File Organization for Translation

[Alison Craig]

I've just finished transferring my base MS Word user manual into FrameMaker9 (if it matters, I'm running on a PC with XP Pro and unstructured Frame).

We translate into several languages and I thought I had my file structure all worked out until I actually went to put together a package for our LSP to prepare a Spanish (SP) quote. (This is my first time using FM, so I probably made more than a few newbie mistakes setting up my directories.)

My basic file structure looks like this (I'm also including German (DE)): 

- English Master..................................English Book Files
  - Graphics
    - Appendices
    - Chapters
      - 02........................................linked image files
        - Visio Originals (for PDFs)..............Visio files w/ EN text
        - Visio Originals (for PDFs) - DE.........Visio files w/ DE text
        - Visio Originals (for PDFs) - SP.........Visio files w/ SP text
    - Icons
  - IFU Tables - Master (Linked)
    - IFU Tables Linked) - SP-L...................will always need re-linked
    - IFU Tables Linked) - DE
  - Logos and Graphics (Non-Linked)...............no translation required
  - Text Inserts (Linked) ........................will always need re-linked
  - Track 3 Tables (Linked) ......................no translation required
  - Variable Documents (By Product-Language)......control doc#/title, etc
    - MDP
    - OP-SP
    - TCH
      - 1 TCH Variable Doc (Master)
      - DE TCH Variable Doc.......................some translation required
      - SP TCH Variable Doc

I had planned to have language-dependant book file directories at the same level as the "English Master" directory, but of course that means that many, if not all, links would have to be redone. However, if I keep all languages in the same directory as the English Master, this problem won't arise. 

In the short term, we will have 6 languages. But in the future we could have more (we have older products translated into 17 languages) so this could make a single directory a little harder to manage.

At this point, the LSP is responsible for running the TM against new/edited files, although I am evaluating Alchemy's Publisher as a means to rein in translation costs.

If anyone has experience that can help me decide on the final "flavour" for my directory structure, I would appreciate it. Hopefully I haven't forgotten any crucial information.


FYI: I have a total of 10 Chapters and 7 Appendices. 9 Chapters and 3 Appendices have linked images/text inserts/tables.

Alison
 
Alison Craig, Technical Writer
Ultrasonix Medical Corporation
130 - 4311 Viking Way
Richmond, BC  V6V 2K9
Tel: (604) 279-8550, ext 127
Fax: (604) 279-8559
E-mail: alison.craig at ultrasonix.com