Introduction to Multi-Language Forms

With the Multi-Language feature, you can create a single form and provide it to your field users in multiple languages. It’s simple to set up a Multi-Language FormClosed A Multi-Language Form is a form that’s set up with different translations so that field users can choose their preferred language. Translated content includes page and section names, question text, help text, and other form content. and an associated output Document. Simply download Excel files that contain the strings to translate, add translations, upload the files, and activate the languages. This topic describes Multi-Language Forms and explains what’s included with this feature.

Tip:You can add languages to existing forms—you don’t have to create new forms to use the Multi-Language Forms feature.

Available as an add-on to the Advanced and Enterprise tiers:

Essentials
Advanced +Add-on
Enterprise +Add-on

Contents

What is a Multi-Language Form?

Definition of a Multi-Language Form

A Multi-Language Form is a form that’s set up with different translations. Field users, dispatches, and App‑to‑App calls can select the language used to display the form content.

What you can translate

You can set up translations for:

Info:The Multi-Language feature does not include app framework content (navigation, action buttons, and error messages, for example). This content is translated based on the user’s device locale, as described in the topic Language Settings and Translations.

Example of a Multi-Language Form

This example describes how users interact with a Multi-Language Form that has Spanish and Japanese translations set up.

  1. When the field user opens the form for the first time, they select one of the languages that the Form Designer set up. They can keep the source language (content that the Form Designer built the form in) or select a translation. In this example, the source language is English.

    iOS Mobile App that shows the options to select English, Spanish, or Japanese.

    Tip:Because the user’s device locale is set to Spanish, the Mobile App framework is also translated. In this example, the text strings Cancelar, Selecciona un idioma, and Finalizar are based on the device locale.

  2. The form opens in the selected language.

    View of a form on iOS with Spanish translations for the question text, manually-defined answer options (not from a Data Source), and answer exception text.

  3. If the Form Designer enabled the Summary page, the summary displays in the same language as the form.

    Summary page with form content (not answers) displayed in Spanish, which is the selected language.

  4. In the TrueContext Web PortalClosed The TrueContext Web Portal is a web application used to manage security settings, forms, FormSpaces, other users, Data Sources, and Data Destinations., form submission details include a mix of the source language and the actual answers.

    Form submission details in the Web Portal, which shows the language selected on the device (Spanish), the form content displayed in the source language (English), and the answers displayed as entered or filled by a Data Source (English, in this example).

  5. A Multi-Language Document linked to the form and set up with additional languages renders in the languages specified when attached to a Data DestinationClosed A Data Destination specifies where to send data from a submitted form. You can use Data Destinations to automate data sharing and storage, routing data to a specific service (such as email or cloud storage) in several different formats..

    Tip:A document’s system-generated content, such as metadata, always renders in the form’s selected language. You don’t need to do any extra setup.

Info:The languages available to the user depend on the form’s Languages settings and the translation files that the Form Designer uploads. The topic Set Up a Multi-Language Form describes these settings in detail.

Benefits of Multi-Language Forms

This feature offers the following benefits:

  • Build and maintain only one form that offers field users a choice of languages.

  • Reduce the amount of work required when changing or editing a form that’s translated into multiple languages.

  • Associate all related form submissions with one form instead of multiple forms.

  • Increase standardization across different regions and languages.

What’s included with Multi-Language Forms

Supported languages

Multi-Language Forms support a wide variety of left‑to‑right languages.

Info:The topic Supported Languages for the Multi-Language Feature contains a list of supported languages and language codes.

DREL property

Use %r[language] in a DRELClosed Data Reference Expression Language (DREL) is used to get form data and metadata and add it to a string, such as dates, usernames, or answers to questions in forms. expression to get the language code for the selected or dispatched form language. For example, you can filter a Data Destination so that it’s only triggered for a specific language.

In this example, the Data Destination executes when the field user submits a form that they opened in Spanish.

Data Destination filter "Input Expression" entered as "%r[language]" and "Filter Expression" entered as "es" language code.

Note:Use one of the supported language codes in the Filter Expression.

Limitations

Conditional Logic

Constants that you define in Conditional Logic rules are not translated.

Data SourcesClosed Data sources, also known as "Lookups", are external sources of data that you upload or connect to TrueContext. You can reference this data in a form to populate answers or answer options. Data sources save typing, reduce errors, and make it easy to provide mobile users with only the relevant, most current data.

You must provide the Data Source translations and a column that contains supported language codes.

DREL expressions

Static text in a DREL expression is translated, but referenced data is not.

For example, if the DREL expression is:

My Customer %r

You can translate the text “My Customer” but not the value returned by %r.

TrueContext Analytics

Analytics pages do not display translated content.

Form names

Form names remain in the source language.

Number of languages

You can set up one source language and up to 10 additional languages.

Right-to-left languages

TrueContext does not officially support forms in right-to-left languages. If you build your form using a right-to-left language as the source language, test your forms thoroughly before you deploy them.

Router expressions

You can’t define different regex routing expressions per language—the regex strings do not appear in translation files.

Server values and Data DestinationsClosed A Data Destination specifies where to send data from a submitted form. You can use Data Destinations to automate data sharing and storage, routing data to a specific service (such as email or cloud storage) in several different formats.

Answers from a submitted form are sent to the server and Data Destinations as is. These values are not translated.