Documentation Center

Running batch tasks: Pseudo-translate

You can run a batch task to pseudo-translate, that is to simulate file translation. This is useful when you want to see how the translated files will look after translation and how much extra engineering work will be required before actual translation is done.

About this task

Performing this as an individual task only shows you how the target translations will look in the bilingual *.sdlxliff file. If you want to see how it will be displayed in the final generated file, perform the Pseudo-translate Round Trip sequence when creating the project.

Procedure

  1. Decide whether you want to run the batch task sequence on an entire project or some project files:
    • To run batch task sequences on an entire project, go to the Projects view and select the project you want to run batch task sequences on.
    • To run batch task sequences on a file or a selection of files, go to the Projects view, select a project, and then go to the Files view and select the file or files you want to run batch task sequences on.
  2. On the Home tab, select Batch Tasks.
  3. Select Pseudo-translate.
  4. On the Batch Tasks page, consult the task/task sequence description. If you want to run another task, select it from the Task Sequence drop-down list.
  5. Select Next.
  6. On the Files page, all files for the active project are listed. Select the files on which you want the batch task to be run.
  7. Select Next.
  8. On the Settings page:
    1. Under Pseudo-translate type, specify how words are selected from the target language dictionaries to simulate translation:
      • Select Random, to replace the words in the source file with words of the same length, at random, from the target language dictionary. If you run the pseudo-translate task multiple times, different translated words will be in the output each time.
      • Select Deterministic, to replace the words in the source file with the same word, of the same length, from the target language dictionary. If you run the pseudo-translate task multiple times, the same translated words will be in the output each time. However, if you want a more natural look to the translation, you should select Random instead.
    2. Under Leading/Trailing characters, specify settings to mark the start and end of each string to indicate that pseudo-translation has been applied to that paragraph or segment:
      1. Select the Append character to the start checkbox, and enter the character that you want to add to the beginning of each paragraph or segment.
      2. Select the Append character to the end checkbox, and enter the character that you want to add to the end of each paragraph or segment.
      3. Select either of the following options to further specify the level to which modifications apply: Alter on paragraph unit level or Alter every segment.
    3. Under Text length modification, in the Expand target segments by factor box, select a number by which text length is multiplied in the pseudo-translate process.
    4. Under Text transformation, choose either of the following options to control the way the pseudo-translated text is rendered:
      • Select Apply pseudo-translation from the dictionary, to take actual words from a target language dictionary and insert them into translation to simulate actual translation. Which words are selected depends on which Pseudo-translation type you selected above. Selecting this option enables you to introduce new characters that are typical for a target language.
      • Select Apply pseudo-translation using $ (dollar) sign, to insert $ (dollar) signs in place of every character in the translated file.
      This may be useful if you do not want to be disrupted by the language (especially if you understand the target language) and you only care about potential layout problems. In the case of *.xml files, you can easily see when text has not been processed because it will not be replaced by $ dollar signs. Therefore, you can tell if you need to adjust your XML settings to specify something as translatable or untranslatable.
  9. Select Finish.