Managing Translation Objects

The outgoing translation ZIP generated for the translation vendor is placed in the vendor’s folder specified by the Supported Vendors preference. It specifies the vendor and the path to a storage area that is writable by Windchill. The zips, which also contain log files, can be checked after they are created.

When the vendor returns translated content, it’s placed in the folder specified by the External Import Folder. The returned ZIP file must have the same name and contain the same files as the ZIP that was sent to the vendor. This folder is monitored by the Import Translation Process at regular intervals. The Translation Package Import Interval preference value determines how often it is checked for returned content. If you change this value, it will be set to the new value the next time the process runs.

The import process validates the XLIFF and XML files in the translated package to check for malformed content. If the files contain malformed content, the translation package import is failed with an error. This validation step is configurable. For more information on configuring this validation, see Validating File Contents of Translated Packages.

When translated content is successfully imported and checked in, the translation objects in Windchill are iterated, and the state is changed to the value of the Translated State preference. During the approval process, errors can be found in the translation, and the document can be manually iterated when a correction is checked in. These iterations are still linked from the source language document. If the changes to the translated object are significant, a translation manager can even revise the translated document (for example, from A.5 to B.1). These revisions are still linked from the source language document. When the translated objects are published, the latest revision or iteration is used.

If a dynamic document is out for translation and its translation object is iterated in Windchill before the translation is returned and checked in, importing the translated document from the vendor fails.

If a dynamic document is out for translation and the source is iterated in Windchill before the translation is returned, importing the translated document succeeds and the translated document remains linked to the original source.

It’s possible that target document versions for a set of target languages can vary from each other. This could be due to iterations or revisions performed on the target documents from a specific target language after they’ve been imported from the vendor. However, a source document always uses the latest iteration or revision version of a translated document for publishing.

If you have set a filter that uses a baseline and the translated documents are in the baseline, then publishing will use the version of the translation that is in the baseline. If the translated documents are not found in the baseline, the next filter is used including latest if present. The default behavior is to use the latest translations for a given language.

When translated content is successfully imported and checked in for a pivot language, the translation objects in Windchill are iterated, and the state is changed to the value of the Translated State preference. Translated objects in the pivot language still need to be checked for corrections or other changes before sending out for translation to the final target language. Their state needs to be changed from the Translated State value to the Preparation State value. The pivot language objects are still baselined when the target translation package is created. How you chose to create the translation package initially determines what happens next:

• The Content already approved option creates a target translation package from the pivot language translations after you finish reviewing the translated objects and set their state to the value of the Preparation State preference.

The Wait for all content to be approved option starts the translation package process after the pivot language objects are checked in. During the manual review process, it picks up the pivot language objects as they are set to the value of the Preparation State preference. The translation process periodically checks the state and collects the pivot language content as it’s approved. After all the structure’s pivot language content is approved and collected, the translation package will be created.

The Translation Dashboard displays a Path column that shows the path from source to pivot to target language, if a pivot language is configured (see Translation Dashboard Table). For information on pivot languages, refer to About Translation Management and Translation Configuration Process.

You can set up email notification for pivot language content check-ins. See Workflow Email Notifications for more information.

You can monitor the external import folder for translated packages and XLIFFs for translation dictionaries on a regular basis. The monitoring frequency for the External Import Folder is set by the Translation Package Import Interval preference. It’s set to 60 minutes by default. To avoid overloading the queue in a production environment, don’t set this interval to fewer than 60 minutes.

The translationScheduleQueue also initiates the indexing process for new translation dictionary entries.

To have a new monitoring value take effect immediately, reset the queue scheduler for translation.

The recommended way to delete an entry from the commonScheduleQueue is to stop the queue first, delete the entry, and then restart the queue.

You need to have administrator privileges to perform the following steps:

After it’s deleted, translation management will automatically recreate it using the new value you set for Translation Package Import Interval.

For more information, see Out-of-the-box Background Queues.

There are several tables that you can use to display information about translation objects.

• You can set up a custom tab from the information page for the service structure to display the tables. From the information page, create a new tab. From the Customize menu, choose Related Objects and then choose Translation Dashboard and Translation Content. For more information, refer to Translation Dashboard Table and Translation Content Table.

• You can also set up a custom tab from the information page for a dynamic document. From the information page, create a new tab. From the Customize menu, choose Related Objects and then choose Translations and Source Language.

Translation management provides the ability to select a new source language document for a set of translated documents. The Replace Translation Source action may be useful if the ownership of information elements shifts to another documentation team. The authoring language for a source document cannot be changed; however, you can set a dynamic document that is a translation of the dynamic document to be the source. The Replace Translation Source action updates service structure and attribute information for the new source document as well as translation links.

To view translation information, you need to set up a custom tab from the information page for a dynamic document to display the Source Language and Translations tables. From the information page, create a new tab. From the Customize menu, choose Related Objects and then choose Translations and Source Language.

The Replace Translation Source action is not available in the following circumstances:

• If the dynamic document is directly associated to an object, such as publications section or information group, instead of a content holder

If the dynamic document is directly associated to a service object such as a group or section instead of a content holder, remove the association, use the Replace Translation Source action, and then re-associate the new translation source dynamic document to the service object.

See Replace Translation Source for more information.

You can publish a service structure in one or more languages from the top level of the information structure or publication structure, information groups, publication sections, or dynamic documents. You can also choose to publish untranslated source to a PDF. Choose Publish Representation and then choose any of the following:

You must select at least one language.

You can include the default representation for the root of the service structure in the translation package, if one exists. For example, you can publish a PDF of the untranslated source and make it the default representation for the service structure. Having a default representation for the source, such as a PDF, may be useful for translators who want to see a published version of the full document.

The language choices are derived from the target languages specified in the Language Pairs preference. A publishing rule can also supply a target language, if you select a publishing rule that specifies the Language attribute for the target language. However, the languages selected in the Publish Representation window override the publishing rule.