Reformat Element In XLIFF

From the XLIFF 1.0 Specification

reformat

Reformat - Indicates whether the target can be formatted (size, font, etc.) different than the source.

Value description:

Boolean: yes or no.

Default value:

yes.

Used in:

<trans-unit>, <bin-unit>.

Issues

1) The list of attributes controlled by reformat attribute is not closed

2) The reformat element does not permit individual elements in this list to be selected

3) The reformat attribute element is not permitted within prop group

4) New Issue: Font and Coord attributes are not well defined

Details of Issues

1) The list of attributes controlled by reformat attribute is not closed

If an XLIFF compliant tool is capable of making changes to format related elements, the 1.0 spec does not specify which elements/attributes may be modified.

If the list is left open, there is no mechanism for individual tool developers to know, or for XLIFF providers/extenders to specify, the XLIFF attributes that are format related.

2) The reformat element does not permit individual elements in this open list to be selected

The reformat attribute does not allow an XLIFF document to specify that some members of the list may be modified, and others may not. In some cases we may not be allowed to resize a control, but we may need to change the font name, keeping the font size.

3) The reformat attribute element is not permitted within prop group

We have agreed that prop and prop-group will be deprecated in XLIFF 1.1. This issue can be closed

4) New Issue: Font and Coord attributes are not well defined

Discussing this document with other developers has raised some concern over the format of attributes such as font and coord. These attributes contain multiple values with delimiting characters.

Since these structures appear in free form text within the attribute, it is impossible to validate that they are structured correctly.

We would suggest expanding the definition of these structures into full elements.

Proposals

1) Close the list of elements, attributes that are controlled by reformat.

John Reid noted that the list of attributes controlled by Reformat attribute
should not be closed.

Gerard pointed out that the paradigm for describing resource attributes may change in the future, and closing such a list may result in future incompatibility. Tony agreed, and suggested that the word "closed" be struck off the proposal, and suggested that a list of presently known attribute values be defined, but that the list be user extensible.

This is accepted

2) Implement a Reformat element

The reformat element would allow an XLIFF document to specify which members of the list are reformatable.

The reformat element is interchangeable with the reformat attribute.

Listing all reformattable attributes within reformat elements is synonymous with a reformat attribute.

As the attribute refers to an open list, the elements can better define the members of this list that are to be controlled.

Each element contains two attributes

The first attribute is either element or attribute

The second attribute is edit

The value for edit may be true or false, with a default value of false

Individual members of an element mat be controlled using attribute

Scope of reformat element

If the elements are used as an alternative to the reformat attribute, then there are good reasons for allowing identical scope of usage.

Therefore the elements should also be used in trans and bin units with the same scope rules.

3) Allow Reformat attribute within prop group.

This issue is closed

4) Replace font and coord attributes with font and coord elements

The font and coord attributes use multipart values separated by delimiter characters. These attributes are free form text and cannot be validated.

These attributes, and any other attributes that use this delimiter mechanism, will be replaced with elements capable of showing and validating the internal structures of these values.

The font and coord attributes are permitted but deprecated in XLIFF 1.1

The coord element takes four values

x, y, cx and cy.

Any values not specified are considered to be undefined

The font element takes

fontName

fontStyle

fontWeight

fontSize

The allowed values for fontWeight are

normal bold | bolder | lighter |

100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900

The allowed values for fontStyle are

normal | italic | oblique

fontSize and fontName are free format

Code Sample

<trans-unit id="1" translate="yes" ORA_XLIFF:CLSNM=”1”>

<coord cx=“183” cy=”272" />

</trans-unit>

The above example shows

1) The proposed font element

This corresponds to the XLIFF 1.0 Font=”Arial:8:bold”

2) The proposed coord element

This corresponds to the XLIFF 1.0 Coord=”#;#;183;272”

Note that only cx and cy are specified. X and y are undefined.

3) The proposed reformat elements

4) An attribute form an external namespace being controlled by reformat