Identity Manager Localization: Resource Bundle Configuration for 4-Character Language Codes

Products

• CA Identity Manager
• CA Identity Suite

Issue/Introduction

When configuring Identity Manager to support multiple languages, administrators may use 2-character (short, e.g., "en") or 4-character (long, e.g., "en_CA") language codes.

This article details the specific configuration requirements for resource bundles when using 4-character browser locales to ensure proper string resolution across primary and secondary servers.

Environment

Identity Manager 14.x & v15

Cause

• Localization strings fail to load in the browser for specific regional locales (e.g., Canada, Australia).
• The User Interface defaults to a fallback language despite correct 4-character locale settings in the browser.
• Resource bundle files are not recognized by the Identity Manager engine.

Resolution

When the browser or user preference is configured for a 4-character language format (e.g., "en_CA"), localization support must be configured as follows:

• Resource Bundle Pairs: If both "en" and "en_CA" are expected user language preferences, you must create a dedicated resource bundle pair for each specific string. This requires unique resource and exception files for every locale variant.
  • Example:
    • IMSExceptions_en.properties / IMSResources_en.properties (Short format)
    • IMSExceptions_en_ca.properties / IMSResources_en_ca.properties (Long format)
• Naming Convention (Underscores vs. Dashes): For 4-character language formats, the property files must use underscores (_) rather than dashes (-).
  • Correct: IMSResources_en_ca.properties
  • Incorrect: IMSResources_en-ca.properties
• Consistency: Ensure these files are synchronized across all nodes in a high-availability or secondary server environment to prevent intermittent localization failures.