Do you want for me to forward? or will you send it.
Microsoft recommended proposal for Xliff 1.1: make xliff tags a
namespace that can also be used in software and content data files. This
proposal is an add-on to Eric's proposal.
The idea is to make XLIFF an open model XML schema
so that it can carry localization data and also the complete xml-based source
file as context. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/>
Think of an xml based help file or webpage that
has its own schema that the localization process has no knowledge about. We
call it the user domain schema. After the source authoring is done, the xml
file is handed over to localization engineers/process to add localization
directives.
Currently, most processes need to extract
resources into a canonical form, such as a resource table. Xliff is the export
format of that form. The problem with this is that the context information for
the resources is lost. It is especially the case for content
localization.
Imagine that we keep the source file as the main
vehicle for transforming data. We insert localization directives directly into
the source file but in xliff namespace. (It is technically possible to make
the same document be valid for both the user schema and xliff schema.) Then,
we can transfer the VERY SAME SOURCE FILE to the localizer without losing any
context information. This way, a localizer can view the resources in two
views. The original source file view and the table view for all trans
units.
This way, content localization and software
localization can be the same as long as they both are xml based
files.
I rewrite the sample-xliff.xml file to illustrate
the idea. The first file is dialog.xml, which is an imagined windows resource
xml based format. Think of it as the XML based RC file. The second file is the
mixed content from both the user schema and xliff
schema.
You can see the clear separation of information
from two schemas. An xliff element is mostly a child element to a user domain
element to add localization directives. It can have references to the user
domain data such as to tell xliff where the source text is located in the
string table.
Regard,
-GérardGérard Cattin des
Bois
Lead Program Manager, LocStudio
Services
Windows
Productivity Tools Team
gcatt@microsoft.com (425)
706-1592
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