MULTI-VALUED LOCALIZED STRINGS

A computer-implemented method for making a data item available to a user program and a source program. The method includes providing a user interface for the user program to gain access to the data item for reading or writing, providing a source interface for the source program to gain access to the data item for reading or writing, providing a user locale and a source locale, providing a user buffer and a source buffer to store the data item, maintaining status memory to store the status of the user buffer contents and the source buffer contents, setting the status of the source buffer to be non-current and the user buffer to be current when new data is stored in the user buffer through the user interface, setting the status of the user buffer to be non-current and the source buffer to be current when new data is stored in the source buffer through the source interface, satisfying a request from the user interface to read the data item by reading the contents of the user buffer if the status of the user buffer is current and converting the contents of the source buffer from the source locale to the user locale and storing the converted contents in the user buffer before the user buffer is read if the status of the user buffer is non-current, and satisfying a request from the source interface to read the data item by reading the contents of the source buffer if the status of the source buffer is current and converting the contents of the user buffer from the user locale to the source locale and storing the converted contents in the source buffer before the source buffer is read if the status of the source buffer is non-current.