Putting DITA Localization into Practice
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Transcript of Putting DITA Localization into Practice
© 2010 JustSystems
Episode 16Episode 16Putting DITA Localization into Putting DITA Localization into
PracticePractice
Su-Laine Yeo, Solutions Consultant
in 37 minutes
© 2010 JustSystems
Agenda
• What’s new at JustSystems
• How to set up, how to manage files
• Guidelines for writing
• Choosing and working with translators
• Choosing tools
• What things will take more time than you think
© 2010 JustSystems
What’s New
• OASIS has officially released the DITA 1.2 specification
• Patch available for McAfee Antivirus conflict: See http://forums.xmetal.com and search for “McAfee”
© 2010 JustSystems
Why DITA for localization?
• Desktop publishing takes minutes, not days, per language
• Topic-oriented structure enables incremental translation
• Reuse leads to less content to translate
• Time savings enable simultaneous shipping
• Efficiency gains of up to 30-50%
• Makes it possible to deliver in more languages
© 2010 JustSystems
How it all works
Parallel folder systems for each language
English:
French:
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Use the xml:lang attribute
<map xml:lang = “fr-fr”>
<title>Guide de l’utilisateur</title>
…
</map>
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How it all works (cont’d)
Identical structural markup in each language
<topic xml:lang = "en-us">...
<note type = “attention"> Watch your step as you disembark. </note>
...</topic>
<topic xml:lang = "en-us">...
<note type = “attention"> Watch your step as you disembark. </note>
...</topic>
<topic xml:lang = “fr-fr">...
<note type = “attention"> Attention à la marche en descendant du train.</note>
...</topic>
<topic xml:lang = “fr-fr">...
<note type = “attention"> Attention à la marche en descendant du train.</note>
...</topic>
© 2010 JustSystems
How it all works (cont’d)
• Publishing system produces production-quality output automatically
• Publishing system adjusts output for each language
Avertissement: Attention à la marche en descendant du train.
Attention: Watch your step as you disembark.
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LOCALIZATION-FRIENDLY WRITING
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Use elements, not attributes
• Some translation software does not allow translating attribute values
• Examples:– <image> alt text– <map> title
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Inline elements
• Remove extra spaces
• Use semantic elements
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Images: Using numbered callouts
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Images: Using SVG
• Lets you use text within callouts
• Send the SVG file to the translator to have callouts translated
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Index markers and glossary entries
• For Japanese and Chinese, use <index-sort-as> elements
• If needed, specialize DITA to create a <glossary-sort-as> element type
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Identify what not to translate
• Tell translators what types of elements should not be translated, e.g. <codeblock>
• On most elements, you can set ‘translate = “no”’
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LOCALIZATION AND REUSE
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Conditional text and conref
• Languages often require words in a sentence to “agree” with words which come before or after– E.g. “a” vs “an” in English
• Conditionalize only whole sentences
• Use conref only for whole sentences and proper nouns such as product names
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WORKING WITH TRANSLATORS
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Rule #1
Your translator MUST work in DITA XML
Picture: Fir0002
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Use XLIFF
• XML Localization Interchange File Format
• Packages all topic and map files into a single file for easier back-and-forth
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Watch “white space”
• White space (“pretty printing”) makes XML easier to read in Plain Text View, but can confuse translation memory systems
• Turn off automatic insertion of white space if needed:– Tools > Macros– DITA Configuration: Turn OFF Pretty-Printing
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Checklist: Communicating with your translator
• Give XSD/DTD files to your translator
• Which attribute values should be translated?– Typically, “navtitle” and nothing else
• What shouldn’t be translated?:– List of element types– Use of “translate” attribute
• Who will set the xml:lang attribute?
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Clean content in, clean content out
You:
• fix validation errors
• fix broken links
• remove extra spaces
Translator:
• sends you the same markup you sent them
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TOOLS
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Select localization-friendly tools
• All tools must be Unicode-compliant
• Authoring tools must support localization-friendly markup:– “xml:lang” attribute– “translate” attribute– no junk that will confuse translation memory
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Consider tools for controlled language
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Tools will need configuration
In publishing tools:
• Generated text strings
• Fonts (especially for non-Latin alphabets)
• Index sorting rules
• Page sizes
• Help system buttons, tabs, menus
Experts are useful!
© 2010 JustSystems
DITA Open Toolkit (Version 1.5)
• Methods for customizing the toolkit vary by output format (e.g. PDF vs. HTML)
• Methods for identifying the language vary
• Some strings files have poor translations, and/or contain English
Picture: ZeroOne
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Heads-up: Font issues
• In PDF output, the default behaviour is for text to not appear
• Only characters from explicitly declared ranges will appear
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Summary
• Potentially huge cost and time savings– Enables simultaneous shipping
• The main things to get right are:– Writers follow guidelines for localization-friendly
writing– Translators work directly in XML– Translators know what to translate – Time is allocated to DITA Open Toolkit configuration
© 2010 JustSystems
Further reading
“Using DITA for Successful Localization”: http://na.justsystems.com/whitepapers.php
© 2010 JustSystems
• Global Presence– 1,000 employees, ‘07 revenues of $110M
– HQ in Japan; Corporate Offices in Vancouver and London; Sales Offices Worldwide
• Our Experience– Established in 1979
– Market leader with over 2,500 customers
• Our Expertise– Global provider of office productivity, information
management, consumer & enterprise software
– Framework for XML-based content creation, integration, visualization and delivery
• Our Credibility
– eContent 100 member in 2009
– KMWorld Trend-Setting Product Award 2009
– KM World “100 Companies that Matter” 2010
2,500 Customers,Marquee Brands
About JustSystemsAbout JustSystems
© 2010 JustSystems
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