NLS, or National Language
Support, deals both with Internationalization and Localization of
SAS software. Internationalization is the process of designing an
application so that it can be adapted to different languages and regions,
without requiring engineering changes. Often the term internationalization
is abbreviated as
i18n, because there are
18 letters between the first i and the last n. Localization is the
process of adapting software for a particular region or language by
adding locale-specific components and translating text. The term localization
is often abbreviated as
L10n, because there
are 10 letters between the L and the n. Translation of user interface,
messages, and documentation is a large part (but not all) of localization.
Localizers also verify that the formatting of dates, numbers, currencies,
and so on, conforms to local requirements.
SAS 9 contains built-in
support for NLS character set encoding and locale choices. Users
access the NLS encoding and locale choices through various SAS, LIBNAME,
and data set options. SAS Scalable Performance Data (SPD) Server
and SAS together offer basic levels of NLS support. This document
describes the basic entities of NLS support and how they are implemented
in SPD Server