Managing the LANG Environment Variable

To configure localized HP-UX sessions, you will need to:

Manage the LANG environment variable.
Access language-dependent message catalogs and resource files.
Execute applications remotely across internationalized systems.

You can set the LANG variable to any locale that is supported by the HP-UX operating system and installed on your system.

This section includes the following tasks:

Before You Begin

Make sure the CDE language bundles shown in Table 1-1 “CDE Language and Bundle ” are installed on your system. Check to see what languages are installed on your system by typing:

/usr/sbin/swlist -l bundle ‘CDE-*’

Table 1-1 CDE Language and Bundle

CDE Language	Bundle
Japanese	`CDE-Japanese`
Korean	`CDE-Korean`
Simplified Chinese	`CDE-ChineseS`
Traditional Chinese	`CDE-ChineseT`
English	`CDE-English`
French	`CDE-French`
German	`CDE-German`
Italian	`CDE-Italian`
Spanish	`CDE-Spanish`
Swedish	`CDE-Swedish`

If a CDE bundle corresponding to the language is not installed, make sure you load it from the OS media using the SD swinstall command.

Setting the Lang Environment Variable

There are three ways to set the LANG environment variable, depending on how you want the locale to operate:

Customize the /etc/dt/config/Xconfig file. This method is used to set the locale system-wide, for all users and all sessions.
Customize the .dtprofile file. This method is used for a specific user who might need a different locale profile.
Choose a locale from the Options menu from the CDE login screen which changes the locale for that session. This option will require the appropriate CDE language bundle to be installed as described in the previous section.

Setting the Locale for Multiple Users (Xconfig file)

To set the system-wide default language settings, you must edit the Xconfig file. This sets the CDE login screen and the proper LANG variable for all users. This is the only way to change LANG for all displays in multi-display systems. Here is the procedure:

Check to see if the /etc/dt/config/Xconfig file exists on your system. If not, copy it from /usr/dt/config/Xconfig. Do not try to edit the /usr/dt/config/Xconfig file directly.
Edit the /etc/dt/config/Xconfig file and change the following line (see Appendix A for a listing of all locales):
Dtlogin*language: <lang>
For example:
- To set the German iso8859-1 locale for all displays/users:
  Dtlogin*language: de_DE.iso88591
- To set the German iso8859-1 locale for a specific display (’hpabcd’):
  Dtlogin.hpabcd_0.language: de_DE.iso88591
CAUTION: Make sure you DO NOT include a space or tab at the end of the <lang> value (de_DE.iso88591). This will cause the LANG variable to be incorrect and the locale will not be set properly.
Then execute: /sbin/init.d/dtlogin.rc reset
Log out and login again

The Dtlogin client reads the appropriate message catalog for that locale and brings up the localized CDE login screen, if the user interface has been localized for the chosen locale. Otherwise, the login screen will come up in English. The Dtlogin client then determines the list of locales using the following resource in the /etc/dt/config/Xconfig file:

Dtlogin*languageList

Setting the Language for One User (.dtprofile file)

An individual user can override the system-wide LANG setting by changing his/her homedirectory/.dtprofile file. In this case, the login screen is not localized and LANG is set only for the current user.

Here is the procedure for customizing the .dtprofile file:

login user
Go to your HOME directory
Edit the .dtprofile file.
Add/Change the LANG environment variable.
For example:
- To set the locale to the French iso8859-1 locale
  LANG=fr_FR.iso88591
Save and exit
Log out and login again.

Setting the Locale for One Session (CDE Options menu)

To set the locale for one session, use the Options menu of the CDE Login Manager (the screen you see when you are ready to login to the system). By choosing a locale from this list, the LANG variable is set for the user on a per-login basis. The value of the LANG variable returns to its default value (as set in dtlogin, see above) when the user logs out at the end of the session.

Setting Default LANG on a Terminal Based System

Default language/codeset settings for terminal based systems are made by modifying the .profile or .cshrc file in the user’s home directory. For example:

To set the user's default login to the German utf8 locale, modify the following lines:
When using sh or ksh, edit the .profile file as follows:
    LANG=de_DE.utf8
    export LANG
When using csh, edit the .cshrc file as follows:
    setenv LANG de_DE.utf8
To set the user's default login to the Canadian French iso8859-1 locale, make the following modifications.
When using sh or ksh, edit the .profile file as follows:
    LANG=fr_CA.iso88591
    export LANG
When using csh, edit the .cshrc file as follows:
    setenv LANG fr_CA.iso88591

Setting Default LANG System Wide

You can set the default language and codeset settings for system-wide usage by modifying the /etc/rc.config.d/LANG file on your system. It is applied at system boot for all daemons that are localized. To set the default LANG variable for system-wide usage (using sh or ksh) modify the last two lines of the /etc/rc.config.d/LANG file as shown below:

# vi /etc/rc.config.d/LANG #!/sbin/sh # @(#)B11.31 # Language preference. See lang(5), hpnls(5) # # LANG: Locale name # # Note: if using the default C locale, many commands will # execute faster if LANG is not set. LANG=fr_CA.iso88591 export LANG