Cleartrade Exchange working on new GUI

Cleartrade Exchange recently announced plans to work with Tradex Systems to develop a new graphical user interface that will implement Chinese language features for its CLTX Marketplace system. The GUI design change will be implemented in the form of a new API that interacts with the separate Cleartrade and Tradex solutions, RFP Connect reported.

Zhi Rui Ang, operations director for CLTX, told the news source that the Chinese market has grown increasingly interested in the CLTX trading marketplace, making an upgrade to the system's GUI critical for support within the growing market.

"Since our launch last year we have had growing interest from China, as much of our commodity portfolio relates to demand from the Chinese market," Zhi Rui told RFP Connect. "The Chinese-language interface will allow us to offer our Asia-based clients the technical solution they have been asking for. It will also mean that we can offer our service to Tradex’s existing client base in China ... We are keen to promote a centralized marketplace and increase liquidity, without being constrained by technological limitations."

Making a language-related upgrade to a GUI interface is among the more challenging adjustments companies can make to their application, web or mobile systems. While the process may seem simple enough at first, since the core function is simply translating the primary text into the new GUI, the interface also has to be adapted to the different types of characters, accent symbols and punctuation marks included in the language. Therefore, the entire interface also has to be recreated at the core code level in order to adjust the configuration of the entire solution to make it able to display the unique symbols in a language.

As if making the core symbols display effectively was not difficult enough, developers adapting a GUI in light of linguistic adjustments also have to think about the nuances of the text and how it will look on the screen. With some languages, smaller text is workable because the letters and symbols are clearly distinct even in a smaller format that is unclear. In others, nuances in how letters and words are displayed could easily be missed if the text is too small. Therefore, the entire setup of the GUI has to be considered from a visual standpoint as well, ensuring the various aspects of the language are clearly visible in text form on the electronic screen.

When working on an application that will include multiple languages, the GUI setup is an essential consideration.