---
title: "Creating Translation Lists"
---

# Creating Translation Lists

> <IUCard title="Introduction to Project Translation" link="https://www.inductiveuniversity.com/video/introduction-to-project-translation/8.3" />

## Project Translation Overview

This page explains how to create new languages, add translation terms, and build lists you can reuse across projects. Translations are managed in the **Translation Manager**, a global database stored in the Gateway and shared across all projects.

You can create translations for single words or longer phrases, edit or remove existing terms, and import or export translation lists for use in other environments. Once a translation is defined, it can be applied anywhere in your projects without additional configuration.

:::info Translation Notes

* Vision [Table components](/appendix/components/vision-components/tables/tables.md) do not support translation. However, the Vision **Alarm Status Table** and **Alarm Journal Table** components do.  
* For text properties with bindings, translations occur after the binding is evaluated.  

:::

## Component vs Global Terms

The translation system supports two types of terms, **global terms** and **component terms**.  

* **Global terms** are stored in the Gateway's shared translation database. They can be applied across all projects, windows, and components. Global terms are recommended for most cases because they only need to be defined once and are automatically reused whenever the same key appears.

* **Component terms** are available only in Vision and are defined in the Translatable Terms panel for a specific component or window. A component term always takes precedence over a matching global term. Component terms are useful when a translation must differ in a specific context. For example, you may have a global term for "Tank", but in one Vision window you want it to display as "Barrel". Adding a component term ensures that window shows the context-specific translation.

## Add a New Language

Before creating translations, you must define the languages that your project will support. The Translation Manager comes with English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Spanish defined by default, but you can add any number of additional languages that are available. Once added, a language is available for all projects.

1. In the Designer, go to the menu bar and select **Tools** > **Translation Manager**.

    ![Designer Tools menu with the Translation Manager option highlighted.](enable-translation-manager-panel-1.png)

2. In the **Translation Manager**, click **Languages** in the top right corner.

    ![Translation Manager Key Manager with the Languages button highlighted in the top right corner.](images/add-a-new-language-languages-button.png)

3. In the **Select Language Support** list, select the checkbox for each language you want to add. Use **Filter Languages** to search the list by name. English is the base language and is always selected.

4. Click **Apply**.

    ![Select Languages view with eight languages selected, English marked as the base language, and the Apply button highlighted.](images/add-a-new-language-select-languages.png)

The new language appears in the Translations section of every key, and each key's language count updates to include it.

## Add Global Translation Terms

Global translation terms are shared across all projects and are the preferred way to manage most translations. Component-level terms (Vision only) should only be used when a translation needs to override a global definition in a specific context.

There are two ways to add global terms:

* Directly in the Translation Manager
* From the Translatable Terms panel in Vision

The steps below show how to add global terms directly in the Translation Manager. You can add one key at a time with **Quick Entry**, or many keys at once with **Batch Entry**.

1. In the Designer, go to the menu bar and select **Tools** > **Translation Manager**.

    ![Designer Tools menu with the Translation Manager option highlighted.](enable-translation-manager-panel-1.png)

2. Click the **Add** ![Add icon](../../../icons/add.png) icon next to the key list to open the Add Keys window.

    ![Translation Manager Key Manager with the Add icon highlighted next to the key list.](images/add-global-translation-terms-add-icon.png)

3. Add keys using one of the following options:

    * **Quick Entry**: Enter the key in the **Key Name** field. In this example, we will use **Tank**. Optionally, enter **Notes** to describe what the text is and where it appears.

        ![Add Keys window on the Quick Entry tab, showing the Key Name and Notes fields above an empty Staged Keys list.](images/add-global-translation-terms-quick-entry.png)

    * **Batch Entry**: Enter multiple keys in the **Key Entry** field, one key per line. To include notes, paste two columns from a spreadsheet program, with the keys in the first column and the notes in the second.

        ![Add Keys window on the Batch Entry tab, showing the Key Entry field above an empty Staged Keys list.](images/add-global-translation-terms-batch-entry.png)

4. After entering your keys, click **Add Key** (**Add Keys** in Batch Entry), then click **Save Keys**. Added keys appear in the **Staged Keys** list until you save them to the translation database.

    ![Add Keys window with the Add Key and Save Keys buttons highlighted.](images/add-global-translation-terms-save-keys.png)

5. In the Key Manager, select the new key from the key list.

6. Under **Translations**, enter a translation in the field for each language. In this example, we will enter "Depósito" in the **Spanish - es** field.

    ![Key Manager with a key selected and its Notes field and Translations fields highlighted.](images/add-global-translation-terms-translations.png)

The term is now available globally across projects.

### Testing Global Terms

After you add a global translation term, you can test it in your projects to make sure the translations apply correctly. The steps differ slightly depending on whether you are working in Perspective or Vision.

#### Perspective

1. In the Designer, open a View in the Project Browser.
2. Add a Label component and set the `text` property in the Property Editor to the key you created in the Translation Manager.

    ![](label-text.png)

3. Change the session's `locale` property (for example, `es-US` for Spanish).

    ![](es-US.png)

4. Verify that the component text updates to the correct translation.

    ![](deposito.png)

#### Vision

1. In the Designer, add a Language Selector component to a window.

    ![](language-selector.png)

2. Add a Label component and set the `text` property in the Property Editor to the key you created in the Translation Manager.

    ![](vision-text-data.png)

3. Switch to **Preview Mode**.

    ![](preview-mode.png)

4. Use the Language Selector dropdown to toggle between languages.

    ![](select-language.png)

5. Verify that the component text updates to the correct translation.

    ![](vision-desposito.png)

## Add Component Level Translation Terms

:::note
Component level translation terms are only available in Vision.
:::

Component terms are defined in the Translatable Terms panel. This panel lists all the terms used by a component, or an entire window if opened at that level. Component terms always override global terms with the same key, allowing you to provide translations in context when a translation needs to differ in a specific window or component.

1. In the Designer, add a Label component to a Vision window.

    ![](vision-label-component.png)

2. Right-click the component and select Translations to open the Translatable Terms panel.

    ![](right-click-translations.png)

3. Double-click the component column of the chosen language to open the and enter the translation to the Component field. In this example, we added an alternate translation in Spanish (Component).

    ![](component-level.png)

4. Add a Language Selector component to the window.

    ![](language-selector.png)

5. Switch to Preview Mode and switch languages to verify the text updates.

    ![](component-level-example.png)

## Translation List Import and Export

Importing and exporting translation lists makes it easier to manage large projects. You can quickly share terms across environments, send lists to third parties for translation, and keep multiple projects up to date.

### Supported File Formats

Translation lists can be imported and exported in the following formats:

| Format | Description |
| --- | --- |
| **ZIP** | A translation archive (.zip) containing JSON files of the exported translations. |
| **XLSX** | An Excel (.xlsx) workbook. All exported translations are copied to a single sheet, which makes it easy to review and edit every language side by side or send to a translator. |

### Export Terms

You can export all keys in the Translation Manager, or only the keys that match the current filter.

1. In the Designer, go to the menu bar and select **Tools** > **Translation Manager**.

    ![Designer Tools menu with the Translation Manager option highlighted.](tools-menu.png)

2. Click **Export** at the top of the Translation Manager.

    ![Translation Manager Key Manager with the Export button highlighted.](images/export-terms-export-button.png)

3. In the Export Keys dialog, configure the following:

    * **Languages**: Select the languages you want to export, or select **(All)**.
    * **Format**: Choose **ZIP** or **XLSX**. See [Supported File Formats](#supported-file-formats) for details on each format.
    * **Only Export Filtered Results?**: Select to export only the keys that match the current filter in the Key Manager. This option is available when a filter is applied.

    ![Export Keys dialog with all languages selected and the Format dropdown open, showing the ZIP and XLSX options.](images/export-terms-export-keys.png)

4. Click **Export**. The button shows the number of keys that will be exported, such as **Export 19 Keys**.

5. Choose where to save the file, and confirm the file was created.

### Import Terms

You can import translation files back into the Translation Manager to quickly populate terms in another project or environment.

1. In the Designer, go to the menu bar and select **Tools** > **Translation Manager**.

    ![Designer Tools menu with the Translation Manager option highlighted.](tools-menu.png)

2. Click **Import** at the top of the Translation Manager.

    ![Translation Manager Key Manager with the Import button highlighted.](images/import-terms-import-button.png)

3. In the Open dialog, choose the type of file to import from **Files of Type**, such as **Translation Archive (*.zip)**. Select the translation file, and click **Open**.

    ![Open dialog with Files of Type set to Translation Archive (*.zip).](images/import-terms-open.png)

4. Verify the imported terms appear in the Translation Manager.

:::caution Imported Terms Overwrite Existing Terms
If a term already exists in the Translation Manager, importing will overwrite it with the values from the file.
:::