Fixed text variables

In order to implement multilingual applications, one may refer to fixed text variables feature provided by ODE tools. ODABA supports text entries (DSC_TextEntry), which allow translating a fixed text string into any number of languages. Text entries are identified by an 80 bytes string value, which usually contains the fixed text in English.

When the message to be printed exceeds 80 characters, one may use a kind of meaningful acronym for identifying the text. The text value itself must not exceed 255 bytes.

Most ODE tools allow defining text entries (Objects/Text Entries). One may, however, create text entries directly from within the program. As long as undefined text entries are referenced, the text will be returned as being defined in the program.