Using the Language Export Feature

What is XLIFF?

XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) is a format for exchanging localization data between participants in a translation project. This format lets translators concentrate on the text to be translated, without worrying about its layout. XLIFF is supported by a large group of localization service and tools providers. To learn more about XLIFF, visit these Web sites:

• http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-localis/
• http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=xliff

Supported versions of XLIFF

Supported Versions of XLIFF

Ektron supports versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 of the XLIFF standard. You specify the version you are exporting in the web.config file, using the ek_XliffVersion element. Any listed version can be imported.

SDL Trados Studio 2009

SDL Trados Studio 2009

Trados is a commonly used translation tool. SDL Trados Studio 2009 supports XLIFF 1.1 and 1.2, which are recommended for use with Ektron.

If you are using Trados (an earlier version of the product), it only supports XLIFF 1.0. Note that Ektron 6.1.4 and older default to XLIFF 1.1. In this case, change the XLIFF version in the web.config file as described in Supported Versions of XLIFF.

Overview of Exporting/Importing Translation Files

1. You select content to translate. You can select:
   • a content item
   • a folder—all content in the folder is selected; you may include its subfolders
   • all menus
   • all taxonomies

   Alternatively, select a Translation Package. See Also: Creating a Multilanguage Translation Package.

2. Ektron converts the selected content to XLIFF files. (Only content whose state is marked "Ready for translation" is converted to XLIFF format.) You can prepare the files for translation into several languages at once. A separate .xlf file is created for each item. Then, all .xlf files for each language are compressed into one .zip file.
3. Transmit the .zip files to a translation agency.
4. The agency translates and returns the files. Alternatively, the files can be translated "in house."
5. Import the files into Ektron. If the content does not exist in the target language, it is created.

Creating the .zip File

To create one or more .zip files for translation:

See Also: Using the Language Export Feature

Prerequisite: Only members of the Administrator User Group or those assigned to the XLIFF-Admin role can create, export, or import XLIFF files. See Also: Using the Roles Screens .

1. Select the content to be exported:
   • To translate one content item, navigate to its folder then click it.
   • To translate all content in a folder (and, if desired, its subfolders), navigate to its View Contents of Folder screen.
   • To translate a menu, go to Content Tab > Menus.
   • To translate a taxonomy, go to Content Tab > Taxonomy and check taxonomies to translate.
   • To translate a Translation Package, see Creating a Multilanguage Translation Package.
2. Click Export for Translation (). (On the View Contents of Folder Screen, choose Action > Export for Translation.) The Export for Translation screen appears.
   

   

NOTE: The Include Subfolders field appears only if you click Export for Translation from the View Contents of Folder screen.

3. To include content in all of a selected folder’s subfolders, check Include Subfolders.
4. From the Source Language pull-down, select the language of items being translated.
5. All enabled languages are selected under Target Language. (See Also: Working with Multi-Language Content).
6. To translate the content into all languages, proceed to the next step.

   To translate the content into some languages, uncheck the languages that you do not want. You can uncheck the box in the header row (illustrated below) to uncheck all, then only check the ones you want.

   

7. Click Create XLIFF Files for Translation.
8. Ektron creates one .zip file for each language. The .zip file includes an XLIFF file for each selected content item. (If content in a target language was edited more recently than the source language edition, that content is excluded from the .zip file. Also, the content's translation status must be ready. See Also: Mark Translation Statuses)

   The History section of the Export for Translation screen displays the translated files.

   

   

   The history lists the .zip file created for each language. The top of the history window displays the most recently exported/imported files. ZIP files are indicated by the WinZip icon (). To the right of the icon are:

   • the source language's flag
   • an arrow indicating the direction of the translation
   • the destination language's flag and name
   • the zip file size
9. To review items in a zip file, click + next to Extracted. When you do, each content item’s ID number, title, and last edit date appear.
10. Click the .zip file icon (under Downloadable Zipped XLIFF Files). The File Download window appears. If you want to review the XLIFF files within the .zip file, click Open.
11. Click Save. The Save As window appears.
12. Navigate to the folder where you want to place the zip file and click Save.
13. Transmit the files to the translation agency.

NOTE: When the translation agency returns XLIFF files, their extension must be .xlf or .xml. Other than that, the file name is not important.

File naming patterns

File Naming Patterns

File Type	Pattern
XLIFF	item identifier[item ID]_[new language hexadecimal code][2 letter new language code].xlf item identifier options: content: cont form: form menu: s menu item: s taxonomy: t item ID varies, depending on whether the item is content, a form, a menu, or a menu item content: content ID number form: form ID number Menu: menu ID number Menu item: menu ID number
ZIP	xlf[timestamp in format yyyymmddThhmmss]_u[user ID] _ [new language hexadecimal code]-[2 letter language code].zip The user ID indicates which user performed the export or import.

Importing Translated Files into Ektron

To import translated files into Ektron:

See Also: Using the Language Export Feature

Prerequisite: Only members of the Administrator User Group and those defined in the Manage Members for Role: XLIFF-Admin screen can create or import XLIFF files. See Also: Using the Roles Screens

IMPORTANT: Make sure the files have been translated before you import them.

1. From the Workarea, choose Settings > Localization > Import Translated Files.
2. Click Browse and navigate to the folder that contains the translated files.
3. Select the files to import.
4. Click Import Translated XLIFF Files. Ektron creates new or updates existing foreign-language editions of the imported content/menu/taxonomy.
5. Information about the imported file appears in the history area of the screen. You can click plus signs (+) to see increasing levels of information about imported content.
   

   

For each new edition:

• If the content title is the same as the source edition, the next available number is appended to the title to distinguish it from the source. For example: Henry Williams(1).
• its status matches the source content's status. Typically, its status is checked out. When imported, the content can enter the approval process just like other content.
• its history indicates it was checked in at the time the report was run
• for content, the following properties are inherited from the original content:
  • Smart FormSee Also: Working with Smart Forms
  • content searchable See Also: Ensuring Your Content is Searchable
  • approval method See Also: Using the Approval Method
• date created and last edit date are captured from when the content is imported
• the last user to edit is captured by user who imported the file

After you import the translation files, Ektron removes them from the file system.

NOTE: If an error exists in any of the files, the erroneous files are moved into a subdirectory. The directory is created using a timestamp. For example: uploadedFiles\localization\merged\xlf20060208T141841_u1\error\.

Mark translation statuses

Mark Translation Statuses

Prerequisite: Member of Administrators group, or assigned to the Translation State Admin or XLIFF Admin role See Also: Defining Roles

Each Ektron content item has a translation status. Only content marked "ready for translation" is included when you create an .xlf file. Use Mark Translation Status on the View Content screen to mark the translation status. See Also: Content Statuses

The Mark Translation Status button may have any of 3 icons, which also indicate the content's status.

• Ready for translation—Automatically applied when content status changes to Approved. Manually applied when authorized user clicks button and changes status to Ready for Translation.

  NOTE: You may apply this status to unapproved content if it needs translation before the site goes live.

• Not ready for translation—Automatically applied when content status changes to anything other than Approved. Translation status changes if
  • authorized user clicks button and chooses ready for translation
  • content's status changes to approved
• Do not translate—Prevents content from being translated. Translation status changes only if authorized user clicks button and chooses ready for translation.

If you click Mark Translation Status (), a menu appears that lets you change its status. Note that Export for Translation () appears on the toolbar only if the content's translation status is Ready for Translation.

If you create an .xlf file for a folder, only content whose translation status is ready is included in the file.

NOTE: The Localization Dashboard provides an overview of translation activity within Ektron.

Applying metadata to translated content

Applying Translated Metadata to Translated Content

Prior to version 8.5, translated metadata is ignored when importing XLIFF files. Starting with version 8.5, key metadata fields are recognized in the XLIFF process and will be imported/exported.

Metadata that Works with XLIFF Export and Import

The following metadata field names may be used for translation using the XLIFF export and import process.

• XliffReferenceSource—Content Selector
• XliffReference—Content Selector
• XliffGlossary—Content Selector
• XliffNote—Meta Data

Working with Metadata that does not work with XLIFF

This section describes how to have translated metadata applied to the translated content that does not use the above special names.

Background information

Background Information

Although metadata exists in the XLIFF files, it does not appear in the content's metadata even if metadata is defined for that language. This is because metadata definitions have unique IDs across languages. While a content ID is the same for a corresponding content block in other languages, the same is not true for metadata.

As a result, the ID for the source language (for example, English) metadata is not automatically mapped to metadata for other languages (for example, Spanish).

To solve this problem, create a mapping between the IDs of metadata definitions of different languages that are synonymous. For example, consider the following metadata definitions.

ID	Name	Language
102	Paper form number	en-US
104	Original page count	en-US
106	Número de papel de la forma	es-ES
108	Cuenta de la página original	es-ES
110	Estado de la minoría	es-ES

In this example, IDs 102 and 106 are synonymous as are 104 and 108. Definition 110, however, only exists in Spanish.

The mapping is stored in an XML file. The mapping informs the XLIFF import process that metadata for ID 102 in English corresponds to ID 106 in Spanish and likewise with 104 and 108.

Setting up the process to apply translated metadata to content

Setting up the Process to Apply Translated Metadata to Content

1. Open the folder siteroot/workarea/xslt/ and look for metadatadefinitions.xml. If it exists, go to step 2.

   If it does not, download it from http://dev.ektron.com/uploadedFiles/DevCenter/Support/KB_Articles/XliffMetadata.zip. After unzipping the file, copy the .xslt files to the siteroot/workarea/localization/xliff folder. Copy the xml file to the siteroot/workarea/xslt folder.

2. Create metadata definitions in the other language(s). Be sure to use the same data type. To do this, log in, open the workarea, go to Settings > Configuration > Metadata Definition.
3. Make note of the definitions in the original language (for example, English).
4. Switch to view another language (for example, Spanish) and add a new definition. Assign it the same data type and other properties as the original. Note the new ID numbers.
5. Create metadata definitions in all languages you wish to support. You may add other languages and define more metadata definitions at any time.
6. Edit workarea/xslt/metadataDefinitions.xml. For each Metadata Definition, enter a <dd> element within the <dl> element. The <dd> element has the following form.

   <dd title="Name of the metadata definition">
               <dfn id="ID" xml:lang="language-country code"/>
               <dfn id="ID" xml:lang="language-country code"/>
               :
           </dd>

   For example:

    <dl>
          <dd title="Paper form number">
               <dfn id="102" xml:lang="en-US"/>
               <dfn id="106" xml:lang="es-ES"/>
          </dd>
          <dd title="Original page count">
                <dfn id="104" xml:lang="en-US"/>
                <dfn id="108" xml:lang="es-ES"/>
          </dd>
   		</dl>

The definition for ID 110 is not included because it applies to only one language.

Now, the XLIFF import process accesses the metadataDefinitions.xml file to determine which definitions in the target language (for example, Spanish) correspond to the definitions in the source language (for example, English).