Re: Foreign language translation of Winhelp rtfs

Subject: Re: Foreign language translation of Winhelp rtfs
From: Tom Brophy <tom -at- TCRAFT -dot- COM>
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 14:44:29 +0100

Hi Mitchell,

> My company is preparing our main product for sales outside the U.S. To
> date, no one has discussed the issue of document translation with me.
> (As the sole technical writer, I'm plenty busy with the English
> version, so I haven't brought it up.)
>
> A lead developer has just asked me for my winhelp rtf source files, so
> that he can send them to our International Sales coordinator. That
> person wants to have "his translators" begin working on them. I don't
> know anything about the translators' qualifications. I suspect we're
> planning German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian versions of the
> software. I also suspect I'll get these translations back and be
> expected to compile them.

This sounds like it's likely to turn into an exceptionally painful and costly exercise for all concerned! I gather from the above that
a) your main product is a software application
b) you haven't completed the US documentation just yet
c) your developer is either planning for or ignoring the requirement for an update to the help/documentation (you're still working on the docs, and he wants to send current files to the translators). In localization, updates are a BAD thing.
d) no real consideration has been given to the cost of applying this update across 4 languages

> I told the developer that it would help if the translators knew at least
> a little about winhelp. Knowing that's unlikely, I advised that the
> translators make sure they don't erase any hidden text, or change any
> context strings, macros, and bitmap links.

Documentation/help cannot go through the localization process completely independent of the software it documents. Has the software been translated/localized? By the same translators? Is there a glossary of software terms? How are your translators planning to implement the doc/help update(s)? Do they know there will be an update? Revision tracking in Word is a rather painful way to do it. A translation memory tool such as Trados is a rather better way. Do you expect to release later versions in the same languages? You can save some money by planning for translation reuse now.

> I'd appreciate any other advice or warnings about translating winhelp
> rtf files. (BTW, I "code" help straight up in Word, using my own macros,
> so I won't be able to reap the benefits of any HAT's.)

You don't say whether you're using WinHelp3 or WinHelp4, but most of the following will apply:
a) compile your help system on a clean machine with no network connections etc. This should allow you to hand off a complete help system to the translators.
b) document the localizable portions of your hpj file. Any experienced translator should know about copyright, title and citation entries. They may not know about window titles or button legends.
c) document the localizable portions of your cnt file.
d) spend some time on your US help. For example, if you use KLink macros, get rid of them and replace them with non-localizable ALinks.
e) supply all/any graphics required.
f) if your doc/help contains localizable screenshots, provide a path to the relevant screens in your application, assuming the translators have localized software and can take any required shots.
<blatant plug>
g) get a copy of HelpQA - the industry standard WinHelp localization QA tool. A demo is available from http://www.tcraft.com.
<\blatant plug>

I hope this helps ...

Cheers,
Tom


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