tables and translation

Wed Feb 10 08:22:31 PST 2010

I look forward to that posting, Maxwell. I'd appreciate it if you'd post a link when it happens.

Thanks!
Lea

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-
> bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Maxwell Hoffmann
> Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 2:40 AM
> To: 'Andersen, Verner Engell VEA'; framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: RE: tables and translation
> 
> Dear Verner,
> 
> I have been working with "table-heavy" translated FrameMaker files (for
> clients, I am a translation vendor) for about 15 years now. Tables are
> always a troublesome area. Besides some of the other excellent suggestions
> already made, here are some other best practices that can help:
> 
> == Your Language Service Provider (LSP) should Quote on the initial project
> to include time to make localized templates. These templates may include
> slight point size and spread changes to help text fit.
> == Table styles should be used extensively, and should have smaller
> left/right cell margins in some target languages than in your source
> language.
> == NEVER define paragraph styles that have fixed or modified cell margins on
> the paragraph level. This makes corrections of tables far more difficult to
> accomplish. It is especially important to avoid this as a format override in
> the source language, as it is difficult to locate and correct such instances
> in translated text.
> == There is nothing wrong with a moderate amount of format overrides to your
> table styles (e.g. overrides to cell margins, etc.) or paragraphs (cellbody)
> in tables. There are simply too many variations possible in tables to allow
> you to make a unique table style for every instance.
> == You can also have your LSP translate the text for table header row cells
> ahead of time, to help determine ideal column widths
> == Avoid the temptation to squeeze too much data into tables in your source
> files. I have frequently seen training materials in English which have a
> "one page" table that reaches the bottom of the page, with every cell packed
> with 7 pt condensed text. Obviously, when text expansion occurs, (which can
> be quite dramatic in Dutch, German, Hungarian or Italian) there is no
> solution other than to let the table break to a second page. In many such
> instances, a table "header row" (which would repeat) was not used. NOTE:
> full page tables crammed with tiny font sizes are also a challenge for
> reader retention, in any language.
> == (This is a common problem in English source files): avoid ALL CAPS text
> in table header rows. This will nearly always cause grief with text
> expansion.
> == Never use vertically rotated text in table header rows for documents that
> will be translated (unless going into the few languages that cause text
> shrinkage instead of text expansion.)The text expansion that occurs from
> translation will dramatically increase the depth of your table header rows.
> == Common problem in English source file tables: many writers use
> abbreviations in table cells and just assume that an abbreviation is
> acceptable in the target language. Not always. It is not uncommon for a 3
> letter acronym to expand to 20-30 characters in some target languages.
> == Finally, when authoring, ask yourself, "does this really need to be in a
> table?" Sometimes the answer is now. Often simple steps can be conveyed as
> effectively in a more flexible list.
> 
> I hope that this helps. I will soon be posting "The 10 most common mistakes
> that FrameMaker users do which makes source files toxic" in a blog or white
> paper on our web site.
> 
> Maxwell Hoffmann
> Director, Document Globalization Practice
> 
> Globalization Partners International (GPI)
> Toll Free: 866.272.5874 ∞ Direct: 503.336.5952 (PDX)
> Mobile: 503.805.3719 ∞ Fax: 202.478.0956 ∞ Skype ID: Maxwell.Hoffmann
> mhoffmann at globalizationpartners.com
> www.globalizationpartners.com
> 
> 
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Andersen, Verner Engell VEA [mailto:verner.andersen at radiometer.dk]
> >Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 6:53 AM
> >To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
> >Subject: RE: tables and translation
> >
> >Hi
> >
> >When we translated our manual from English to German via the Trados
> >translation workbench it turned out that many of columns in tables were
> >too small. The result was that a letter or two wre placed in line two of
> >the column.
> >
> >I fixed this in the files I received from the translator but would like
> >to fix it in my English source so that I won't have to do this again in
> >the next release.
> >My plan was to open a copy ofthe English files and manually compare all
> >tables with those in the German files.
> >
> >Originally I used tables from the table designer by I  fear that many of
> >them habe been manually modified.
> >
> >Do you have any suggestions about how to handle the task?
> >I know that a Framescript can solve the issue, I am in doubt whether it
> >will be too costly compared to the one time manual work.
> >
> >Best regards,
> >
> >Verner
> >--------------------------------------------------------
> >
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> 
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