Localization Process with FrameMaker 10

[Alison Craig]

Joseph:


1.      When you talk about the "translator" do you mean a professional at an LSP (Language Service Provider) or someone in-house who speaks/writes Chinese, so you use him/her? If the latter, I don't recommend it. The ability to speak/write a language does not a translator make. Following that logic, anyone who speaks/writes English, can be an English technical writer - and we all know that isn't true.

2.      This is my process for an initial translation. Subsequent translations are almost identical but some things like creating Variable files are already done (note that my manuals are conditionalized so there are actually 5 manuals in one unstructured FM book files (22 separate FM files in this book):

a.     Complete manuals

b.     Log completed manual into VSS

c.     Create a completed manual English Master file folder(s) - different from your working folder(s)

d.     Accept all Track Changes

e.     Create all final PDFs and release English manuals

f.      Keep a copy, by product/condition, of all finished FM files that are used to create each PDF

g.     Create a new folder(s) for translation (I do this by language as we translate into 7 different languages at the moment - we have done up to 17)

h.     Copy a writable set of English Master files into the Simplified Chinese translation folder(s)

i.       Create Variable files for translation files

j.       Send files to LSP for quote (including request for creation of translation Glossary before 1st translation begins. It's also best to have this proofed by an in-country expert before beginning the actual translation job.)

k.     Authorize translation based on quote

l.       When the job is finished, always get a copy of the Glossary and new/updated Translation Memory (TM) so you can change LSPs at your discretion.

m.    When you do your 2nd and subsequent rounds of translation, the LSP will process the new FM files and the TM with professional tools (like TRADOS) to ensure that exact matches, fuzzy matches and repetitions are factored into the price and job cycle, ensuring that only new or edited text needs to be translated.

This is a quick overview of my process. Some might find steps c and f-h a bit of overkill, but as I work with Medical Devices, we have an internal ISO release process. We are also constantly applying to new countries for Regulatory approval to sell our systems. I have learned the hard way that if I cannot recreate on-demand, an exact copy of a specific manual type/release - sometimes with new document numbers and languages codes - then things get extremely difficult for me. I also need to be able to recreate translated manuals with specific changes required by Regulatory bodies (the SFDA in the People's Republic of China is particularly demanding)

Hope this helps,

Alison


Alison Craig
Technical Documentation Lead

604-279-8550 | fax 604-279-8559 | toll-free 1-866-437-9508
Ultrasonix Medical Corporation | www.ultrasonix.com<http://www.ultrasonix.com/>

[cid:image001.gif at 01CD9BED.742DB780]

From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Joseph Lorenzini
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 11:35 AM
To: FrameMaker Forum; TCS-Users at googlegroups.com
Subject: Localization Process with FrameMaker 10

Hi all,

I am using unstructured FrameMaker 10. I am documenting a product in English, which needs to be translated into Chinese every release. I was curious what process people use to do the localization. Here is the process I was thinking about using with the existing documentation.

1. there would be two versions of each document. One for english and another Chinese. I thought about using the same Framemaker files and conditionalizing the text based on language but that seemed awfully messy.
2.place all FM files in SVN so they are source control.
3. for each release, turn on track changes for the English versions.
4. once documentation for the release is complete, commit FM files to SVN.
5. localization person retrieves files from SVN.
6. Using the FM TT toolbar, the translator searches for any changes since the last release.
7. For the changes the translator finds, the person goes to the chinese version and makes the appropriate updates.
8. I am not sure how to handle changes to screenshots though, so any suggestions on that would be helpful.

So what does everyone think about the above process? Is there a better way to do this? I can't say that I am crazy about using track changes considering how crude and unstable they are (hello framemaker crashes) but they are better than nothing.

Thanks,
Joseph Lorenzini
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers-frameusers.com/attachments/20120926/a5e9db73/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 2038 bytes
Desc: image001.gif
URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers-frameusers.com/attachments/20120926/a5e9db73/attachment.gif>