Software Localisation - Essay Example

Q1) a) What is Pseudo Translation Pseudo-translation, a technique used in software localisation is the process of creating text that mimics a foreign language without the benefit of actual translation into another language. Usually the text has accents added to the characters or the form of the text changed so that it behaves in the application like a translation would, while still being recognisably in English (or some other source language). (Pseudo1) b) Which part of a software application is generally pseudo translated Business logic or back end is translated. c) Which issues can be detected using pseudo translation Pseudo translation detects and verifies the following: Target environment properly displays special characters. It detects increased string lengths due to which strings truncations do not take place. It detects incorrect string concatenations. d) Which files can be pseudo-translated and how can the effect of the pseudo-translation be assessed All the programming logic coding files can be pseudo translated and then recompiled again to have the final run time file for a particular locale. Q2) a) What is Regular Expression A regular expression (abbreviated as regexp or regex, with plural forms regexps, regexes, or regexen) is a string that searches text in data, it describes or matches a set of strings, according to certain syntax rules. Regular expressions are used by many text editors, programming languages and utilities to search and manipulate bodies of text based on certain patterns. (Reg1a) b) What are regular expressions used for in Alchemy Catalyst Alchemy Catalyst combines the power and flexibility of regular expressions like ezParse which makes it simple and quick to work with visual development environment in order to develop text parsers for virtually any file type. EzParse also supports the most popular encoding systems such as UTF-8, UTF-16 and Shift-JIS. (Cat1a) c) What regular expression would find all vowels Regular expression "s" would find a word with four or more vowels. d) Which regular expression would find all words beginning with "A" The regular expression "^A" will match all lines that start with a capital A. The expression "A$" will match all lines that end with the capital A. Q3) a) Project Management Flow: Project Commencement Which activities would be undertaken, which areas would be addressed during this stage of the project, and what would be the output Requires personnel management, work organisation, planning, analysis, setup and coordination of resources, deployment of tools and software, tracking, reporting, and most of all flexibility. During the first analysis of the files that are to be localized we try to determine whether a glossary containing new terminology is necessary. At the same time we examine the extent of the project, and, depending on the deadline, we choose the most suitable means and technology for the work. Based on this analysis a list of files is generated, and a glossary; styles and formatting are defined, and procedural rules are established. We maintain full consultation with the customer. (Stage1a) b) Production Flow: Evaluation Which areas of a product would be covered during evaluation stage and what would be the output at this stage. Evaluation is done when the software is implemented at the client side in order to estimate the degree of accuracy needed from the software according to the business requirements. Production actually covers the translation itself, and document composition. This phase affects the quality of the product the most. Continuous Control: During the production period our customers are encouraged to check the translated text. They can see and verify that everything is being done as they require. Quality Checking: Localization includes several levels of quality checking. Language experts read through the whole text prior to the application of standard controls for translation precision, style, terminology and content. Special adaptation for the Slovak environment is also checked, and attention is given to graphical and typographical control of the material. Changes Implementation: The Control tools we use - e.g. Visual SourceSafe - guarantee that all changes and editing carried out, whether by controllers or the customer, will be implemented in the final product. All changes are tracked, and previous versions can be retrieved if necessary. c) Production Flow: Preparation Which areas of a product would be covered during preparation stage and what would be output at this stage Logical and physical design and final output is prototype system. d) Glossary/TM Flow: Production Which steps would be covered during the preparation and production of a project glossary Project glossary contains the related documents of all the stages of the project including problem definition, feasibility, prototyping, logical and physical design, system flow and data flow diagrams. The documentation step is covered. Q3) b) Describe the two basic TM approaches. There have in fact been two basic 'indirect' approaches. In one the abstract representation is designed to be a kind of language-independent 'interlingua', which can potentially serve as an intermediary between a large number of natural languages. Translation is therefore in two basic stages: from the source language into the interlingua, and from the interlingua into the target language. In the other indirect approach (in fact, more common approach) the representation is converted first into an equivalent representation for the target language. Thus there are three basic stages: analysis of the input text into an abstract source representation, transfer to an abstract target representation, and generation into the output language. (TM1) Explain validity, reliability and efficient applicability as three characteristics of a good methodology to evaluate the performance of a TM system. Validity means whether the output given by the system is valid and correct in format under a particular locale. Reliability means the system is going to work properly even if the locale is going to change. Efficient applicability means the system is giving the accurate desired results. How can 'usefulness' be defined in relation to matches offered by TM systems In a TM system all those modules whose applicability are uniform across all locales should be used and kept separately in order to be reused in any localisation procedure. Which five results are offered by TM systems for any given unit of text to be translated (in relation to time saved/wasted) Consistency in the use of terms Tangible qualitative and financial benefits Increased productivity Consistency in language and terminology Avoid paying more for the translation of repeated text. Q4) a) Localisers have to deal with a large number of ever-changing file formats. Explain the problems that this can cause and outline possible ways to address these. The state of software and documentation localisation before XLIFF was that a software or documentation provider delivered their localisable resources to a localisation service provider in a number of file changing formats. Once software providers and technical communicators commenced implementing XLIFF, the task of interchanging localisation data was simplified. Using proprietary and/or non-standard resource formats force either the source provider or the localisation service provider to implement costly and inefficient pre-processing of localisable content. For publishers with many proprietary or non-standard formats, this requirement becomes a major hurdle when attempting to localise their software. For software developers and technical communicators employing enterprise localisation tools and processes, XLIFF defines a standard but extensible vocabulary that captures relevant metadata for any point in the lifecycle, which can be exchanged between a variety of commercial and open-source tools. (File1) b) Extension .bat Batch File contains script about various O/S commands. .bmp Bitmap File Yes .cur Cursor File It depends upon the shape of the cursor .dll Dynamic link library the coding which is contained in this file can be mad eto work on various platforms. .fnt Font Not localizable as every font is dedicated to a particular locale. .rc resource file, which is not localizable as maximum contents are locale specific .res resource file, which is not localizable as maximum contents are locale specific .vcp versioned copy, which is specific to a locale. .ver Version file. Not localizable Different versions follow different locals. Q5) Explain the following standard tests and the problems these tests can identify. Use examples where appropriate. a) Inconsistent hotkey count While moving software to a different locale, mostly hot key combinations becomes invalid as the targeted system does not recognize or allow such combinations. b) Invalid ampersand (&) position The position of & and meaning in different locales is different so care should be taken so that the software must correctly use & under a particular locale. c) Inconsistent hotkey character A hot key character like "CTRL" might be invalid in other locales, hence a hot key comprising of such character would become invalid and must be replaced with other characters in order to serve the purpose of hot keys. d) Inconsistent printf format specifiers. Considering %f format specifier, in English the specifier knows that the significant digits are on the left and decimal precision are on the right of the decimal point but if the same specifier is used for Arabic floating point number then it would be giving invalid results. Q6) a) What is a platform Platform is used for testing on any language version of Windows if the product is properly globalised. However, a globalise and localisable application, even after it undergoes localization, must be able to run on any language version of the operating system and with MUI installed. Q6) b) How can efficient multiplatform testing be managed Multiplatform testing can be managed in multilingual architecture by reducing the localisation effort of the translated resource files. Q6) c) What is 'set-up time' and how can it be reduced Time taken to install and configure software according to a particular locale. Some software set up program at the time of installation ask the deployer to set various properties regarding a particular locale. If the software set up program is automated to an extent that it automatically configures itself by reading the information from regional settings of the operating system. The other way is to have preconfigured installers for particular locals separately. Q6) c) How can you estimate potential savings in set-up time The estimation is done depending how many inputs rae required by the setup program from the deployer at the installation time. Works Cited Pseudo1, accessed from Reg1a, accessed from < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression> Cat1a, accessed from < www.sam-engineering.de/downloads/press/alchemy8.pdf> TM1, accessed from < http://www.intersolinc.com/newsletters/newsletter_47.htm> Stage1a, accessed from < http://www.exe.sk/en/localization/methods/> File1, accessed from < http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xliff/charter.php> Read More