localization.jd revision b10b48f62d3cac684424e4181d4e8ec61f227e95
1page.title=Localization
2parent.title=Application Resources
3parent.link=index.html
4@jd:body
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
14that match the device's locale.</li>
15  <li>If locale-specific resources are not available, Android falls back to
16defaults.</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
53href="{@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">XML Layouts</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,
62your application should handle text, audio files, numbers, currency, and
63graphics 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
67applications. The principles apply whether you are developing your application  
68using 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
71Android resource loading, the declaration of user interface elements in XML,
72development considerations such as Activity lifecycle, and general principles of
73internationalization and localization. </p>
74
75<p>It is good practice to use the Android resource framework to separate the
76localized aspects of your application as much as possible from the core Java
77functionality:</p>
78
79<ul>
80  <li>You can put most or all of the <em>contents</em> of your application's
81user interface into resource files, as described in this document and in <a
82href="{@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
84by your Java code. 
85    For example, if users input data that needs to be formatted or sorted
86differently depending on locale, then you would use Java to handle the data
87programmatically. This document does not cover how to  localize your Java code.
88</li>
89</ul>
90
91<p>The <a
92href="{@docRoot}resources/tutorials/localization/index.html">Hello, L10N
93</a> tutorial takes you through the steps of creating a simple localized
94application that uses  locale-specific resources in the way described in this
95document. </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
101data that your  Android application  needs. An application can include multiple
102sets of resources, each customized for a different device configuration. When a
103user runs the application,  Android    automatically selects and loads the 
104resources that best match the device.</p>
105
106<p>(This document focuses on localization and locale. For a complete description
107of resource-switching and all the types of configurations that you can
108specify &#8212; screen orientation, touchscreen type, and so on &#8212; see <a
109href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#AlternativeResources">Providing
110Alternative 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
130for your application to use. To create  resources, you place files within
131specially 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
139locale-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 
141is missing a string that your application needs, then your application will not run 
142and will show an error. 
143The 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
151definition 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
178a 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
182default language, which is the language that you expect most of your application's users to
183speak.  </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
210different languages. In some cases you will also provide alternative graphics,
211sounds, layouts, and other locale-specific resources. </p>
212
213<p>An application can specify many <code>res/<em>&lt;qualifiers&gt;</em>/</code>
214directories, each with different qualifiers. To create an alternative resource for
215a different locale, you use a qualifier that specifies a language or a 
216language-region combination. (The name of a resource directory must conform 
217to the naming scheme described in 
218<a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#AlternativeResources">Providing
219Alternative Resources</a>,
220or 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
225that you want to localize all the text in your application to French, and most
226of the text in your application (everything except the application's title) to
227Japanese. In this case, you could create three alternative <code>strings.xml</code>
228files, 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,
233including 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
243happen 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
249the <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
254because no such string is included in that file, Android will fall back to the
255default, 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
261set of rules in deciding which file to use. Among the qualifiers that can be
262specified in a resource directory name, <strong>locale almost always takes
263precedence</strong>. </p>
264<p><em>Example:</em></p>
265
266<p>Assume that an application  includes a default set of graphics and two other
267sets 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,
281Android will load graphics from  <code>res/drawable-ja/</code>, even if the
282device happens to be one that expects input from a stylus and has a QVGA 
283low-density screen in landscape orientation.</p>
284
285<p class="note"><strong>Exception:</strong> The only qualifiers that take
286precedence over locale in the selection process are MCC and MNC (mobile country
287code 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
299English.</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
305configuration:
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
315configured for Hindi. That is because in the resource-selection process, Android
316will prefer an MCC match over a language match. </p>
317
318<p>The selection process is not always as straightforward as these examples
319suggest. Please read  <a
320href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#BestMatch">How Android Finds
321the Best-matching Resource</a> for a more nuanced description of the
322process. All the qualifiers are described and listed in order of
323precedence in <a
324href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#table2">Table 2 of Providing
325Alternative 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>
332For more about this, see <a
333href="{@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
340run your application. The device might have hardware that you were not
341anticipating, or it might be set to a locale that you did not plan for or that 
342you cannot test. Design your application so that it will function normally or fail gracefully no 
343matter what device it runs on.</p>
344
345<p class="note"><strong>Important:</strong> Make sure that your application
346includes 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
348additional modifiers in the folder names) that contain all the images and text
349that 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
365German with its long words), you can create an alternative layout for that
366language (for example <code>res/layout-de/main.xml</code>). However, doing this
367can make your application harder to maintain.  It is better to create a single
368layout that is more flexible.</p>
369
370<p>Another typical situation is a language that requires something different in
371its layout. For example, you might have a contact form that should include  two
372name fields when the application runs in Japanese, but three name fields when
373the application  runs in some other language. You could handle this in either of
374two ways:</p>
375
376<ul>
377  <li>Create  one  layout with a field that you can programmatically enable or
378disable, based on the language, or</li>
379  <li>Have the main layout include another layout that  includes the changeable
380field. The second layout can have different configurations for different
381languages.</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
387alternative for every resource in your application. For example, the layout
388defined in the <code>res/layout/main.xml</code> file might work in any locale,
389in 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
393string. For example, assume the following:</p>
394
395<ul>
396  <li>Your application's default language is American
397English. Every string that the application uses is defined, using American
398English spellings, in <code>res/values/strings.xml</code>. </li>
399
400  <li>For  a few important phrases, you want to provide
401British English spelling. You want these alternative strings to be used when your
402application 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
407should be different when the application  runs in the U.K. For all the rest of
408the strings, the application will fall back to the defaults and use what is
409defined 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
414that 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;
428Menu &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
433href="{@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
437system image does not explicitly support. (For a list of supported locales in
438Android platforms see the Version Notes in the <a
439href="{@docRoot}sdk/index.html">SDK</a> tab). You can test
440how your application will run in a custom locale by creating a custom locale in
441the emulator. There are two ways to do this:</p>
442
443<ul>
444  <li>Use the Custom Locale application, which is accessible from the
445Application tab. (After you create a custom locale, switch to it by 
446pressing 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
451system image, the system itself will display in its default language. Your
452application, 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
460example <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
464command:<br>
465    <code>adb shell</code><br>
466  or if you have a device attached, specify that you want the emulator by adding
467the <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
471persist.sys.country [<em>country  code</em>];stop;sleep 5;start <br>
472    </code>Replace bracketed sections with the  appropriate codes from Step
4731.</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
479CA;stop;sleep 5;start </code></p>
480
481<p>This will cause the emulator  to restart. (It will look like a full reboot,
482but it is not.) Once the Home screen appears again, re-launch your application (for
483example, click the Run icon in Eclipse), and the application will launch with
484the 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
513through all the other steps described in <a
514href="{@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
517different locale, follow these guidelines:</p>
518
519<ul>
520  <li>Sign each .apk file with the same certificate. For more about this, see <a
521href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/app-signing.html#strategies">Signing
522Strategies</a>. </li>
523  <li>Give each .apk file a different application name. Currently it is
524impossible to put two applications into the Android Market that have exactly the
525same 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.
532Not 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"
539border="0"></td>
540    <td>Choose a localization strategy. Which countries and which languages will
541your application support? What is your application's default country and
542language? How will your application behave when it does not have specific
543resources 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"
547border="0"></td>
548    <td><p>Identify everything in your application   that will need to be
549localized: </p>
550      <ul>
551        <li>Consider  specific details of your application &#8212; text,  images, 
552sounds, music, numbers, money, dates and times. You might not need to localize
553everything. For example, you don't need to localize text that the user never
554sees, or images that are culturally neutral, or icons that convey the same
555meaning in every locale. </li>
556        <li>Consider broad themes. For example, if you hope to sell your
557application in two very culturally different markets, you might want to design
558your UI and present your application in an entirely different way for each
559locale.</li>
560    </ul></td>
561  </tr>
562  <tr>
563    <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
564border="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
568of hard-coded strings or string constants. </li>
569        <li>Use <code>R.drawable</code> and <code>R.layout</code> instead of 
570hard-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"
578border="0"></td>
579    <td>Create a full set of default resources in <code>res/values/</code> and
580other <code>res/</code> folders, as described in <a
581href="#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"
585border="0"></td>
586    <td>Obtain reliable translations of  the static text, including menu text,
587button 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"
592border="0"></td>
593    <td>Make sure that your application correctly formats dynamic text (for
594example numbers and dates) for each supported locale. Make sure that your
595application handles word breaks, punctuation, and alphabetical sorting correctly
596for each supported language.</td>
597  </tr>
598  <tr>
599    <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
600border="0"></td>
601    <td>If necessary, create locale-specific versions of your graphics and
602layout, 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"
607border="0"></td>
608    <td>Create any other localized content that your application requires; for
609example, 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"
616border="0"></td>
617    <td>Test your application for each supported locale. If possible, have a
618person who is native to each locale test your application and give you
619feedback.</td>
620  </tr>
621  <tr>
622    <td valign="top" align="center"><img src="../../../images/resources/arrow.png" alt="arrow" width="26"
623border="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"
630border="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"
635border="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"
640border="0"></td>
641    <td>Upload your .apk file or files to Market, selecting the appropriate
642languages as
643    you upload. (For more details, see <a
644href="{@docRoot}guide/publishing/publishing.html">Publishing Your
645Applications</a>.)</td>
646  </tr>
647</table>