VCS Internationalized Message Catalogs

VCS handles internationalized messages in binary message catalogs (BMCs) generated from source message catalogs (SMCs).

• A source message catalog (SMC) is a plain text catalog file encoded in ASCII or in UCS-2, a two-byte encoding of Unicode. Developers can create messages using a prescribed format and store them in an SMC.
• A binary message catalog (BMC) is a catalog file in a form that VCS can use. BMCs are generated from SMCs through the use of the bmcgen utility.

Each VCS module requires a BMC. For example, the VCS engine (HAD), GAB, and LLT require distinct BMCs, as do each enterprise agent and each custom agent. For agents, a BMC is required for each operating system platform.

Once generated, BMCs must be placed in specific directories that correspond to the module and the language of the message. You can run the bmcmap utility within the specific directory to create a BMC map file, an ASCII text file that links BMC files with their corresponding module, language, and range of message IDs. The map file enables VCS to manage the BMC files.

You can change an existing SMC file to generate an updated BMC file.