Re: [xliff-tools] Approved attribute

["Asgeir Frimannsson" <asgeirf@gmail.com>]

Hi folks,

On 4/5/07, Bruno Haible <bruno@clisp.org> wrote:
>
> F Wolff wrote:
> > I'd like to discuss the section on the fuzzy flag, 5.6.1
>
> Me too. The "Guide", section 5.6.1., wants a <target> element with
> attribute
> approved="no".  But this is IMO not the right thing:
> The XLIFF specification says "approved" indicates
>    "whether a translation is final or has passed its final review".
> So this is meant to apply to a translation team that has a two-phase
> translation process: initial translation and review.  Now, in a PO file,
> fuzzies are put by msgmerge, and often are not even remotely related to
> the <source> string. So in these cases, both the initial translation
> and the review have to be performed, not just the review.  The right way
> to express this in XLIFF is through an <alt-trans> element. No?


I think it is somewhat useful to note that the fuzzy flag is really being
used widely for two purposes:
1) In msgmerge, to indicate that a fuzzy match has taken place
2) In the translation process, to indicate that the message needs some form
of review or further translation.

When dealing with msgmerge-based fuzzies, I think it makes perfect sense to
use a alt-trans element, especially with the added "#| " directive, which
can then map directly to the <source> in the alt-trans, as Bruno described
earlier:

    #, fuzzy
    #| msgid "too many arguments"
    msgid "too few arguments"
    msgstr "trop d'arguments"

    <trans-unit ...>
      <source xml:lang="en">too few arguments</source>
      <alt-trans xml:space="preserve" ...>
        <source xml:lang="en">too many arguments</source>
        <target xml:lang="fr">trop d'arguments</target>
      </alt-trans>
    </trans-unit>

However, when dealing with the second form of fuzzy-usage, the
approved-attribute could be used. Both options are perfectly valid in terms
of the intended use, and could be implemented as options in the
xliff-converter tools?

cheers,
asgeir

-- 
Asgeir Frimannsson
PhD Candidate
School of Software Engineering and Data Communications
Queensland University of Technology
126 Margaret Street, Level 3
Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia

Phone: (+61) 7 3138 9332 Mob: (+61) 405 412 696
Email: asgeirf@gmail.com