Method and apparatus for localizing Web applications

1. A method comprising:

receiving at a Web server, a file index associated with a plurality of localized strings of data;

loading the file index into a memory device associated with the Web server;

identifying pointers to frequently used localized strings of the plurality of localized strings;

caching the identified pointers at the Web server, so that in response to a user request for Web content, a localized string responsive to the user request can be identified in a single call when identified by a cached pointer;

processing user requests for Web content which are received by the Web server; and

indicating results of the processing for display in response to the user requests.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of localized strings has an associated language.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of localized strings has an associated locale.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of localized strings has an associated language and an associated locale.

5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein processing the user requests for Web content includes:

identifying at least one localized string associated with a request for Web content; and

validating the at least one localized string.

6. A method as recited in claim 5 further comprising using the at least one localized string to process requests for Web content if the at least one localized string is validated.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein identifying pointers to frequently used localized strings includes identifying one or more commonly used languages.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein identifying pointers to frequently used localized strings includes identifying one or more frequently requested locales.

9. One or more computer-readable memories containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform the method recited in claim 1 .

10. A method comprising:

receiving at a Web server, a request from a client for content in a particular language, wherein the Web server includes a file index associated with a plurality of localized strings, and further includes a cache of identifying pointers to frequently used localized strings of the plurality of localized strings, so that a string resource responsive to the request can be identified in a single call when identified by a cached pointer;

identifying from the request, at least one string associated with the requested content, wherein the at least one string is associated with the particular language;

determining whether a pointer to the at least one string is stored in the cache;

if the pointer is stored in the cache:

retrieving the pointer from the cache; and

retrieving the at least one string using the pointer;

if the pointer is not stored in the cache, retrieving the at least one string from a storage device; and

indicating content referenced by the at least one string for display in response to the request.

11. A method as recited in claim 10 further comprising generating the content referenced by the at least one string.

12. A method as recited in claim 10 further comprising validating the at least one string.

13. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein the at least one string has an associated locale.

14. A method as recited in claim 10 wherein retrieving the at least one string from a storage device includes:

identifying a string index associated with the at least one string; and

locating the at least one string using the string index.

15. One or more computer-readable memories containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform the method recited in claim 10 .

16. A method comprising:

receiving at a Web server, a request from a client for content in a particular language, wherein the server includes a file index associated with a plurality of localized strings, and further includes a cache of identifying pointers to frequently used localized strings of the plurality of localized strings, so that a string resource responsive to the request can be identified in a single call when identified by a cached pointer;

identifying at least one string associated with the requested content, wherein the at least one string is associated with the particular language;

determining the at least one string is stored in the cache;

retrieving the at least one string from the cache; and

indicating results of the retrieving for display in response to the request.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising providing the requested content to the client.

18. A method as recited in claim 16 further comprising validating the retrieved string to determine whether the retrieved string is corrupted.

19. A method as recited in claim 16 wherein retrieving the at least one string from a storage device includes:

identifying a string index associated with the at least one string; and

locating the at least one string using the string index.

20. One or more computer-readable memories containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform the method recited in claim 16 .

21. An apparatus comprising:

an interface to receive requests for Web content and to send responses to the received requests;

a cache to temporarily store pointers to frequently used localized strings of data, so that a string resource responsive to the user request can be identified in a single call when identified by a cached pointer; and

a processor coupled to the interface and the cache, wherein the processor is configured to receive requests for Web content from the interface and receive pointers from the cache, wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve a particular localized string using a pointer if the cache contains a pointer to the particular localized string, and wherein the processor retrieves the particular localized string from a storage device the cache does not contain a pointer to the particular localized string.

22. An apparatus as recited in claim 21 wherein each localized string has an associated language.

23. An apparatus as recited in claim 21 wherein each localized string has an associated locale.

24. An apparatus as recited in claim 21 wherein the processor is further configured to validate localized strings.

25. One or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive at a Web server, a file index associated with a plurality of localized strings, wherein each of the plurality of localized strings has an associated language;

load the file index into a memory device associated with the Web server;

identify pointers to commonly used localized strings of the plurality of localized strings;

cache the identified pointers at the Web server, so that in response to a user request, a string resource responsive to the user request can be identified in a single call if identified by a cached pointer; and

process user requests for localized data

indicate results of the processing for display in response to the user requests.

26. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 25 wherein each of the plurality of localized strings has an associated locale.

27. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 25 wherein the one or more processors further:

identify at least one localized string associated with a request for localized data; and

validate the at least one localized string.

28. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 25 wherein the one or more processors further:

identify at least one localized string associated with a request for localized data;

validate the identified localized string; and

process the identified localized string if the identified localized string is validated.

29. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 25 wherein the commonly used localized strings are identified based on frequently requested languages.