Supported file formats in PASSOLO

PASSOLO Frequently asked questions

Supported file formats in PASSOLO?

PASSOLO was originally developed as a tool for the localization of programs containing Windows standard resources. The Add-In concept makes PASSOLO a secure investment. Add-Ins are already available for the major file formats in all editions. Additional Add-Ins can be purchased or developed and integrated by customers. The following file formats are supported.

Windows 32 bit binaries
All binary files (EXE, DLL, SYS, OCX) that contain standard Windows resources. This includes programs developed with Microsoft Visual C++ or other development environments. This includes programs for Windows CE or Pocket PC.

Windows 16 bit binaries
All binary files (EXE, DLL, SYS,...) that contain standard Windows resources. Thus, allowing the localization of older Windows applications.

Windows RC files
All resource script files (RC, RC2, DLG). ASCII and UNICODE encoding is supported.

Visual BASIC binary files
All binary files developed with Microsoft Visual BASIC 6 or previous versions. PASSOLO includes VBScan, a utility that simplifies the steps required for internationalizing Visual BASIC forms. This utility is based on Microsoft's recommended procedures for the internationalization of Visual BASIC programs.

XML files
With XML it is possible to describe texts that are more like continuous body texts, or data formats based on identifiers. Whereas continuous body text is a domain of translation memory systems, ID based XML documents can be processed extremely well using PASSOLO's XML Add-In. In addition to the extraction of text segments for translation and the integration of the translated text into the target document, the XML Add-In also offers the option of editing metadata. The metadata may include attributes or comments that provide additional information relevant to the localization. Combined with PASSOLO's macro functions, the configuration options for the XML Add-In allow a high level of automation and a tight integration with XML based localization workflows.

XLIFF files
XLIFF (XML Localisation Interchange File Format) is a XML based standard that defines an extensible specification for the interchange of localization information. Find more information about XLIFF on www.xliff.org. A configuration file, delivered with the XML Add-In enables PASSOLO to edit easily text based XLIFF files.

The Visual XLIFF Component for PASSOLO is a macro-based parser that supports processing of XLIFF files based on the XLIFF 1.1 Specification. In addition, the parser also supports the XLIFF Profile for Windows Resources. This specification describes how standard Windows resources are mapped in XLIFF. XLIFF files that follow this structure can be edited in PASSOLO. In addition to string lists, dialogs can also be displayed and modified.

Text files
Using the configurable text file parser (available from Professional Edition), text strings can be extracted from nearly every text file (e.g. source code files, internet script files, user defined file formats) and translated with PASSOLO. The parser supports different character encoding. Definable rules describing the start and the end of a text string can be entered. Beside simple rules regular expressions are supported. In addition to the text, ids and comments can be read. An interactive preview simplifies the construction of rules for own files formats.

Microsoft Installer Files
Using the parser for MSI files (available from Professional Edition), text strings can be extracted from all tables of a MSI file and translated with PASSOLO.

Optional Add-Ins


Using the optional file parser Add-Ins, it is also possible to process other types of resource files directly in PASSOLO. These Add-Ins enable PASSOLO to localize the following file formats:

Add-In for Microsoft .NET programs
All resources, generated with Microsoft .NET can be localized with this Add-In. This includes binary files (EXE, satellite DLLs und Assemblies) and resource files used for development (RESX und RESOURCE). In addition to the localization of text strings in table form, this Add-In provide WYSIWYG editors for displaying and processing dialogs, menus and bitmaps. Also Custom Properties of control elements can be localized.

Add-In for Borland Delphi/C++ Builder programs
All binary files (EXE, DLL, BPL) for programs generated using Borland Delphi and Borland C++ Builder. PASSOLO supports both the multibyte format used in Delphi 5 and UTF-8 format for Delphi 6. In addition to the localization of text strings in table form, this Add-In provide WYSIWYG editors for displaying and processing dialogs, menus and bitmaps.

Add-In for Java programs
All Java platforms (J2EE, J2SE, and J2ME) are supported. The resource data formats can be processed not only in Java source files, but also in compiled binary files and compressed JAR files.

  • Resource Property files have the file extension PROPERTIES and contain a simple list of IDs and strings.
  • ListResourceBundles are Java classes derived from the base java.util.ListResourceBundle or from another class derived from ListResourceBundle. The Java Add-In can process source files (JAVA) as well as compiled binary files (CLASS).
  • ArrayResourceBundles are Java classes, but their setup is slightly different. ArrayResourceBundles were introduced by Inprise Borland and Oracle. Once again, the Java Add-In can process both the source files and the compiled binary files.
  • JAR files can contain a complete Java application in compressed form, which simplifies the distribution and administration of components. The Java Add-In can extract property files and ResourceBundles from the files contained in a JAR file, and can insert the translations into the JAR file in compliance with the Java conventions.


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