The PROPATH is a system environment variable that supplies a list of directories that the 4GL searches to find procedures and application files. For Windows environments, you specify the PROPATH environment variable in the registry or in the [Startup] section of the environment (.ini) file. The Translation Manager tool reads its configuration information from the registry. The Visual Translator tool relies on the .ini file that you send to your translators along with the kit.
Before you start the Translation Manager tool, set PROPATH in the registry to the same setting you would use if you were developing the source code. You must add the full pathname of the source-code root directory to the PROPATH environment variable. One of the Translation Manager’s functions is to compile translated source code, so you must re-create the directory structure that developers used when they wrote the original application. The PROPATH variable tells the system which files to include when compiling and running an application. The PROPATH setting is stored within compiled r‑code and is part of an application’s execution plan. Changing the location of r‑code with relation to the directory structure in PROPATH prevents OpenEdge from successfully running an application.
The PROPATH should contain the following directories in this order. Specifying a different order might cause source code to be compiled again:
1. The current working directory (the directory from which you will start your application
2. $DLC/gui
3. $DLC
4. The root directory that will contain the translated r‑code
5. The root directory that contains the untranslated r‑code for the source language
6. The source code root directory (.p, .w, and .i code)
Note: The root directory selection you make depends on whether you want source subroutines or target subroutines at run time.
Specifying these directories allows the Translation Manager to compile and run the translated code. For more information about the PROPATH environment variable file, see OpenEdge Getting Started: Installation and Configuration and OpenEdge Deployment: Managing ABL Applications. When you deploy a translated application, you deploy only the translated r‑code; the application does not require the original source code or the untranslated r‑code to run. For information on deploying r‑code, see OpenEdge Getting Started: ABL Essentials and OpenEdge Development: Internationalizing Applications.
