Configure translation of asset properties with memory

Step-by-step configuration guide to translate asset properties with the Translation with Memory application.

Introduction

censhare has different ways of saving data in assets: Asset contents are saved as a file in the file system. The file is referenced as a master file (a so-called "storage item") in the asset. Text contents in XML or Adobe InCopy format can be localized with the "Translation with memory" application. To localize text content, a new asset is created and the file is translated into that.

Asset properties, on the other hand, are saved as features directly in the data set of an asset. Asset properties not only contain technical and administrative data but also localizable texts such as product data. To translate this data you can also use the censhare translation memory. Users open the memory with a wizard in the asset menu. Unlike translating asset content, all translated feature texts are saved in the same asset.

Asset features save properties in different value types. Some value types, for example, date information or numbers with a defined unit, can be localized automatically. The translation wizard for asset properties is used for features that need to be manually translated. Those are typically features that contain a string (text). censhare's "Translate with memory" supports manual translation with segment memory and terminology lists.

The function is available in the "Translate asset properties" wizard. Users open the wizard in assets via the asset menu. To carry out the function, a language attribute needs to be configured for asset features that are to be localized.

Asset features can also be further characterized using a context. This context can play an important role for the translation. censhare saves context information as a child feature. With contexts, you can save different translation variants of a feature.

The "Translate asset properties" function itself requires no further configuration. The wizard uses the application "Translation with memory". The translation memory accesses segments and uses terminology lists that you can import into censhare. This also applies for the texts saved and localized in asset properties. censhare also uses segmentation and tag rules from the translation memory for asset properties. Mostly they are short texts or individual words. Changes to the segmentation and tag rules are therefore typically not required.

So that a user can use this function, at least one asset feature with a language attribute must exist. A context can also be entered. This is shown for informational purposes during translation, but it can't be changed in the wizard. 

This article describes how to configure language attributes and create context features in censhare Admin Client. Another section talks about rights that users need in order to use the function in censhare Web.

Configuring language attributes in asset features

The requirement for translating an asset feature is that it has a language attribute. When creating a feature in the censhare Admin Client you enter whether censhare creates an optional or a required language attribute. You can configure a language attribute for every type of feature or value type. To do that, select one of the following values in the field "Language":

In the XML representation of assets, the language attribute is displayed as an XML attribute of the corresponding feature:

<asset id="22033" application="default" type="module.feature.">
   <asset_feature 
          asset_id="22033" 
          sid="727605" 
          feature="censhare:productname" 
          language="de" 
           value_string="Handy-Akku" />
   <asset_feature 
          asset_id="22033" 
          sid="727609" 
          feature="censhare:productname" 
          language="en" 
          value_string="Cell phone battery" />
</asset>

censhare creates a feature for every language. The XML tag for this is <asset_feature>. The ID of the feature – in the example "censhare:productname" – is identical here for every one of these features. Users can enter one of the languages in the system as the value for the "Language" attribute. The attribute "Value_string" then contains the text for this language. Additional configuration steps are similar to those in the article Creating a new feature.

Configuring context features

You can save additional localization information in context features, for example, if a product is written differently in different countries within the same language region. This information should also be available to the translator. In order to do that, you not only have to save the feature itself but also the context information. censhare saves this in a child feature.

The features or child features are created in the censhare Admin Client. Proceed as follows to define a context as a child feature:

Creating localizable features:

1. Create a feature of the desired type and value type as you would in the article Creating a new feature.

2. Configure a required or an optional language for the feature as described in the section "Configuring language attributes in asset features".

Creating context features:

1. Create another feature for the context with a static or dynamic list of values. From this list, users can then select the corresponding context.

   Use the value type "Value list (string)" in order to create a static list. For a dynamic list use the value type "Asset reference".

2. If you use a "Value list (string)", add a value for every context in the "Values" area. If you create an asset reference feature, define an asset filter for child and parent assets in the "Asset reference" area. For example, you could reference a brand or a region as the context feature. In this case, enter a child asset filter for the asset type "Brand" or "Region". For more information, see the article Configuring asset filters.

   An asset reference allows you to display brands or regions in a context feature, for example. Brands and locations are saved in censhare in the corresponding asset types. You can reference these assets here. For more information, see the article Creating dynamic value lists.

3. Save the feature.

Configuring contexts as a child feature:

1. Open the feature you created in the previous steps and go to the "Child features" area.

2. Click the "+" button and from the list select the feature with the value list created in the second step.

3. In the "Type" field select the "Hierarchical" option.

4. Make sure that the "Activated" box is checked.

5. Save the feature.

The context is an optional entry. It is independent of the language. To use the "Translate with memory" application, a language has to be entered for the feature, but a context does not have to be entered. You can also define multiple contexts for one feature. censhare creates a child feature for each context. If you use the contexts "Edition" and "Brand" in the language "German", for example, censhare creates these two child features for every parent feature. The "Translating asset properties" wizard then shows both contexts in the parent feature segment.

Context features are displayed as follows in the XML representation of an asset:

<asset id="22033" application="default" type="module.feature.">

   <asset_feature 
        asset_id="22033" 
        sid="727604" 
        feature="censhare:productname" 
        language="en" 
        value_string="Cell phone battery">
      <asset_feature 
             asset_id="22033" 
             sid="727605" 
             parent_context="727604" 
             feature="censhare:productname.region" 
             value_asset_id="21355" />
      <asset_feature 
           asset_id="22033" 
           sid="727606" 
           parent_context="727604" 
           feature="censhare:productname.brand" 
           value_asset_id="23861" />
   </asset_feature>

   <asset_feature 
           asset_id="22033" 
           sid="727607" 
           feature="censhare:productname" 
           language="en" 
           value_string="Mobile phone battery">
      <asset_feature 
             asset_id="22033" 
             sid="727608" 
             parent_context="727607" 
             feature="censhare:productname.region" 
             value_asset_id="21356" />
      <asset_feature 
             asset_id="22033" 
             sid="727609" 
             parent_context="727607" 
             feature="censhare:productname.brand" 
             value_asset_id="23861" />
   </asset_feature>

</asset>

Asset properties and child features are both saved in one tag <asset_feature> in the XML representation of an asset. Asset features with localized properties are inside the <asset> tag. In this example, two features for "censhare:productname" are created in the language "en" (English). So the English product name is in there twice but the two values for the English product name differ in terms of their context.

Die beiden Werte für den englischen Produktnamen unterscheiden sich jedoch hinsichtlich des Kontextes. Das entsprechende Kontext-Merkmal "censhare:productname.region" ist in der XML-Struktur als Kind-Element innerhalb des Merkmals "censhare:productname" platziert. Zusätzlich enthalten Kind-Merkmale ein "parent_context"-Attribut. Der Wert dieses Attributs referenziert das Eltern-Merkmal. Im gezeigten Beispiel handelt es sich um ein Asset-Referenz-Merkmal. Die Regionen werden in Assets repräsentiert. Im Merkmal wird lediglich die ID des Assets als Wert gespeichert – im Beispiel "21355" und "21356". Der Assistent zeigt die Asset-Namen anstatt der IDs an, beispielsweise "UK" und "US".

The corresponding context feature "censhare:productname.edition" is placed in the XML structure as a child element of the feature "censhare:productname". In addition, child features contain a "parent_context" attribute. The value of this attribute references the parent feature. The example shows an asset reference feature. The regions are represented by assets. The feature only saves the asset IDs as a value: "21355" and "21356" in the example. The wizard shows the asset names instead of the IDs, for example, "UK" and "US".

In both "censhare:productname" features, another "censhare:productname.brand" context feature is created. Just like with the "censhare:productname.region" child feature, this is configured as an asset reference feature. In the example XML, both child features have the same value, for instance, "censhare".

Users see the example in the wizard as follows:

So that users in censhare Web can edit both the asset properties and the associated contexts, they will need a properly configured "Metadata" widget. In this widget, you can configure the displayed asset properties and the "Edit properties" dialog separately. For more information see the article "Metadata in censhare Web".

Permissions

The "Translate asset properties" wizard in censhare Web uses the same rights as the "Translate with memory" application. Users need at least these rights to edit or add segments for creating translations. The reason for this is that when a translation is confirmed, the corresponding segment is added to the memory. 

Users also need access permission to edit assets if they wish to run the wizard.

Note: The rights "Translating metadata with memory all" and "Translating metadata with memory read-only" are reserved for work with the translation memory in the censhare Java Client. These rights have no effect on working in censhare Web.