art-text-file

A manually-generated file listing all of the source language text contained in a piece of artwork
(e.g. a bitmap, icon or screenshot). The translation for each term is noted next to the source-
language term. The translated terms are then used to produce localized artwork.

artwork
The pictorial or graphical elements of a software product. Artwork can be simple (a button or an
icon) or complex (an illustration, screenshot or splash screen). Artwork can be included in the
software, Help or documentation components of the product.

bi-directional
The representation of the combination of non-Latin language text, written and displayed right-to-
left (such as Arabic and Hebrew) together with Latin language text, written and displayed left-to-
right (such as US English).

bi-directional enabling
The process of enabling a software product developed in a left-to-right-reading source language
environment to to function appropriately in a bi-directional environment.

BRIC
The acronym BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China.

build
The compilation of multiple software resource files into a single, final product that can be run
(executed) by a computer.

build environment
The tools, methods and procedures used to build multiple software resource files into a single,
final product that can be run (executed) by a computer.

CAT (Computer Aided Translation)

The acronym CAT stands for Computer-Aided Translation. CAT translation memory tools provide
computer assistance to the translator by capturing segments of the source text together with the
corresponding translation as the translator works through the text. When the same or similar text
appears later in the document, the CAT tool prompts the translator with the suggested translation.
Examples of CAT tools include the SDLX translation memory tool and the SDL Online free
translation service.

code page / codepage

A table defining the numeric computer code for a specific set of characters, including accented
and other characters that are not normally used in US English. Software products must reference
the correct code page for a target language in order to properly represent its characters on
screen. Typically, each character is represented by one byte or two bytes.

collation sheet
A report providing verification of the number and order of the pages of a document.

Content Management System

A Content Management System (CMS) automates the process of creating, managing,
maintaining, publishing and updating various kinds of content. Content Management Systems are
used to single source content that can then be published in different delivery formats such as
print, Web, online, etc.

DBCS (Double Byte Character Set)

A character set used to represent the Asian languages Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and
Traditional Chinese. Since these languages may contain many thousands of characters, two
bytes are needed to represent each character. For any given ideographic character, one byte is
utilized to reference a particular font table; the second byte points to a grid reference in that table.

double-byte enabling
The process of converting a software product developed in a single-byte source language
environment to a double-byte environment.

DTP
The acronym DTP stands for Desktop Publishing. The software and techniques used to lay out
and format text on pages and to construct printed materials, such as software manuals.

FIGS
The acronym FIGS stands for French, Italian, German, Spanish.

fuzzy match
A sentence or phrase in a translation memory that is similar but not identical to the sentence or
phrase the translator is currently translating. The degree of "fuzziness" is calculated by the
translation memory tool and presented as a percent figure. A high fuzzy match, e.g. 95%, will
need only minor editing, whereas a low fuzzy match, e.g. 50%, will likely require re-translation.

globalization
Globalization (G11N) includes all the company-wide preparations that must be made in order to
enter the international marketplace. Globalization covers anything that must be done differently in
any part of the business to optimize international success.

glossary
A bilingual listing of terminology or software strings used to define the key product terms and their
translations. Terminology is frequently extracted from the software source files. In addition to the
source (e.g. US English) and target (e.g. German) words, other identifying information such as
"context" or "reference" may be included.

GUI
The acronym GUI stands for Graphical User Interface and means the same as UI.

hotkey
A keyboard key shortcut used to access functions in menus and sub-menus. A hotkey is usually
represented by a mnemonic which is shown as an underline on the menu line; the mnemonic
typically refers to the initial letter of the function (e.g. “Copy” = “CTRL-C”). See also: shortcut key.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) HTML is a tagged-text formatting language that uses a
set of predefined tags to describe the structural elements of a Web page, such as tables, rule
lines, style sheets, text, graphics and hyperlinks. Browser software interprets the tags and uses
them to format the page for display to the user.

internationalization
Internationalization (I18N) is the practice of creating source material that is locale independent. In
other words, all language-specific and market-specific content resides outside the core
application. In general, internationalization refers to code changes that are made to ensure that a
product or website can be localized and that all information is presented in a format to which the
end user is accustomed.

leverage / leveraging
The portion of translated material from a previous version that can be reused. Leverage is usually
expressed as a percentage. For the specific case where CAT tools are used, leveraging is the
process of searching through a translation memory for 100% and fuzzy matches, and then
pasting the previously translated segments into the current document.

localization
Localization (L10N) is the process of adapting a product or service for a particular country or
region. This includes translation, but goes beyond it. Localization means making sure that
graphics, colors, and sound effects are culturally appropriate, and that things like dates,
calendars, measurement units and monetary notations are in the correct format.

machine translation
The process whereby a software application running on a computer uses complex algorithms,
statistical models and specialized dictionaries to translate source text into a target language
without human intervention.

multimedia asset text

The text that appears in multimedia reference titles and computer-based training products. Asset
text can be stored within multimedia authoring packages, databases, standard Windows software
resource files or tagged ASCII files.

PDF
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) allows users to convert any PostScript Language output
into an online hypertext document. PDF documents can be shared across all platforms while
maintaining the documents' printed look and feel. PDF is code page, application, and media
independent—PDF files are viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded and
distributed from the Web for free.

PostScript™
A page description language developed by Adobe that describes the fonts, layout and graphical
elements of a page. PostScript can be converted to PDF, stored in an electronic PostScript™ file
or printed on any printer that supports Adobe PostScript.

pretranslation
The preparation of files for translation where current files are “populated” with the related
segments of previously translated material; only 100% matches are replaced. The result is a set
of hybrid files containing both source (e.g. US English) andtarget language (e.g. German)
terminology. Pretranslation usually applies to software files.
repetitions
A sentence or phrase that occurs more than once in the source text, but has no corresponding
match in the translation memory.

resizing
Text elements, especially software strings in the User Interface, usually expand during translation
and may no longer fit inside buttons, menus, dialog boxes, etc. Localization engineers must then
resize the UI elements to accommodate the expanded text.

resource editor
A software development tool used to create and edit the resource files that compile to create a
software product.

screen shot / screenshot

An electronic image depicting a particular on-screen state of a software product. A screenshot is
utilized in online Help and in documentation to explain or illustrate a specific software product
function to the user.

screen shot capture

The production step of capturing an on-screen image for subsequent placement in an online Help
module or in documentation. For the localized product, the screen shot must be captured from the
localized software.

screen shot mockup

The production step required to mockup on-screen images in an online Help module or in
documentation, due to the unavailability of localized software.

screen shot placement

The production step of placing a captured on-screen image in an online Help module or in
documentation.

segment
A discreet piece (chunk) of text, such as a phrase, sentence or heading that is stored as a unit in
a translation memory together with its translation.

shortcut key
A keyboard combination used to access functions in menus and sub-menus. The shortcut key
combination is essentially an abbreviation of the menu item command. Ctrl-C is a typical
accelerator key combination for the Copy command. When a product is localized, this key
combination is generally not changed, i.e. the same combination (Ctrl-C) is used in the localized
version of a product. See also: hotkey.

single sourcing
A set of strategies and tools used to separate content and structure in stored content in order to
be able to generate multiple types of documents from the same source material. This is an
important component of Content Management Systems.

sim-ship / simship
Simultaneous Shipment. Releasing all language versions (localized and original source) of a
particular product at the same time.

source language
The language in which the product that is to be localized was originally developed.

style guide
A guide developed for a target language to define the translation style. The style guide can
include writing style, usage, grammar, punctuation, font and typeface, capitalization, etc.
instructions.

target language
The language in which the product that is to be localized is converted to (e.g. from US English to
German).

term extraction
Extraction of key terminology from product documentation and marketing materials for the
purpose of creating the source language terms in a glossary. The extraction process can be
automated using tools such as SDLPhraseFinder™.

test script
Written plans and instructions for testing a software product (either source product or localized
product).

text expansion
The phenomenon whereby the length of words in a target language is longer than that of the
source. For example, the US English source phrase:
"My hovercraft is full of eels"
in German becomes:
"Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale"
In this small example, the target is nearly 40 per cent longer than the source— this can create
issues with all aspects of the localization process.

text extraction
The process of pulling translatable strings from the source software files and putting them into a
text file for translation.

translation
Translation is the process of adapting meaning from one language into another. This is not a
literal, word-for-word process. Rather, the translator must first understand the meaning
communicated by the source language and then author words in the target language that convey
the same meaning.

Translation Management System (TMS)

A Translation Management System is a software application that manages the process of
translating source-language content into one or more target languages and delivering the
approved translations back to specified locations. The system uses predefined workflow rules to
automate as much of the manual work as possible that is involved in creating and managing
multilingual content. An example is SDL Translation Management System.
TM
See Translation Memory.

translation memory
A database of sentences and phrases and their translated counterparts, which has been built
from previous translations of a document or series of documents. A translation memory is
bilingual; there is only one source language (e.g. US English) and only one target language (e.g.
German).

TMX
TMX is an abbreviation for Translation Memory Exchange, which is an open standard designed to
permit translation memory databases to be processed by different translation memory tools
without loss of data.

Unicode
A double-byte, platform-independent character set that encodes all character sets into one. It
includes all major alphabetic languages plus Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

UI (User Interface)
The on-screen portion of a software product or website that the user interacts with. The UI
includes menus and sub-menus, dialog boxes, scroll bars, toolbars, status lines, navigation bars,
etc.

XLIFF
XLIFF stands for XML Localization Interchange File Format. This is a standardized format that
uses XML tags to package translatable material for exchange between automated systems, such
as Content Management Systems and Translation Management Systems. Comments, context
and tracking information and much more can be included with the translatable material.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)

XML is the format for creating and tagging data and documents for manipulation and display on
the Internet. It is used extensively in all situations where portions of the content management or
translation management processes are automated.