How to manage languages in SAP Lumira Desktop

[Former Member]

Sometime we need to deploy BI tools in a international environment. Then we are facing a big challenge : how can we handle multilingual support ?

The main objective is to display content in the language of the user. That mean :

• Translate SAP Lumira interface : this tool is already available in 9 languages, this can be changed in preferences. This is not the most difficult part
• Translate the names of measures and dimensions (metadata) :  users will be able to manipulate objects they understand
• Translate the data (for example country names or product names) : users will see data in their language

Difference between Metadata and Data in SAP Lumira

1. Summary

Here is a quick overview of what we can do. You will find more explanation in the next parts. I used Lumira 1.25 and SAP HANA revision 82 for screenshots.

Datasource	Translation of data	Translation of metadata
SAP HANA	Not yet...	Not yet...
Univers (UNX)	Yes, if you translate your UNX univers	Yes, you can use variable to apply filters in your univers

2. Translate names of measures and dimensions

A) SAP HANA datasource

In HANA views (Analytic View or Calculation View) we can define a label for each column.

In SAP HANA Studio, we can define only one label for each column. The labels should be maintained in the package original language (defined when creating the package).

There is a tool called Repository Translation Tool*, who permit to translate labels of Attribute, Analytics and Calculation views. But Lumira can't read these translations (not yet). So when we use SAP HANA as a datasource in Lumira, we retrieve original labels.

Conclusion : every users get the same labels.

* for more information, see SAP HANA Developper Guide, chapter SAP HANA Repository Translation Tool

B) Universe (UNX)

First, you need to translate your UNX universe with the Translation Management Tool. For more information, see SAP Note 1945735 - How to translate a .unx universe using the Translation Management Tool in BI4.0 and BI4.1.

Once your universe is translated, you have to connect to BI Launchpad and change your preferences. Set your Preferred Viewing Locale (PVL), select French for example.

The PVL is now defined for your BI account. This setting will be used in Lumira to display the translations. Be careful : if you select the option "Use browser locale", it won't work ! Unfortunately you have to select a specific language.

Now, you can open SAP Lumira and create a new document based on your universe. You will see objects translated in the language you choose in your preferences. Note that the translation of universe objects is not linked to SAP Lumira product language. It depend of the Preferred Viewing Locale of your BI account.

3. Translate data

To translate data, you must have tables with translated labels in your database. For example, you can have a CATEGORY_LABEL table with labels in French and in English. Depending on the users language, we will display English or French labels.

A) SAP HANA datasource

In SAP HANA database, it's possible to get the user's session language, and to display the data in the appropriate language. Here is a solution in the main lines :

• Create a SQL procedure who returns the user's session language (with SESSION_CONTEXT('LOCALE') variable)
• Create an analytic view who returns data in English and French, with a column LANGUAGE
• Create an analytic privileges to filter the analytic view, and assign restriction on the LANGUAGE column, using the SQL procedure (Catalog procedure type)

This is working in SAP HANA Studio. Depending on the locale you set in your connection, you will get data in French or in English.

But in SAP Lumira, it seems that the language is not supported. A SAP Note has been released : 2110120 - Lumira Desktop and HANA session language support.

SAP Lumira don't support HANA session language.

B) Universe (UNX)

In the Information Design Tool, we have some variables to get the user preferred viewing locale (PVL). We can use it in the Data Foundation to apply filter on tables.

With this filter, the user will get the data in the right language, according to the PVL defined in his preferences.

In SAP Lumira, when you create a query based on the universe, you will get the data in the language defined in the PVL on your BI account. This work the same way as the translation of universe objects. Again, if you select "Use browser locale" in your preferences, it won't work in SAP Lumira !