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<article id="language" lang="&language;">
<articleinfo>
<title>Country/Region &amp; Language</title>
<authorgroup>
<author>&Mike.McBride; &Mike.McBride.mail;</author>
<author>&Krishna.Tateneni; &Krishna.Tateneni.mail;</author>
<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
 </authorgroup>

	  <date>2011-11-28</date>
	  <releaseinfo>4.8</releaseinfo>

	  <keywordset>
		<keyword>KDE</keyword>
		<keyword>Systemsettings</keyword>
		<keyword>locale</keyword>
		<keyword>country</keyword>
		<keyword>language</keyword>
	  </keywordset>
</articleinfo>


<sect1 id="locale">

<title>Country/Region &amp; Language</title>

<para>
This module of the &kde; &systemsettings; allows you to select customization
options that depend on the region of the world that you happen to live in.
There are seven different tabs in this module, each of which is described in
detail in the following sections.
</para>

<para>
In most cases, you can simply select the country and the language, and the
other options will be set in an appropriate manner.
</para>

<para>
Below the tabs of this module you can see a preview of what the settings look
like. In addition to positive and negative numbers, you can see how positive
and negative currency values, long and short dates, and times are displayed.
When you change any of the settings, the preview shows the effects of the
changes before you apply them.
</para>

<para>
Each setting option in the various tabs has an individual Default button which
is activated whenever that setting is different to your country default value.
Clicking on the button will restore only that setting to your Country default.
</para>


<sect2 id="locale-country">

<title>Country</title>

<para>
In this tab you can select the country or region that you want to use.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Country</guilabel> drop down box contains the list of available
countries and will initially show your currently selected country. If the
selection shows <quote>System Country</quote> then you have not set a country
and are defaulting to the Country set by the system, which will also be shown.
Changing the country will automatically change the settings to the defaults for
that country, except were you have set your own settings which will be left
unchanged.  You can easily see where your personal settings differ from the
country settings by looking at the Default button next to the individual
setting. If the button is enabled then your personal setting is different and
you can click on the button to restore the country setting for that option
only.
</para>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-languages">

<title>Language</title>

<para>
In this tab you can set your preferred languages for the &kde; Workspace and
Applications to be displayed in.
</para>

<para>
The &kde; Workspace and Applications are written in American English and are
translated into many different languages by teams of volunteers. These
translations need to be installed first before you can choose to use them. The
list of <guilabel>Available Languages</guilabel> shows what KDE translations
are available on your system. If the language you want to use is not shown in
this list then you will need to install it using the usual method for your
system. Your system may have enabled the
<guilabel>Install more languages</guilabel> button to make this easy for you.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Preferred Languages</guilabel> list shows the languages that will
be used when displaying the &kde; Workspace and Applications. Because not all
of the KDE Workspace and Applications may be translated into every language
&kde; will try to find suitable translations for you by working down the
<guilabel>Preferred Languages</guilabel> list until it finds a translation. If
none of your preferred languages have a required translation then the original
American English will be used.
</para>

<para>
You can add a language to the <guilabel>Preferred Languages</guilabel> list by
selecting it in the <guilabel>Available Languages</guilabel> and then clicking
on the Add arrow button. You can remove a language from the
<guilabel>Preferred Languages</guilabel> list by selecting it and then clicking
on the Remove arrow button. You can change the order of preference in the
<guilabel>Preferred Languages</guilabel> list by selecting a language and
clicking on the Up or Down arrow button.
</para>

<note>
<para>
Language and Country/Region are independent settings. Changing a language does
<emphasis>not</emphasis> automatically change the settings for numbers,
currency &etc; to the corresponding country or region. It will only change the
language used in displaying dates, such as month names.
</para>
</note>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-numbers">

<title>Numbers</title>

<para>
On this tab, you can select options for how numbers are displayed. The defaults
are selected automatically based on the country which is currently selected.
</para>

<para>In the first drop down box you can define the <guilabel>Digit grouping</guilabel> 
used to display numbers.</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Group separator</guilabel> text box you can type the character
that you want to use to separate groups of digits in numbers, usually a
<userinput>.</userinput> or a <userinput>,</userinput>. You should ensure that
this value is different to the <guilabel>Decimal separator</guilabel> setting.
The drop-down box provides a list of common values to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Decimal separator</guilabel> text box you can type the
character that you want to use to separate the decimal portion of numbers,
usually a <userinput>.</userinput> or a <userinput>,</userinput>. You should
ensure that this value is different to the <guilabel>Group separator</guilabel>
setting. The drop-down box provides a list of common values to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Decimal places</guilabel> spin box you can set the number of
decimal places displayed for numeric values, &ie; the number of digits
<emphasis>after</emphasis> the decimal separator.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Positive sign</guilabel> text box you can type the character
that you want to use to indicate positive numbers.  You should ensure that this
value is different to the <guilabel>Negative sign</guilabel> setting.  The
drop-down box provides a list of common values to choose from. This value may
also be used for monetary values depending on the
<guilabel>Positive format</guilabel> selected in the <guilabel>Money</guilabel>
tab.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Negative sign</guilabel> text box you can type the character
that you want to use to indicate negative numbers.  You should ensure that this
value is different to the <guilabel>Positive sign</guilabel> setting.  The
drop-down box provides a list of common values to choose from. This value may
also be used for monetary values depending on the
<guilabel>Negative format</guilabel> selected in the <guilabel>Money</guilabel>
tab.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Digit set</guilabel> drop down box lists digit sets which may be
used instead of Arabic digits when displaying numbers. If you select a digit
set other than Arabic, it will be applied only to numbers which appear in a
language context that uses that digit set while Arabic digits are still going
to be used elsewhere, &eg; Arabic-Indic digits will be applied to Arabic but
not to American English.
</para>

<para>
Note that digit grouping, group separator, decimal separator, decimal places, positive format,
negative format and the digit set used to display monetary values has to be set
separately on the <guilabel>Money</guilabel> tab.
</para>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-money">

<title>Money</title>

<para>
On this tab, you can select options for how monetary values are displayed. The
defaults are selected automatically based on the country which is currently
selected.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Currency</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the currency
you want to use when displaying monetary values.  This will default to the main
currency in use in your selected country. You can choose a different currency
from the drop-down box, which displays the names of all available currencies
their ISO 4217 standard Currency Code. The currencies used in your selected
country are listed at the top, followed by all the other currencies. Changing
the currency will also update the <guilabel>Currency symbol</guilabel> to use
the default symbol for that currency, but no other format settings will be
changed.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Currency symbol</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the
currency symbol you want to use when displaying monetary values.  This will
default to the usual symbol of the currency you have selected in the
<guilabel>Currency</guilabel> drop-down box. This will only allow you to select
a valid currency symbol for the currency code to prevent inconsistent choices,
such as choosing US Dollars but showing the Pound Sterling symbol £ instead.
This setting will automatically be changed when you change the
<guilabel>Currency</guilabel> setting.
</para>

<para>In the next drop down box you can define the <guilabel>Digit grouping</guilabel> 
used to display monetary values.</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Group separator</guilabel> text box you can type the character
that you want to use to separate groups of digits in monetary values, usually a
<userinput>.</userinput> or a <userinput>,</userinput>. You should ensure that
this value is different to the <guilabel>Decimal separator</guilabel> setting.
The drop-down box provides a list of common values to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Decimal separator</guilabel> text box you can type the
character that you want to use to separate the decimal portion of monetary
values, usually a <userinput>.</userinput> or a <userinput>,</userinput>. You
should ensure that this value is different to the
<guilabel>Group separator</guilabel> setting. The drop-down box provides a list
of common values to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Decimal places</guilabel> spin box you can set the number of
decimal places displayed for monetary values, &ie; the number of digits
<emphasis>after</emphasis> the decimal separator.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Positive format</guilabel> drop-down box you can select how
you want positive monetary values to be displayed. The drop-down box displays a
list of four sample formats that you can choose from, combining the options for
where the <guilabel>Currency symbol</guilabel> and the numeric value
<guilabel>Positive sign</guilabel> are displayed. You can also choose to
replace the numeric value <guilabel>Positive sign</guilabel> with brackets.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Negative format</guilabel> drop-down box you can select how
you want negative monetary values to be displayed. The drop-down box displays a
list of ten sample formats that you can choose from, combining the options for
where the <guilabel>Currency symbol</guilabel> and the numeric value
<guilabel>Negative sign</guilabel> are displayed. You can also choose to
replace the numeric value <guilabel>Negative sign</guilabel> with brackets.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Digit set</guilabel> drop down box lists digit sets which may be
used instead of Arabic digits when displaying money. If you select a digit
set other than Arabic, it will be applied only to numbers which appear in a
language context that uses that digit set while Arabic digits are still going
to be used elsewhere, &eg; Arabic-Indic digits will be applied to Arabic but
not to American English.
</para>

<para>
Note that digit grouping, group separator, decimal separator, decimal places, positive sign,
negative sign and the digit set used to display numeric values has to be set
separately on the <guilabel>Numbers</guilabel> tab.
</para>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-calendar">

<title>Calendar</title>

<para>
On this tab, you can select options for how calendar information is displayed.
The defaults are selected automatically based on the country which is currently
selected.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Calendar system</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the
calendar system to be used when displaying or inputting dates. This will
default to the main calendar system in use in your selected country, usually
the Gregorian calendar. Changing the calendar system will also update the
various weekday name drop-down combos with the names of days of the week in the
new calendar system, will enable or disable the <guilabel>Use Common Era</guilabel>
tick box and may change the value of the <guilabel>Short year window</guilabel>
setting.
</para>

<para>
Note that the Gregorian calendar used is a hybrid of the Julian calendar up to
Thursday 4 October 1582 and the Gregorian calendar from Friday 15 October 1582,
leaving a <quote>gap</quote> of ten <quote>missing</quote> days. We are aware
this conversion date is not factually correct for all countries, however this
is how Qt have chosen to implement the Gregorian calendar and we wish to remain
consistent with them.
</para>

<para>
If you have selected the Gregorian calendar system then the <guilabel>Use
Common Era</guilabel> tick box will be enabled. This allows you to choose to
use the Common Era (CE/BCE) instead of the Christian Era (AD/BC) when
displaying and inputting dates. See the <guilabel>Date &amp; Time</guilabel>
tab for how to set this up.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Short year window</guilabel> option is only used when you choose
to use a short two digit year format (YY) in the <guilabel>Long date
format</guilabel> or <guilabel>Short date format</guilabel> settings in the
<guilabel>Date &amp; Time</guilabel> tab.  When inputting a short year value,
&eg; 10, the system must guess what century that year falls in. By setting
the <guilabel>Short year window</guilabel> you tell the system how you want the
short year to be interpreted, &eg; whether 50 is interpreted as 1950 or 2050.
This window can be set differently for each calendar system as they all use
different epochs (start dates). For example, the Hebrew calendar is into its
58th century (2010 Gregorian is roughly 5771 Hebrew), so may use a window of
5750 to 5850.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>First day of week</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose
which weekday is considered the first day of the week.  This value is often
used when displaying calendar tables to determine which day is listed first.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>First working day of week</guilabel> drop-down box you can
choose which weekday is considered the first working day of the week. This
value is often used when displaying calendar tables to determine when the
weekend is.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Last working day of week</guilabel> drop-down box you can
choose which weekday is considered the last working day of the week. This
value is often used when displaying calendar tables to determine when the
weekend is.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Week day for special religious observance</guilabel> drop-down
box you can choose which weekday is regularly used for special religious
observances. This value is often used when displaying calendar tables to
<quote>red letter</quote> a certain day. If you do not have any particular
weekday for religious observance then you can choose the
<parameter>None / None in particular</parameter> option.
</para>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-datetime">

<title>Date &amp; Time</title>

<para>
On this tab, you can select options for how date and time values are input or
displayed. The defaults are selected automatically based on the country which
is currently selected.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Time format</guilabel> text box you can enter the format that
you want to use to input and display times. The format entered is a combination
of special codes representing time components and literal text used to separate
the time components. The special time component codes are listed below. You can
set the format to any combination of time components you like, but you should
always include at least an hour and minutes portion to allow you to input times
that are not ambiguous. The drop-down box provides a list of common time
formats in your currently selected language to choose from.
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>HH</parameter> - The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock
(00-23).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>hH</parameter> - The hour as a decimal number using a 24-hour clock
(0-23).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>PH</parameter> - The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock
(01-12).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>pH</parameter> - The hour as a decimal number using a 12-hour clock
(1-12).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>MM</parameter> - The minutes as a decimal number (00-59).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>SS</parameter> - The seconds as a decimal number (00-59).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>AMPM</parameter> - Either 'AM' or 'PM' according to the given time
value. Noon is treated as 'PM' and midnight as 'AM'. You should always include
this code if you are using the 12-hour clock codes <parameter>PH</parameter> or
<parameter>pH</parameter> to prevent ambiguity when entering times.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>
In the <guilabel>AM symbol</guilabel> text box you can enter the symbol that
you want to use to input or display for AM when using a 12-hour clock. The
drop-down box provides a list of common symbols for your currently selected
language to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>PM symbol</guilabel> text box you can enter the symbol that
you want to use to input or display for PM when using a 12-hour clock. The
drop-down box provides a list of common symbols for your currently selected
language to choose from.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Long date format</guilabel> text box you can enter the format
that you want to use to input and display long dates. The format entered is a
combination of special codes representing date components and literal text used
to separate the date components. The special date component codes are listed
below. You can set the format to any combination of date components you like,
but you should always include at least enough components to uniquely identify a
day in the year, &eg; a month and day, to allow you to input dates that are not
ambiguous. If you don't include a year component then the current year will be
used. The drop-down box provides a list of common date formats in your
currently selected language to choose from.
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>YYYY</parameter> - The year with century as a decimal number
(0000-9999).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>YY</parameter> - The year without century as a decimal number
(00-99).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>MM</parameter> - The month as a decimal number (01-12).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>mM</parameter> - The month as a decimal number (1-12).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>MONTH</parameter> - The full month name.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>SHORTMONTH</parameter> - The first three characters of the month
name.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>DD</parameter> - The day of month as a decimal number (01-31).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>dD</parameter> - The day of month as a decimal number (1-31).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>WEEKDAY</parameter> - The full weekday name.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>SHORTWEEKDAY</parameter> - The first three characters of the weekday
name.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>ERAYEAR</parameter> - The Era Year in local format (&eg; 2000 AD).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>SHORTERANAME</parameter> - The short Era Name (&eg; AD).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>YEARINERA</parameter> - The Year in Era as a decimal number
(&eg; 2000).
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>DAYOFYEAR</parameter> - The Day of Year as a decimal number.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>ISOWEEK</parameter> - The ISO Week as a decimal number.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<parameter>DAYOFISOWEEK</parameter> - The Day of the ISO Week as a decimal
number.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Short date format</guilabel> text box you can enter the format
that you want to use to input and display short dates. This is in the same
format as the <guilabel>Long date format</guilabel>, please read that section
for more details. The drop-down box provides a list of common date formats in
your currently selected language to choose from.
</para>

<para>
The <guilabel>Digit set</guilabel> drop down box lists digit sets which may be
used instead of Arabic digits when displaying dates and times. If you select a
digit set other than Arabic, it will be applied only to numbers which appear in
a language context that uses that digit set while Arabic digits are still going
to be used elsewhere, &eg; Arabic-Indic digits will be applied to Arabic but
not to American English.
</para>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="locale-other">

<title>Other</title>

<para>
On this tab, you can select how other options are displayed. The defaults are
selected automatically based on the country which is currently selected.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Page size</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the page
size to use as the default for new documents, &eg; in KWord. Note that this
setting does not affect your default paper size in the print dialog, to set
that you need to use the Printers module of the &kde; &systemsettings;.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Measurement system</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the
measurement system to use, either metric or imperial.
</para>

<para>
In the <guilabel>Byte size units</guilabel> drop-down box you can choose the
unit system to use when displaying numbers counted in bytes.  Traditionally
<quote>kilobytes</quote> meant units of 1024 instead of the metric 1000 for
most but not all byte sizes. To reduce confusion you can choose which system
you prefer. The available unit systems are listed below.
</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
The <parameter>IEC Units</parameter> standard is always in multiples of 1024.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
The <parameter>Metric Units</parameter> standard is always in multiples of 1000.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
The <parameter>JEDEC Units</parameter> standard uses the traditional units used
in &kde; 3.5 and some other operating systems.
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

</sect1>

</article>
