Understand the translation process

When you send files to translation, Inspire creates folders to hold the source content and the target (translated) content.

The translation process for a project where all of the work is done in Inspire:
  1. You select the component(s) you want to send to translation. You can do this step from the Components or Projects Management tab.

    An administrator can limit a translation coordinator to selecting only approved components to include in a translation job. For more information, read Translate Components.

  2. You use the context menu Action_Menu to start the translation job. You must select the languages and how you want to export the files for translation.
  3. Inspire creates a folder for each language you select. The folder's location is based on the component you select for translation.

    For example, if you select a component in the following folder and want to translate it to French, My Components / Chapter 1, then Inspire creates a sub folder here: My Components / Chapter 1 / fr-FR.

  4. Inspire creates a copy of the component you want translated and puts it into the new language folder. A new copy, also known as the target translation component, is created for each language you selected.

    In our example, the My Components / Chapter 1 / fr-FR folder now has a copy of the Introduction component you selected: My Components / Chapter 1 / fr-FR / introduction_fr-FR.xml.

    Inspire may set the Reading property when creating target components for translation.

    Inspire sets the Reading property in these cases:
    • If it doesn't exist yet
    • Only if the language Reading property is rtl (Right-to-Left)
    • For example: <concept id="concept_guid" xml:lang="ar-Ar" dir="rtl">
    • Inspire makes no changes if the language Reading property is ltr (Left-to-Right)

    While a translation is in progress, the source translation components may be locked.

    • By default, source components are locked when sent to translation.
    • The lock setting can be configured by Vasont, so you may see something different from the default behavior.
  5. You create a project in Inspire, add the translation files from the language folders, and assign work directly to the translator.

    At this stage, the following scenarios can happen:

  6. The translator marks the work as complete.
  7. Inspire sends email to you, the translation coordinator, letting you know you can review the work.

    The email notification contains the following information:

    • The translation job ID. (For GlobalLink Enterprise and TransPerfect jobs.)
    • The translation job Name.
    • A list of target Languages used in the translation job.
    • If the job was successfully Completed or Cancelled in GlobalLink Vasont Inspire.
    • User Name of the account that completed or cancelled the translation job.

If the translation job requires work to be done outside of Inspire, the process above differs after step 4 in the following ways:

  • If the project requires work to be done in an external application such as GlobalLink Enterprise:
    • Inspire automatically sends the files to that application so the work can be done there.
    • GlobalLink Enterprise lets Inspire know when the work is done so it can be retrieved.

      In a component, when you create a reference or link to another component, Inspire tracks the relationship.

      • When you send components to translation and the completed files are imported back into Inspire, the process of rebuilding relationships runs in the background to allow subsequent translated components to be imported more quickly.

    • When the files are saved in Inspire you're notified by email.
  • If the translator doesn't work in Inspire or GlobalLink Enterprise:
    • Inspire will send you a ZIP file that you can use to get the files to the translator.
    • The ZIP file contains the target language components that are placed into folders for each target language.
    • Exported components use the following format:

      Export-{Component Name}-{date/time}.zip

      • For example, Export-Cloud_Computing-2022-12-21-03588.zip
      • {Component Name} is the source component you select.
      • The Component Name is truncated after 50 characters.
    • When the translator completes the work, you can import the translated files back into Inspire.

If you need to import translation files, you must do it from the Translation Management tab.

When you import files by opening a folder's Options menu and selecting import, Inspire checks to make sure none of the files are in an active translation job.

If the files you are importing are part of an active translation job:

  • The entire import will fail, even if some files are not part of an active translation job.
  • You see an error message: You are trying to import files that are part of an active translation job. Use the "Translation Import" action in the translation management tab instead.
  • You see one error for each file you are trying to import that is part of an active translation job. File ({fileName}) was found in translation job ({translation job id}).

To import translation files:

  1. Go to the Translation Management tab.
  2. Select the job that the files belong to.
  3. Right-click the job or click the Options menu.
  4. Select Import translation...

For more information, read Import translated components.