WorldServer Filtering Process

Documents generally contain translatable text mixed in with formatting and display information. Because translators are usually only interested in the linguistic content, it is important to separate the translatable text from all of the non-translatable text, such as HTML tags or formatting information.

For translation purposes, the WorldServer filtering process starts with a document in one of many formats and breaks it into small, logical units of text called segments. These segments can then be translated and recomposed into a translated target document based on the original source document.

A WorldServer content filter handles the following activities:

Separates formatting from content segments in source documents, based on the document's specific file type. (Sometimes called decomposing the document.)
For example, in an HTML file, many tags are considered to be non-translatable text while the text between the tags is usually meant for translation.
Presents the source text segments to translators, so that they can translate the text into the target language.
The translator starts with the segments in a source language (for example, English) and translates those segments into a target language (for example, Japanese).
Creates (or updates) a target segment with the translated text.
Recomposes a translated target document based on the original source document and the translated segments.
This process retains the formatting of the original document while replacing the source text with the translated text.

The following figure illustrates how filters typically work:

Figure 29: Filters extract text from a formatted document and then reassemble the document based on translated text.

The filtering process automatically creates a target file from the source file. If the target file already exists in the asset interface system, it is updated each time the source file goes through the process. Every time the source document is updated within WorldServer or its timestamp is changed, it is resegmented according to the rules specified in the filter.

Filters and File Types

Filters let WorldServer identify translatable text based upon the document file type. Because the exact makeup of translatable text versus other content varies greatly across different file formats, this process is very file-format specific with some common features across multiple file types.

Note: File types are roughly equivalent to MIME types, which can also be added, deleted, and modified on the Management > Administration > Customization page. If necessary, you can modify the default file extension assignments to MIME types on that page.

You can configure some aspects of these filters to specify the text to be translated in your documents. The document is then split into segments based on the specific configuration for that specific document file type. For example, a PowerPoint presentation may contain a master file that the client may or may not want translated.

In some cases, WorldServer provides more than one filter for the same file type. Which one you use may depend on your file contents, system platforms, or translation environment. You can also configure and use multiple filters for each file type, and create a new filter configuration based on a WorldServer default.