A number of the tags in the lms custom tag library, such as the button or img tags, contain
attributes that reference .properties file entries to supply language-specific text on the page. One
tag, the message tag, is specifically designed to retrieve .properties file entries. For example, the
title of the adminTemplate.jsp is supplied using the message tag. Instead of defining its title as
<title>IBM Lotus Learning Management System</title>, the adminTemplate.jsp specifies the
content of the HTML title tag as follows:
<title><lms:message key="application.title" /></title>
<lms:message … /> contains the backend code that looks up the string value to display on the
page. The key attribute of the message tag, key=”application.title,” defines the resource key in the
.properties file to retrieve. In this example, the resource key to retrieve is the application.title
resource key. At request time, the server executes the Java code specified in the message tag, it
determines which .properties file to associate with the current browser, and then retrieves from it
the resource key supplied by the key attribute. Since the ApplicationResource.properties file
contains the following resource key:
application.title = IBM Lotus Learning Management System
the title that displays on the adminTemplate JSP is “IBM Lotus Learning Management System.”
Using the message tag, you enable the application to dictate which text to display. For example,
the .properties file could supply the title in Spanish if the locale code specified by the browser
request is the Spanish language code “es.” In this case, the application retrieves the
application.title resource key from the ApplicationResource_es.properties file which can be set up
to contain a Spanish-language version of the title.
You can edit existing .properties file entries or add new entries to existing files. Any changes you
make to .properties file entries are reflected in any JSPs that references those entries.
To edit page text:
1. Open the .properties file for the language code you want to edit from the WEB-
INF>classes>resources>[serverName]>properties directory in a text editor.
If you are editing .properties files in a customization set, open the .properties file from the
[serverName]>WEB-INF>classes>resources>[serverName]>customSetName>properties
instead. See “Applying customization sets.”
2. Edit the resource key you want to change, then save and close the file.
3. Ask the server administrator to refresh the file on the server. Your changes are not
visible until this step is completed.
Adding and replacing graphics
You can add or replace the default graphics that display in the LMS application with your own
custom graphics files.
To add graphics:
1. Add a new image file by copying it into the [serverName]>images directory.
If you are adding a graphics file to a customization set, copy it to the
[serverName]>customSetName>images directory. See “Creating a customization set.”
2. Rewrite any references to the old file name with the new graphic file name.
For example, if the new graphic file is called userName.gif, you can replace the following
tag:
<lms:link><lms:img src=”images/name.gif”… /></lms:link>
with:
<lms:link><lms:img src=”images/userName.gif” … /></lms:link>
36 IBM Lotus Learning Management System Release 1 Customization Guide