filler30.gif (46 octets) This software is 100 % customisable for all the text appearing on screen.

This application use XML files as input for the display of menus, tool tips, labels, buttons, warning messages, error messages, etc...

So, because files are XML file and Visual XML is a XML editor, we will translate ourself using Visual XML ( you can use Notepad if you wish :-). Change to the directory of your choice and load a XML file. Do the edition you want. Save your work. Exit Visual XML and restart it. Edit the runnit.bat file to load your new translated file.

A french version is available in the french directory. To execute it, run the fr-runnit.bat program in the visxml root directory. Text is longer in french than in english, so button are often to short for the text in the Metal lnterface. Use the Windows interface to see them correctly or change width of buttons in individual XML files.

If you translate it in another language than english or french and you are proud of your work, you can send me an email with the translated files attached and they will be included in a next download. This way, peoples will benefit of your labour.

Before you start doing modifications on the following files, make a copy of it. So, if you face some problems, you can reinstall the original. One important notice here is to never change the id attribute of an element. This can cause malfunction in the program.


The english version is stored in the english directory.

The french version is stored in the french directory.

The main program XML file is visual.xml

The 'word' elements of the 'dictionary' element contains text used in message and other application specific area.

The 'Value' attribute of the 'word' element can be changed.
The 'Title' attribute of the 'window' element can be changed.
The 'Caption' attribute of 'menubar' element can be changed.
The 'Caption' attribute of 'menuitem' element can be changed.
The 'Tip' attribute of the 'tool' element can be changed.
The 'Caption' attribute of the 'tab' element can be changed.


The DTD notation maintenance page is vis-notation.xml
The DTD entity maintenance page is vis-entity.xml
The DTD element maintenance page is vis-element.xml
The DTD content model maintenance page is vis-content.xml
The DTD attribute maintenance page is vis-attribute.xml
The XML element maintenance page is xml-element.xml
The XML attribute maintenance page is xml-attribute.xml
The XML set root page is xml-root.xml
The XML #PCDATA maintenance page is xml-pcdata.xml

For all the above files:
The 'Title' attribute of the 'titledBorder' element can be changed.
The 'Caption' attribute of the 'label' element can be changed.
The 'Caption' attribute of the 'button' element can be changed.
The 'Tip' attribute of the 'button' element can be changed.


Modifications of shortcut keys and accelerator keys are a little more complicated.

Menu bars, menu items and buttons can have shortcut key. The Shortcut key is a fast way to access a menu bar, a menu item or a button. The shortcut should be one letter of the word you wish to access. This letter will be underline in the menu bar, the menu item or the button.

A fast way to access the File Open menu is to press the Alt key and while this key is hold, press the letter F and press the letter O. This occurs because the shortcut of the File menu bar is 'F' and the shortcut of the Open menu item is 'O'. The File menu bar has the letter F underline and the Open menu item has the letter O underline showing the user which key should be pressed to activate this menu or button.

A shortcut can not be duplicate in menu bars. Under a menu bar, a shortcut can not be duplicate between menu items. In a page, a shortcut can not be duplicate between buttons and menu bars.

For a menu bar, choose one letter of the word as a shortcut and verify that no other menu bar use the same letter. The Shortcut attribute of the MenuBar element can be changed.

For a menu item, choose one letter of the word as a shortcut and verify that no other menu items under the parent menu bar use the same letter. The Shortcut attribute of the MenuItem element can be changed.

For a button, choose one letter of the word as a shortcut and verify that no other menu bar or other button on this page uses the same letter. The Shortcut attribute of the Button element can be changed.


Menu items can have accelerator key. The accelerator key is an application wide way of invoking a command. If the option menu is enabled, by pressing the accelerator key and optionally the modifier key, this action is equivalent to select the menu bar and the menu item associate with the key combination.

A fast way to invoke the Edit Copy command is to press the Control key and while holding this key, press the letter C. This occurs because the accelerator keys of the Edit Copy command is Ctrl+C. Here, the letter 'C' is the accelerator and the modifier is 'Control'.

For a menu item, choose a unique combination of one letter and a modifier. The Accelerator attribute and the Mask attribute of the MenuItem element can be changed. The Mask attribute can be one of 'Shift','Control','Alt' or 'Meta'.

The Accelerator attribute can be a letter from 'A' to 'Z', number from '0' to '9' and controls keys 'F1' to 'F12', 'Up', 'Down', 'Right', 'Left', 'Home', 'End', 'Add', 'Subtract', 'Delete', 'Insert', 'Page_Down', 'Page_Up' and 'Escape'. With control keys, the use of a Mask attribute is optional.

As an example, we will install the accelerator Alt+S to the View Sort menu item. This combination is not used, so we are free to use it. We gave the Accelerator attribute the value 'S' and set the Mask attribute to 'Alt' in the MenuItem element .

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