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Limitations when creating custom workflow templates

This is a list of limitations you should be aware of when creating custom workflow templates.

1. Generic limitations

  • The custom Human tasks that can be assigned to vendors are: DTP, Translation, Linguistic Review, Implement Customer Review, and Engineering.
  • You can assign vendors to custom Human tasks only if the tasks are marked as vendor enabled. If you want to give work to a vendor you must make the vendor assignment while you are configuring your workflow or during project creation. You cannot reassign tasks to and from vendors during the Project Planning task. However, you can perform reassignments from the project Stages tab after the project is started.

2. Limitations for custom tasks with multiple transitions and outcomes

When creating a valid custom workflow template which contains tasks with multiple transitions and outcomes, you must be aware of a set of rules and exceptions.

The correct usage of tasks which have multiple transitions requires prior understanding of 2 task-related concepts: scope and input type.

Scope = the project component affected by the task

Each task has only one scope which is exposed for each task in the application. The scope values are:
  • project

    A task with project_scope runs at project level, as the name suggests. For example, Project Planning is a task with project_scope, as planning activities are performed for each uploaded batch of source files in the project.

  • file

    A task with file_scope runs at file level. For example, Engineering is a task with file_scope, as engineering activities are performed onto a file which needs to have the extension changed or the content formatted in a certain way.

  • targetLanguage

    A task with targetLanguage_scope runs at target language level. For example, Analysis is a task which aggregates information about TM leverage per target language.

Input Type (applies only to tasks with file_scope)= the file format that can be processed by a task

Each task is compatible with only one input type. The input type values are:
  • nativeSource

    A nativeSource file is the source file uploaded as part of a project, for example .doc, .xlsx, .csv, and so on.

  • bcm (Bilingual Content Model)

    bcmSource - To be processed by Trados, a nativeSource file needs to be converted into an internal format called bcmSource. Files which passed the File Format Conversion automated task have the bcmSource format. File Format Conversion creates a bcm with source language, but no target language.

    bcmTarget - Next, the bcmSource needs to be multiplied in as many target languages as the project has. Files which passed the Copy Source to Target automated task have the bcmTarget format. All translation work is performed at bcmTarget level. Copy Source to Target creates several bcmTarget files, one per each language pair, which means that the bcm files resulting from this step have both a source and a target language. The target part of the files is empty and will be populated with the translation performed in the next steps.

  • nativeTarget (for workflow templates created before November 2023)
    After all the translation work is finished, it is time to convert the translated files back to native format. Files which passed the Target File Generation automated task have the nativeTarget format, so an extension such as .doc, .xlsx, .csv, and so on.
Consult the table below to familiarize yourselves with:
  • the tasks that are eligible for multiple transitions (all Human tasks except Customer Quote Approval and Customer Review)
  • the Scope of each eligible task
  • the Input Type of each eligible task
  • the Output Type of each eligible task (the Output Type is the format produced after a task is completed)
TaskTask TypeTask ScopeTask Input TypeTask Output Type
1.File Type DetectionAutomatedfilenativeSourcenativeSource
2.EngineeringHumanfilenativeSourcenativeSource
3.File Format ConversionAutomatedfilenativeSourcebcmSource
4.Copy Source to TargetAutomatedfilebcmSourcebcmTarget
5.PerfectMatchAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
6.Translation Memory MatchingAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
7.Machine TranslationAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
8.Generative TranslationAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
9.AnalysisAutomatedtargetLanguage--
10.Bilingual EngineeringHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
11.Document Content AnalysisAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
12.Project Content AnalysisAutomatedproject--
13.Generate Offline Package ResourcesAutomatedprojectbcmSourcebcmSource
14.Customer Quote GenerationAutomatedproject--
15.Customer Quote ReviewHumanproject--
16.Customer Quote ApprovalHumanproject--
17.Project PlanningHumanproject--
18.Language PlanningHumantargetLanguage--
19.TranslationHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
20.Linguistic ReviewHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
21.Automated QA CheckAutomatedfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
22.Customer ReviewHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
23.Implement Customer ReviewHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
24.Translation Memory UpdateHumanfilebcmTargetbcmTarget
25.Target File GenerationHumanfilebcmTargetnativeTarget (before November 2023) / bcmTarget + a native version of the file (as of November 2023)
26.Desktop Publishing (DTP)HumanfilenativeTarget (before November 2023) / bcmTarget (as of November 2023)nativeTarget (before November 2023) / bcmTarget (as of November 2023)
27.Final CheckHumanfilenativeTarget (before November 2023) / bcmTarget (as of November 2023)nativeTarget (before November 2023) / bcmTarget (as of November 2023)
28.File DeliveryAutomatedfilebcmTarget (as of November 2023)bcmTarget (as of Novmber 2023)
29.Hold for FeedbackHumanfilebcmTarget (as of November 2023)bcmTarget (as of November 2023)

Rule 1: When we use multiple transitions, the task where the transition begins must have the same scope and the same input type as the tasks where the transitions end. This rule is valid for file_scope tasks and targetLanguage_Scope tasks.

For example, if you have a task with file_scope, input type = bcmTarget, and 2 transitions, each transition must lead to a task with file_scope and input type = bcmTarget.rule 1

Rule 2: When we use multiple transitions, all transitions can end up in the same task (if rule 1 is observed).

For example, if you have a task with file_scope, let’s say Custom_Translation, and 2 transitions, each transition can end in the same Linguistic Review task.rule 2
Rule 3: If we have a task with project_scope, a given input type, and multiple transitions:
  • Each transition can end in a task with project_scope rule 3.1
  • Each transition can end in a task with a smaller scope (file_scope, targetLanguage_scope)rule 3.2
  • Each transition can be of a different type. For example, if you have a project_scope task called Custom_Planning and three transitions: the first transition can have project_scope (e.g. Project Planning), the second transition can have file_scope (e.g. Document Content Analysis), and the third transition can have targetLanguage_scope (e.g. Analysis).rule 3.3

Rule 4: If we have 2 tasks task with file_scope, and in between them we have other tasks which have either project_scope or targetLanguage_scope, you cannot transition from from the first file_scope task to the second file_scope task.