Track Changes--Solved, Revisited; Translation Management Solution

[Sheila Carlisle <scarlisle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[note: Posted on behalf of Robert Stoker; please reply to him on list or 
directly]

Sheila, can you please post this to the Framers mailing list for me. I have 
not been able to join the list so that I can post it.

=================

I wanted to reply to Lucie Haskins' question about tracking changes in a 
FrameMaker document in order to streamline the translation process. We have 
run into a similar request from two of our multi-national clients.

The input Lucie has been given, using Compare Documents, certainly will 
work. However, this still requires a great deal of hand work and tight 
document control. Other options include the use of a translation database 
program or the consistent use of a translation house which uses such a 
program. Again, these are not ideal solutions, especially for the content 
owner. Translation database programs are difficult (impossible) for 
non-translators to use, and the translation houses usually charge a 
percentage for words and phrases that are already in the database.

So to solve our clients' problem, we are developing the Translated 
Documents Manager (TDM) plug-in to help them manage localized versions of 
documents from a single base-language document. Our plug-in allows the 
author to choose a base language and multiple optional languages. When the 
document is ready for translation, TDM exports the untranslated text so it 
can be sent to a translation house. The translators send back the 
translated text, and TDM builds translated documents, ready for final check 
and output.

TDM also tracks changes in the original base-language document. Before a 
translated document can be printed, exported, or saved, TDM compares the 
translated document to the base-language document, informs the author if 
the translated document is out-of-date, and identifies the out-of-date 
sections.

If a change has been made to the base language document, TDM can be used to 
export a delta file for translation. The delta file only contains the 
untranslated information. After the text in the delta file has been 
translated, TDM replaces the out-of-date sections in the translated 
document with the newly translated material.

If a section of previously translated material is copied from the 
base-language document into a new document, TDM takes the translation with 
the copied base-language section.

This plug-in is in the testing phase. TDM can be used on structured and 
non-structured FrameMaker documents. Windows and Macintosh versions will be 
available.

I would be interested to find out if this plug-in would solve Lucie's and 
other Frame users' problems. I welcome off-list comments.

Regards,
Robert Stoker
Seatech Publications, Inc.
info@seatechpubs.com
www.seatechpubs.com


_______________________________________________________
Sheila Carlisle         NEW --->  V: 425/ 486-2988   F: 425/ 483-3836
Axial InfoSolutions Inc.               (Bothell, Washington)
Automated Publishing Solutions  /  XML Publishing Solutions
http://www.axialinfo.com  http://www.miramo.com




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