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Processing XML files

Inge van den Hurk

Some time ago I translated a large project for a client. It consisted of hundreds of XML files which together formed the online Help for a software product. I used Studio 2015 SR3 for the translation. While working on the project, I soon noticed that many sentences had been split up into several segments. I even had segments consisting of only a full stop. I contacted the client but they could not help me or provide the source in a different format. I struggled on, but was often forced to use multiple translations for identical source segments.

A few months after finishing the project, I decided to have a look at the translated online Help, and was shocked to find out that the segments for which multiple translations had been provided, had reverted to the source language! Here is an example from an XML file (I’ve had to anonymize some of the file/folder names):

   <para styleclass="Normal"><text styleclass="Normal" translate="true">Opens the </text><link displaytype="text" defaultstyle="true" type="topiclink" href="File_Name" styleclass="Normal" translate="true">Recycle Bin</link><text styleclass="Normal" translate="true"> dialog for </text><link displaytype="text" defaultstyle="true" type="topiclink" href="File_Name" domain="..\FolderName\FileName.hmxp" styleclass="Normal" translate="true">managing deleted documents</link><text styleclass="Normal" translate="true">.</text></para>

In Studio, the above sentence was presented in 5 segments (the last one consisting of a full stop):

Opens the

Recycle Bin

dialog for

managing deleted documents

.

The first of these segments ("Opens the") had reverted back to the original English text in the online Help, even though I had translated it.

How can I prevent sentences from being split up in the manner indicated above?
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  • 0

    It looks like the project was prepared incorrectly - using the generic "XML: Any" filetype (which extracts content of any element into separate segment) instead of creating proper filetype tailored for the specific XML structure.
    Was it you who created the project, or the client?
  • 0 in reply to Evzen Polenka
    They just provided me with about 600 XML files. I must admit, at the time I did not know how to create a project (I do now), so I translated all the files separately using the 'Translate Single Document' option. But I received a follow-up job from the same client (again, a load of XML files) for which I did create a project first. The segments were split up in the same way again. Did I do anything wrong, do you think?
  • 0 in reply to Inge van den Hurk
    Obviously...
    Your client and you should be both technically skilled enough to understand the structure of the XML files, identify which elements should be structure elements (i.e. creating the segments) and which ones should be internal elements (i.e. representing for example formatting, etc.). Based on this knowledge you then create appropriate file type definition, tailored specifically for these XML files. This ensures that the XML content is loaded correctly in Studio, so that the segments actually make sense, etc.
  • 0 in reply to Evzen Polenka
    Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The thing is, I’m an experienced freelance translator, but I’ve never come across this issue before, so I’m not sure how I could have built up the necessary skills. Unfortunately, I find the online SDL product Help not that helpful in this respect. (Must be to do with my obviously inadequate technical skills…)
  • 0 in reply to Inge van den Hurk
    Hello ,

    Everyone has to start somewhere and the topic isn't documented as a tutorial to handling XML anywhere in the help. There are some guidelines, but if you are not familiar with XML then it may be hard to follow. Perhaps take a look at this article and then have another go at creating a filetype for one of your files. Once you get it so the elements are not segmented, which is perfectly possible with the correct parser rules, then you can test it with a bunch more of the files in a single Studio Project.

    multifarious.filkin.com/.../

    Regards

    Paul

    Paul Filkin | RWS Group

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