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In this issue…
XML and the Localization Process
There has been much publicity in recent months regarding developments in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) area and the revolutionary changes that this standard will bring about in virtually every industry. Much has been written to describe the impact of XML with regard to e-commerce and content delivery. However, XML is also ideally suited to provide tremendous benefits to companies that need to manage and produce content and/or publications in multiple languages. This article will describe how some companies have used existing technology based on XML (and its predecessor, SGML) to realize impressive results, and will provide some vision as to where XML-based technology is heading in the next 24 months in terms of increasing the efficiency of the localization process. Typical Localization ProcessToday, most companies with a need to deliver information to a global audience still rely on a manual, paper-based process for localizing their content. Human intervention is required at all stages, from the origination of source language data through review, quality assurance and final delivery of localized information. In most cases, authors are working with tools such as MS Word and FrameMaker and sending complete document instances to a translation vendor. Because these files are stored and managed at the document level, authors have no easy way to identify only the pieces of content that have changed between revision cycles. As a result, authors continue to send entire documents to the translation vendor for localization, even if only a small portion of the content has been changed. There are inherent inefficiencies to this process, which lead to the following typical results:
SGML/XML and Document Management Technology Have HelpedOver the last several years, some forward-thinking companies have made a strategic investment to create and manage their data in a structured, neutral data format: SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and, more recently, XML. Through a combination of standard products and extensive customization, these companies have created production environments that enable them to:
The following diagram depicts the workflow of this type of environment:
Consider the following statistics from companies that have successfully put an environment like this into production:
SGML/XML and Document Management: Still Room for ImprovementThere are solutions available from traditional SGML/XML systems vendors that attempt to replicate the environment depicted in the diagram above. The most well known of these solutions are Lingua (produced by Chrystal Software as an add-on to their Astoria content management system) and Parlance Ambassador (produced by XyEnterprise as an adjunct to their Parlance Content Manager product). These systems are sold as a “toolkit”, requiring a purchase of base product technology and significant customization services to model the solution to the specifics of your production environment. While these solutions certainly add efficiencies to the localization process, there are still some inherent limitations:
The Next Wave: XML PortalsThese problems will be addressed by a new generation of open tools, based on the concept of XML portals. In today’s world, the localization process involves collaboration of information stored in many related, yet disparate, applications, including:
XML portal technology shows the promise of being able to provide content owners with the ability to link information stored in these distributed, heterogeneous environments. A portal will simply act as a client to retrieve resources and provide a virtual view of a collection of information. The goals of this technology will be to:
Connect Information Collections
Such tools will enable a user to create a customized view of information that is relevant for his/her work, regardless of where the information may physically reside. The following diagram shows a localization example of this paradigm: In this example, a localization project manager is provided with a view of information that is relevant for a current translation project. While the user interface may give the appearance of a normal Windows Explorer directory view of information in a folder, the actual information resources physically reside in different applications: a document resides in a content management system, an illustration is stored in an asset manager database, and a translation memory is managed by a TM processor. Layer New Business Rules Over Existing ApplicationsWith this type of view, it is possible to create links between disparate objects and establish important relationships. In our example illustrated below, we have associated an Installation Guide with a specific translation memory. When the source language version of the Installation Guide file is updated, it will be quite easy to retrieve the appropriate translation memory that is linked to it. The following diagram depicts this scenario:
Streamline the Localization Process with XML PortalsOnce you have linked relevant information objects and created associations between them with appropriate business rules, it is possible to further automate the localization process by assigning operations to linked information collections. The following diagram illustrates this concept:
In this example, a business rule has been established to do the following:
Benefits of XML Portals for LocalizationThe benefits of migrating to a localization solution based on XML portal technology include the following:
ConclusionsBy now we hope the message is clear: the benefits of XML extend far beyond the ecommerce B2B scenario. The true promise of XML for localization professionals is the ability to streamline and automate the translation process, enable collaboration and maximize the capabilities of document management systems and computer-aided translation tools. Dan Dube
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