resources in Java</a></li>
     32   </ol>
     33 </li>
     34 <li><a href="#strategies">Localization Strategies</a></li>
     35 <li><a href="#testing">Testing Localized Applications</a></li>
     36   <ol>
     37   <li><a href="#device">Testing on a Device</a></li>
     38   <li><a href="#emulator">Testing on an Emulator</a></li>
     39   <li><a href="#test-for-default">Testing for Default Resources</a></li>
     40   </ol>
     41 <li><a href="#publishing">Publishing</a></li>
     42 <li><a href="#checklist">Localization Checklists</a></li>
     43   <ol>
     44   <li><a href="#planning-checklist">Planning and Design Checklist</a></li>
     45   <li><a href="#content-checklist">Content Checklist</a></li>
     46   <li><a href="#testing-checklist">Testing and Publishing Checklist</a></li>
     47   </ol>
     48 </ol>
     49 
     50 <h2>See also</h2>
     51   <ol>
     52   <li><a
     53 href="{@docRoot}resources/tutorials/localization/index.html">Hello, L10N Tutorial</a></li>
     54     <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html">Providing Resources</a></li>
     55     <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/ui/declaring-layout.html">Declaring Layout</a></li>
     56     <li><a href="{@docRoot}reference/android/app/Activity.html#ActivityLifecycle">Activity Lifecycle</a></li>
     57 </ol>
     58 </div>
     59 </div>
     60 
     61 <p>Android will run on many  devices in many  regions. To reach the most users,
     62 your application should handle text, audio files, numbers, currency, and
     63 graphics in ways appropriate to the locales where your application will be used.
     64 </p>
     65 
     66 <p>This document describes best practices for localizing Android
     67 applications. The principles apply whether you are developing your application  
     68 using ADT with Eclipse, Ant-based tools, or any other IDE. </p>
     69 
     70 <p>You should already have a working knowledge of Java and be  familiar with
     71 Android resource loading, the declaration of user interface elements in XML,
     72 development considerations such as Activity lifecycle, and general principles of
     73 internationalization and localization. </p>
     74 
     75 <p>It is good practice to use the Android resource framework to separate the
     76 localized aspects of your application as much as possible from the core Java
     77 functionality:</p>
     78 
     79 <ul>
     80   <li>You can put most or all of the <em>contents</em> of your application's
     81 user interface into resource files, as described in this document and in <a
     82 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html">Providing Resources</a>.</li>
     83   <li>The <em>behavior</em> of the user interface, on the other hand, is driven
     84 by your Java code. 
     85     For example, if users input data that needs to be formatted or sorted
     86 differently depending on locale, then you would use Java to handle the data
     87 programmatically. This document does not cover how to  localize your Java code.
     88 </li>
     89 </ul>
     90 
     91 <p>The <a
     92 href="{@docRoot}resources/tutorials/localization/index.html">Hello, L10N
     93 </a> tutorial takes you through the steps of creating a simple localized
     94 application that uses  locale-specific resources in the way described in this
     95 document. </p>
     96 
     97 
     98 <h2 id="resource-switching">Overview: Resource-Switching in Android</h2>
     99 
    100 <p>Resources are text strings, layouts, sounds, graphics, and any other static
    101 data that your  Android application  needs. An application can include multiple
    102 sets of resources, each customized for a different device configuration. When a
    103 user runs the application,  Android    automatically selects and loads the 
    104 resources that best match the device.</p>
    105 
    106 <p>(This document focuses on localization and locale. For a complete description
    107 of resource-switching and all the types of configurations that you can
    108 specify &#8212; screen orientation, touchscreen type, and so on &#8212; see <a
    109 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#AlternativeResources">Providing
    110 Alternative Resources</a>.)</p>
    111 
    112 <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
    113   <tr border="0">
    114     <td width="180" style="border: 0pt none ;"><p class="special-note">
    115     <strong>When you write your application:</strong>
    116     <br><br>
    117     You create a set of default resources, plus alternatives to be used in
    118     different locales.</p></td>
    119     <td style="border: 0pt none; padding:0">
    120     <p style="border:0; padding:0"><img src="../../../images/resources/right-arrow.png" alt="right-arrow" 
    121     width="51" height="17"></p></td>
    122     <td width="180" style="border: 0pt none ;"><p class="special-note">
    123     <strong>When a user runs your application:</strong>
    124     <br><br>The Android system selects which resources to load, based on the
    125     device's locale.</p></td>
    126   </tr>
    127 </table>
    128 
    129 <p>When you write your application, you create default and alternative resources
    130 for your application to use. To create  resources, you place files within
    131 specially named subdirectories of the project's <code>res/</code> directory.
    132 </p>
    133 
    134 
    135 
    136 <h3 id="defaults-r-important">Why Default Resources Are Important</h3>
    137 
    138 <p>Whenever the application runs in a locale for which you have not provided
    139 locale-specific text,  Android will load the default strings from
    140 <code>res/values/strings.xml</code>. If this default  file is absent, or if it 
    141 is missing a string that your application needs, then your application will not run 
    142 and will show an error. 
    143 The example below illustrates what can happen when the default text file is incomplete. </p>
    144 
    145 <p><em>Example:</em>
    146 <p>An application's Java code refers to just two strings, <code>text_a</code> and 
    147 	<code>text_b</code>. This application includes a localized resource file 
    148 	(<code>res/values-en/strings.xml</code>) that defines <code>text_a</code> and 
    149 	<code>text_b</code> in English. This application also includes a default 
    150 	resource file (<code>res/values/strings.xml</code>) that includes a
    151 definition for <code>text_a</code>, but not for <code>text_b</code>:
    152 <ul>
    153   <li>This application might compile without a problem. An IDE such as Eclipse 
    154   	will not highlight any errors if a resource is missing.</li>
    155   <li>When this application is launched on a device with locale set to English, 
    156   	the application  might run without a problem, because 
    157   	<code>res/values-en/strings.xml</code> contains both of the needed text 
    158   	strings.</li>
    159   <li>However, <strong>the user  will see an error message and a Force Close 
    160   	button</strong> when this application is launched on a device set to a 
    161   	language other than English. The application will not load.</li>
    162 </ul>
    163 
    164 
    165 <p>To prevent this situation, make sure that a <code>res/values/strings.xml</code> 
    166 	file exists and that it defines every needed string. The situation applies to 
    167 	all types of resources, not just strings: You 
    168 	need to create a  set of default resource files containing all 
    169 	the resources that your application calls upon &#8212; layouts, drawables, 
    170 	animations, etc. For information about testing, see <a href="#test-for-default">
    171 	Testing for Default Resources</a>.</p>
    172 
    173 <h2 id="using-framework">Using Resources for Localization</h2>
    174 
    175 <h3 id="creating-defaults">How to Create Default Resources</h3>
    176 
    177 <p>Put the application's default text in
    178 a file with the following location and name:</p>
    179 <p><code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/values/strings.xml</code> (required directory)</p>
    180 
    181 <p>The text strings in <code>res/values/strings.xml</code> should  use the
    182 default language, which is the language that you expect most of your application's users to
    183 speak.  </p>
    184 
    185 <p>The default resource set must also include any default drawables and layouts, 
    186 	and can include other types of resources such as animations. 
    187 <br>
    188   <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/drawable/</code>(required directory holding at least
    189   one graphic file, for the application's icon in the Market)<br>
    190   <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/layout/</code> (required directory holding an XML
    191   file that defines the default layout)<br>
    192   <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/anim/</code> (required if you have any 
    193   <code>res/anim-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em></code> folders)<br>
    194   <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/xml/</code> (required if you have any 
    195   <code>res/xml-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em></code> folders)<br>
    196   <code>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;res/raw/</code> (required if you have any 
    197   <code>res/raw-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em></code> folders)
    198 </p>
    199 
    200 <p class="note"><strong>Tip:</strong> In your code, examine each reference to 
    201 	an Android resource. Make sure that a default resource is defined for each
    202 	one. Also make sure that the default string file is complete: A <em>
    203 	localized</em> string file can contain a subset of the strings, but the 
    204 	<em>default</em> string file must contain them all. 
    205 </p>
    206 
    207 <h3 id="creating-alternatives">How to Create Alternative Resources</h3>
    208 
    209 <p>A large part of localizing an application is providing alternative text for
    210 different languages. In some cases you will also provide alternative graphics,
    211 sounds, layouts, and other locale-specific resources. </p>
    212 
    213 <p>An application can specify many <code>res/<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em>/</code>
    214 directories, each with different qualifiers. To create an alternative resource for
    215 a different locale, you use a qualifier that specifies a language or a 
    216 language-region combination. (The name of a resource directory must conform 
    217 to the naming scheme described in 
    218 <a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#AlternativeResources">Providing
    219 Alternative Resources</a>,
    220 or else it will not compile.)</p>
    221 
    222 <p><em>Example:</em></p>
    223 
    224 <p>Suppose that your application's default language is English. Suppose also
    225 that you want to localize all the text in your application to French, and most
    226 of the text in your application (everything except the application's title) to
    227 Japanese. In this case, you could create three alternative <code>strings.xml</code>
    228 files, each stored in a locale-specific resource directory:</p>
    229 
    230 <ol>
    231   <li><code>res/values/strings.xml</code><br>
    232     Contains  English text for all  the strings that the application uses,
    233 including text for a string named <code>title</code>.</li>
    234   <li><code>res/values-fr/strings.xml</code><br>
    235     Contain French text for all  the strings, including <code>title</code>.</li>
    236   <li><code>res/values-ja/strings.xml</code><br>
    237     Contain Japanese text for all  the strings <em>except</em>
    238 <code>title</code>.<br>
    239   <code></code></li>
    240 </ol>
    241 
    242 <p>If your Java code refers to <code>R.string.title</code>,  here is what will
    243 happen at runtime:</p>
    244 
    245 <ul>
    246   <li>If the device is set to any language other than French, Android will load
    247 <code>title</code> from the <code>res/values/strings.xml</code> file.</li>
    248   <li>If the device is set to French, Android will load <code>title</code> from
    249 the <code>res/values-fr/strings.xml</code> file.</li>
    250 </ul>
    251 
    252 <p>Notice that if the device is set to Japanese, Android will look for
    253 <code>title</code> in the <code>res/values-ja/strings.xml</code> file. But
    254 because no such string is included in that file, Android will fall back to the
    255 default, and will load  <code>title</code> in English from the
    256 <code>res/values/strings.xml</code> file.  </p>
    257 
    258 <h3 id="resource-precedence">Which Resources Take Precedence?</h3>
    259 
    260 <p> If multiple resource files match a device's configuration, Android follows a
    261 set of rules in deciding which file to use. Among the qualifiers that can be
    262 specified in a resource directory name, <strong>locale almost always takes
    263 precedence</strong>. </p>
    264 <p><em>Example:</em></p>
    265 
    266 <p>Assume that an application  includes a default set of graphics and two other
    267 sets of graphics, each optimized for a different device setup:</p>
    268 
    269 <ul>
    270   <li><code>res/drawable/</code><br>
    271     Contains
    272   default graphics.</li>
    273   <li><code>res/drawable-small-land-stylus/</code><br>
    274   Contains  graphics optimized for use with a device that expects input from a 
    275   stylus and has a QVGA low-density screen in landscape orientation.</li>
    276   <li><code>res/drawable-ja/</code> <br>
    277   Contains  graphics optimized for use with Japanese.</li>
    278 </ul>
    279 
    280 <p>If the application runs on a device that is configured to use Japanese,
    281 Android will load graphics from  <code>res/drawable-ja/</code>, even if the
    282 device happens to be one that expects input from a stylus and has a QVGA 
    283 low-density screen in landscape orientation.</p>
    284 
    285 <p class="note"><strong>Exception:</strong> The only qualifiers that take
    286 precedence over locale in the selection process are MCC and MNC (mobile country
    287 code and mobile network code). </p>
    288 
    289 <p><em>Example:</em></p>
    290 
    291 <p>Assume that you have the following situation:</p>
    292 
    293 <ul>
    294   <li>The application code calls for <code>R.string.text_a</code></li>
    295   <li>Two relevant resource files are available:
    296     <ul>
    297       <li><code>res/values-mcc404/strings.xml</code>, which includes
    298 <code>text_a</code> in the application's default language, in this case
    299 English.</li>
    300       <li><code>res/values-hi/strings.xml</code>, which includes
    301 <code>text_a</code> in Hindi.</li>
    302     </ul>
    303   </li>
    304   <li>The application is running on a device that has the following
    305 configuration:
    306     <ul>
    307       <li>The SIM card is connected to a mobile network in India (MCC 404).</li>
    308       <li>The language is set to Hindi (<code>hi</code>).</li>
    309     </ul>
    310   </li>
    311 </ul>
    312 
    313 <p>Android will load <code>text_a</code> from
    314 <code>res/values-mcc404/strings.xml</code> (in English), even if the device is
    315 configured for Hindi. That is because in the resource-selection process, Android
    316 will prefer an MCC match over a language match. </p>
    317 
    318 <p>The selection process is not always as straightforward as these examples
    319 suggest. Please read  <a
    320 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#BestMatch">How Android Finds
    321 the Best-matching Resource</a> for a more nuanced description of the
    322 process. All the qualifiers are described and listed in order of
    323 precedence in <a
    324 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#table2">Table 2 of Providing
    325 Alternative Resources</a>.</p>
    326 
    327 <h3 id="referring-to-resources">Referring to Resources in Java</h3>
    328 
    329 <p>In your application's Java code, you refer to  resources using the syntax
    330 <code>R.<em>resource_type</em>.<em>resource_name</em></code> or
    331 <code>android.R.<em>resource_type</em>.<em>resource_name</em></code><em>.</em>
    332 For more about this, see <a
    333 href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/accessing-resources.html">Accessing Resources</a>.</p>
    334 
    335 <h2 id="strategies">Localization Strategies</h2>
    336 
    337 <h4 id="failing2">Design your application  to work in any locale</h4>
    338 
    339 <p>You cannot assume anything about the device on which a user will
    340 run your application. The device might have hardware that you were not
    341 anticipating, or it might be set to a locale that you did not plan for or that 
    342 you cannot test. Design your application so that it will function normally or fail gracefully no 
    343 matter what device it runs on.</p>
    344 
    345 <p class="note"><strong>Important:</strong> Make sure that your application
    346 includes a full set of default resources.</p> <p>Make sure to include
    347 <code>res/drawable/</code> and a <code>res/values/</code> folders (without any
    348 additional modifiers in the folder names) that contain all the images and text
    349 that your application will need. </p>
    350 
    351 <p>If an application is missing even one default resource, it will not run on a 
    352 	device that is set to an unsupported locale. For example, the 
    353 	<code>res/values/strings.xml</code> default file might lack one string that 
    354 	the application needs: When the application runs in an unsupported locale and 
    355 	attempts to load <code>res/values/strings.xml</code>, the user will see an 
    356 	error message and a Force Close button. An IDE such as Eclipse will not 
    357 	highlight this kind of error, and you will not see the problem when you 
    358 	test the application on a device or emulator that is set to a supported locale.</p>
    359 
    360 <p>For more information, see <a href="#test-for-default">Testing for Default Resources</a>.</p>
    361 
    362 <h4>Design a flexible layout</h4>
    363 
    364 <p> If you need to rearrange your layout to fit a certain language (for example
    365 German with its long words), you can create an alternative layout for that
    366 language (for example <code>res/layout-de/main.xml</code>). However, doing this
    367 can make your application harder to maintain.  It is better to create a single
    368 layout that is more flexible.</p>
    369 
    370 <p>Another typical situation is a language that requires something different in
    371 its layout. For example, you might have a contact form that should include  two
    372 name fields when the application runs in Japanese, but three name fields when
    373 the application  runs in some other language. You could handle this in either of
    374 two ways:</p>
    375 
    376 <ul>
    377   <li>Create  one  layout with a field that you can programmatically enable or
    378 disable, based on the language, or</li>
    379   <li>Have the main layout include another layout that  includes the changeable
    380 field. The second layout can have different configurations for different
    381 languages.</li>
    382 </ul>
    383 
    384 <h4>Avoid creating more resource files and text strings than you need</h4>
    385 
    386 <p>You probably do not need to create a locale-specific
    387 alternative for every resource in your application. For example, the layout
    388 defined in the <code>res/layout/main.xml</code> file might work in any locale,
    389 in which case there would be no need to create any alternative layout files.
    390 </p>
    391 
    392 <p>Also, you might not need to create alternative text for every
    393 string. For example, assume the following:</p>
    394 
    395 <ul>
    396   <li>Your application's default language is American
    397 English. Every string that the application uses is defined, using American
    398 English spellings, in <code>res/values/strings.xml</code>. </li>
    399 
    400   <li>For  a few important phrases, you want to provide
    401 British English spelling. You want these alternative strings to be used when your
    402 application runs on a device in the United Kingdom. </li>
    403 </ul>
    404 
    405 <p>To do this, you could create a small file called
    406 <code>res/values-en-rGB/strings.xml</code> that includes only the strings that
    407 should be different when the application  runs in the U.K. For all the rest of
    408 the strings, the application will fall back to the defaults and use what is
    409 defined in <code>res/values/strings.xml</code>.</p>
    410 
    411 <h4>Use the Android Context object for manual locale lookup</h4>
    412 
    413 <p>You can look up the locale using the {@link android.content.Context} object
    414 that Android makes available:</p>
    415 
    416 <pre>String locale = context.getResources().getConfiguration().locale.getDisplayName();</pre>
    417 
    418 <h2 id="testing">Testing Localized Applications</h2>
    419 
    420 <h3 id="device">Testing on a Device</h3>
    421 <p>Keep in mind that the device you are testing may be significantly different from 
    422 	the devices available to consumers in other geographies. The locales available 
    423 	on your device may differ from those available on other devices. Also, the 
    424 	resolution and density of the device screen may differ, which could affect 
    425 	the display of strings and drawables in your UI.</p>
    426 
    427 <p>To change the locale on a device, use  the Settings application  (Home &gt;
    428 Menu &gt; Settings &gt; Locale &amp; text &gt; Select locale). </p>
    429 
    430 <h3 id="emulator">Testing on an Emulator</h3>
    431 
    432 <p>For details about using the emulator, see See <a
    433 href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/emulator.html">Android Emulator</a>.</p>
    434 <h4>Creating and using a custom locale</h4>
    435 
    436 <p>A &quot;custom&quot; locale is a language/region combination that the Android
    437 system image does not explicitly support. (For a list of supported locales in
    438 Android platforms see the Version Notes in the <a
    439 href="{@docRoot}sdk/index.html">SDK</a> tab). You can test
    440 how your application will run in a custom locale by creating a custom locale in
    441 the emulator. There are two ways to do this:</p>
    442 
    443 <ul>
    444   <li>Use the Custom Locale application, which is accessible from the
    445 Application tab. (After you create a custom locale, switch to it by 
    446 pressing and holding the locale name.)</li>
    447   <li>Change to a custom locale from the adb shell, as described below.</li>
    448 </ul>
    449 
    450 <p>When you set the emulator to a locale that is not available in the Android
    451 system image, the system itself will display in its default language. Your
    452 application, however, should localize properly.</p>
    453 
    454 <h4>Changing the emulator locale from the adb shell</h4>
    455 
    456 <p>To change the locale in the emulator by using the adb shell. </p>
    457 
    458 <ol>
    459   <li>Pick the locale you want to test and determine its language and region codes, for
    460 example <code>fr</code> for French and <code>CA</code> for Canada.<br>
    461   </li>
    462   <li>Launch an emulator.</li>
    463   <li>From a command-line shell on the host computer, run the following
    464 command:<br>
    465     <code>adb shell</code><br>
    466   or if you have a device attached, specify that you want the emulator by adding
    467 the <code>-e</code> option:<br>
    468   <code>adb -e shell</code></li>
    469   <li>At  the  adb shell prompt (<code>#</code>), run this command: <br>
    470     <code>setprop persist.sys.language  [<em>language code</em>];setprop
    471 persist.sys.country [<em>country  code</em>];stop;sleep 5;start <br>
    472     </code>Replace bracketed sections with the  appropriate codes from Step
    473 1.</li>
    474 </ol>
    475 
    476 <p>For instance, to test in Canadian French:</p>
    477 
    478 <p><code>setprop persist.sys.language  fr;setprop persist.sys.country
    479 CA;stop;sleep 5;start </code></p>
    480 
    481 <p>This will cause the emulator  to restart. (It will look like a full reboot,
    482 but it is not.) Once the Home screen appears again, re-launch your application (for
    483 example, click the Run icon in Eclipse), and the application will launch with
    484 the new locale. </p>
    485 
    486 <h3 id="test-for-default">Testing for Default Resources</h3>
    487 <p>Here's how to test whether an application includes every string resource that it needs:  </p>
    488 <ol><li>Set the emulator or device to a language that your application does not 
    489 	support. For example, if the application has French strings in 
    490 	<code>res/values-fr/</code> but does not have any Spanish strings in 
    491 	<code>res/values-es/</code>, then set the emulator's locale to Spanish. 
    492 	(You can use the Custom Locale application to set the emulator to an 
    493 	unsupported locale.)</li>
    494 	<li>Run the application.</li>  
    495 <li>If the application shows an error message and a Force Close button, it might 
    496 	be looking for a string that is not available. Make sure that your 
    497 	<code>res/values/strings.xml</code> file includes a definition for 
    498 	every string that the application uses.</li>
    499 </ol> 
    500 </p> 
    501 
    502 <p>If the test is successful, repeat it for other types of 
    503 	configurations. For example, if the application has a layout file called 
    504 	<code>res/layout-land/main.xml</code> but does not contain a file called 
    505 	<code>res/layout-port/main.xml</code>, then set the emulator or device to 
    506 	portrait orientation and see if the application will run. 
    507 
    508 <h2 id="publishing">Publishing Localized Applications</h2>
    509 
    510 <p>The Android Market is
    511   the main application distribution system for Android devices. To publish a 
    512   localized application, you need to sign your application, version it, and go
    513 through all the other steps described in <a
    514 href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/preparing.html">Preparing to Publish</a>. </p>
    515 
    516 <p>If you split your application in several .apk files, each targeted to a
    517 different locale, follow these guidelines:</p>
    518 
    519 <ul>
    520   <li>Sign each .apk file with the same certificate. For more about this, see <a
    521 href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/app-signing.html#strategies">Signing
    522 Strategies</a>. </li>
    523   <li>Give each .apk file a different application name. Currently it is
    524 impossible to put two applications into the Android Market that have exactly the
    525 same name.</li>
    526 <li>Include a complete set of default resources in each .apk file.</li>
    527 </ul>
    528 
    529 <h2 id="checklist">Localization Checklists</h2>
    530 
    531 <p>These  checklists summarize the process of localizing an Android application.
    532 Not everything on these lists will apply to every application.</p>
    533 
    534 <h3 id="planning-checklist">Planning and Design Checklist</h3>
    535 
    536 <table  width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">
    537   <tr>
    538     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    539 border="0"></td>
    540     <td>Choose a localization strategy. Which countries and which languages will
    541 your application support? What is your application's default country and
    542 language? How will your application behave when it does not have specific
    543 resources available for a given locale?</td>
    544   </tr>
    545   <tr>
    546     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    547 border="0"></td>
    548     <td><p>Identify everything in your application   that will need to be
    549 localized: </p>
    550       <ul>
    551         <li>Consider  specific details of your application &#8212; text,  images, 
    552 sounds, music, numbers, money, dates and times. You might not need to localize
    553 everything. For example, you don't need to localize text that the user never
    554 sees, or images that are culturally neutral, or icons that convey the same
    555 meaning in every locale. </li>
    556         <li>Consider broad themes. For example, if you hope to sell your
    557 application in two very culturally different markets, you might want to design
    558 your UI and present your application in an entirely different way for each
    559 locale.</li>
    560     </ul></td>
    561   </tr>
    562   <tr>
    563     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    564 border="0"></td>
    565     <td><p>Design your Java code to externalize resources wherever possible:</p>
    566       <ul>
    567         <li>Use <code>R.string</code> and <code>strings.xml</code> files instead
    568 of hard-coded strings or string constants. </li>
    569         <li>Use <code>R.drawable</code> and <code>R.layout</code> instead of 
    570 hard-coded drawables or layouts. </li>
    571     </ul></td>
    572   </tr>
    573 </table>
    574 <h3 id="content-checklist">Content Checklist</h3>
    575 <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"  width="100%">
    576   <tr>
    577     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    578 border="0"></td>
    579     <td>Create a full set of default resources in <code>res/values/</code> and
    580 other <code>res/</code> folders, as described in <a
    581 href="#creating-defaults">Creating Default Resources</a>.</td>
    582   </tr>
    583   <tr>
    584     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    585 border="0"></td>
    586     <td>Obtain reliable translations of  the static text, including menu text,
    587 button names, error messages, and help text. Place the translated strings in
    588 <code>res/values-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em>/strings.xml</code> files. </td>
    589   </tr>
    590   <tr>
    591     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    592 border="0"></td>
    593     <td>Make sure that your application correctly formats dynamic text (for
    594 example numbers and dates) for each supported locale. Make sure that your
    595 application handles word breaks, punctuation, and alphabetical sorting correctly
    596 for each supported language.</td>
    597   </tr>
    598   <tr>
    599     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    600 border="0"></td>
    601     <td>If necessary, create locale-specific versions of your graphics and
    602 layout, and place them in <code>res/drawable-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em>/</code> and
    603 <code>res/layout-<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em>/</code> folders.</td>
    604   </tr>
    605   <tr>
    606     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    607 border="0"></td>
    608     <td>Create any other localized content that your application requires; for
    609 example, create recordings of sound files for each language, as needed.</td>
    610   </tr>
    611 </table>
    612 <h3 id="testing-checklist">Testing and Publishing Checklist</h3>
    613     <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%">
    614   <tr>
    615     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    616 border="0"></td>
    617     <td>Test your application for each supported locale. If possible, have a
    618 person who is native to each locale test your application and give you
    619 feedback.</td>
    620   </tr>
    621   <tr>
    622     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    623 border="0"></td>
    624     <td>Test the default resources by loading a locale that is not available on 
    625     	the device or emulator. For instructions, see <a href="#test-for-default">
    626     		Testing for Default Resources</a>.  </td>
    627   </tr>
    628     <tr>
    629     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    630 border="0"></td>
    631     <td>Test the localized strings in both landscape and portrait display modes.</td>
    632   </tr>
    633     <tr>
    634     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    635 border="0"></td>
    636     <td>Sign your application and create your final build or builds.</td>
    637   </tr>
    638   <tr>
    639     <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
    640 border="0"></td>
    641     <td>Upload your .apk file or files to Market, selecting the appropriate
    642 languages as
    643     you upload. (For more details, see <a
    644 href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/publishing.html">Publishing Your
    645 Applications</a>.)</td>
    646   </tr>
    647 </table>