Proposal to allow a translator to indicate that a translation hashad to be grouped across more than one trans-unit

[Andrzej Zydron <azydron@xml-intl.com>]

LIGHTWEIGHT REQUEST FOR COMMENT


Date Submitted:   04 / 15 / 2004

Author(s),  Contributor(s) with affiliation(s):

Andrzej Zydron

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

In a situation where due to incorrect presentation of the text for translation a 
translator has had to group the translation for one or more trans-units into one 
trans-unit a mechanism should exist that allows the translator to indicate what 
he has done.

An example might be a badly authored source document where for example a table 
heading has been split using a "paragraph" mechanism so as to split the source 
text into a number of distinct elements. An example which most of us will be 
familiar with might be as follows:

<table>
  <heading>A heading</heading>
  <heading>
   <para>This is an</para>
   <para>example of badly</para>
   <para>authored material for</para>
   <para>translation</para>
   <para>purposes</para>
  </heading>
</table>

In this instance the resultant translated XLIFF file may look like this:

<trans-unit id="1">
   <source>A Heading</source>
   <target>Nadglowek</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="2">
   <source>This is an</source>
   <target>Oto przyklad zle przygotowanego materialu na tlumaczenie</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="3">
   <source>example of badly</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="4">
   <source>authored material for</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="5">
   <source>translation</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="6">
   <source>purposes</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>

Faced with the inability to render the text correctly in the target language the 
translator has had to put the translation against the first trans-unit and left 
the other ones empty.

2. STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

It would be very useful in the above circumstance to be able to explicitly state 
in the XLIFF file that the text for the empty <target> elements has been merged 
with the first trans-unit. This allows for explicit checking to prevent empty 
translations.

An example of such a mechanism could be to add a "merged" value to the 
trans-unit "translate" attribute - e.g.

<trans-unit id="1">
   <source>A Heading</source>
   <target>Nadglowek</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="2">
   <source>This is an</source>
   <target>Oto przyklad zle przygotowanego materialu na tlumaczenie</target>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="3" translate="merged">
   <source>example of badly</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="4" translate="merged">
   <source>authored material for</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="5" translate="merged">
   <source>translation</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>
<trans-unit id="6" translate="merged">
   <source>purposes</source>
   <target/>
</trans-unit>

This is only an example of a possible mechanism. It could well be that an 
existing mechanism already exists to render this information but I could not see 
anything obvious.

3. PROPOSAL

Adding an extra attribute value to indicate that the translation for a given 
trans-unit has had to be merged with a preceding trans-unit.

4. IMPLEMENTATION

Possibly adding an extra "merged" value to the trans-unit translate attribute.

5. SCHEMA/DTD

Possibly adding an extra "merged" value to the trans-unit translate attribute.

6. BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

There should be no backward compatibility effect.

Best Regards,


Andrzej Zydron

-- 


email - azydron@xml-intl.com
smail - Mr. A.Zydron
         24 Maybrook Gardens,
         High Wycombe,
         Bucks HP13 6PJ
Mobile +(44) 7966 477181
FAX    +(44) 870 831 8868
www - http://www.xml-intl.com

This message contains confidential information and is intended only
for the individual named.  If you are not the named addressee you
may not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail.  Please
notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this
e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.
E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free
as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed,
arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses.  The sender therefore
does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents
of this message which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.  If
verification is required please request a hard-copy version. Unless
explicitly stated otherwise this message is provided for informational
purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or offer.