© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 1
PresentationMultilingual
Document Management Systems
Not Just a European Challenge
Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer
P R O J E C T C O N S U L TUnternehmensberatung Dr. Ulrich Kampffmeyer GmbH
Hamburg - Berlin - Darmstadt - Munich
The 1997 AIIM Show and ConferenceNew York, April, 14th - 17th 1997
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 2
Contents• Multilingual Software - Problem or Challenge ?
• The easy tasks
• Use of controlled vocabulary for field-oriented translation
• Automated translation of text
• Software: functionality and design
• Application example: wfBASE, Switzerland
• Conclusions
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 3
Multilingual Software
Problem or Challenge ?
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Thesis• The world´s IT language is English
• 90% of the information distributed via Internet is in English
• An estimated 70% of the world's languages and dialects will disappear in the next 20 years
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Anti-Thesis
• Language along with religion, literature and art is a most important factor of cultural identity
• Governments restrict the use of English and promote their national languages
• Users should be able to work easily in the environments they are used to
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Synthesis
• IT provides all necessary technologies for multilingual software
• The use of native language software generates more acceptance and eliminates faults and misunderstandings
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What does Multilingual Software mean ?
• Multilingual Software is NOTNOT :
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What does Multilingual Software mean ?
• Multilingual Software is NOT :
• Packages distributed in separate national versions
• Simple text translation
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 9
What does Multilingual Software mean ?
• Multilingual Software is NOT :
• Packages distributed in separate national versions
• Simple text translation
• Multilingual Software is :
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What does Multilingual Software mean ?
• Multilingual Software is NOT :
• Packages distributed in separate national versions
• Simple text translation
• Multilingual Software is :
• Ability to switch the language during runtime
• Translating entries and displays to the chosen language
• Retrieving information independently of the language in which it was generated
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Who needs Multilingual Software ?
• All countries with more than one official language
eg. Belgium, Switzerland, etc.
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Who needs Multilingual Software ?
• All countries with more than one official language
• All countries with more than one major language group
eg. USA, India, Russia etc.
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Who needs Multilingual Software ?
• All countries with more than one official language
• All countries with more than one major language group
• All international organizations
eg. UN, EC etc.
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Who needs Multilingual Software ?
• All countries with more than one official language
• All countries with more than one major language group
• All international organizations
• All multi-national companies
eg. trade, transportation, automobile, pharmaceutical, oil industries, and others.
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The “Document” Problem
• Facsimile documents cannot be interpreted
• Translation changes the display and appearance of documents
• Translated documents do not have the same legal status as the original documents
• Storage of several documents in different languages with a new type of "Language Version Link" may be necessary
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Use of Multilingual Software
• Retrieval independent of the language in which the information was created
• Automated translation of database and document contents
• Producing multilingual documents automatically or simultaneously
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
... his English is really bad ...
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
>>>> She switches the display language to the client's language
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
>>>> She switches the display language to the client's language
>>>>> She reads the foreign description and data to the client
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Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
>>>> She switches the display language to the client's language
>>>>> She reads the foreign description and data to the client
>>>>>> The client is satisfied,
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 25
Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
>>>> She switches the display language to the client's language
>>>>> She reads the foreign description and data to the client
>>>>>> The client is satisfied, no misunderstandings,
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 26
Use of Multilingual Software - Example
Scenario:A logistic workplace in an international trade company
> A foreign customer calls
>> The employee doesn`t understand what kind of special pharmaceutical transport he means
>>> She opens her database and retrieves the client's transactions using her standard user interface in English
>>>> She switches the display language to the client's language
>>>>> She reads the foreign description and data to the client
>>>>>> The client is satisfied, no misunderstandings, no additional time for call backs or finding a translator !
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 27
The "Easy" Tasks
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Basics of Multilingual Software
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters ä, æ, ö, ø , å, ç, é, ê, ñ
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters ä, æ, ö, ø , å, ç, é, ê, ñ
Arabia : from right to left
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters ä, æ, ö, ø , å, ç, é, ê, ñ
Arabia : from right to left
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters ä, æ, ö, ø , å, ç, é, ê, ñ
Arabia : from right to left
Asia: columns of characters
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• Use of national character sets
Europe: specific national characters ä, æ, ö, ø , å, ç, é, ê, ñ
Arabia : from right to left
Asia: columns of characters
Basics of Multilingual Software
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 35
Basics of Multilingual Software
• Display of different character sets and representations on one screen
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Basics of Multilingual Software
• Display of different character sets and representations on one screen
Risks:
• Words and sentences differ in length
• Display formats change
• Special characters may be interpreted as control characters
• Field-oriented displays have to adapt automatically
• The look of the document may change dramatically
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The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
eg. meter to feet
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Problems with the “EasyEasy” Tasks
• Transformation of measures
eg. meter to feet
Risk:
Rounding errors or decimal point format problems may occur
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The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
eg. US Dollar to D-Mark
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Problems with the “EasyEasy” Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
eg. US Dollar to D-Mark Risk:
Dynamic translation of currencies in a document may not represent the original figures
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The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
eg. 04/12/97 to 12. April 1997
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The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
eg. 6 a.m. EST to 11:00 h GMT
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Problems with the “EasyEasy” Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
eg. 6 a.m. EST to 11:00 h GMT
Risk:
Time-zone differences cause problems in automated version management in enterprise document management systems
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 44
The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
• Transformation of addresses eg. position of postal codes “Hamburg 20149 Germany” to “D - 20149 Hamburg”
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Problems with the “EasyEasy” Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
• Transformation of addresses eg. position of postal codes “Hamburg 20149 Germany” to “D - 20149 Hamburg”
Risk:
Standard formats available, but nobody cares
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 46
The Easy Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
• Transformation of addresses
• Transformation of international standardized nomenclatures
eg. country and city names “Munich” to “München”
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Problems with the “EasyEasy” Tasks
• Transformation of measures
• Transformation of currencies
• Transformation of date formats
• Transformation of time formats
• Transformation of addresses
• Transformation of international standardized nomenclatures
eg. country and city names “Munich” to “München”
Risk:
Names are spelled differently
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Use of Controlled Vocabulary
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The Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Terms may be selected from selection lists or may be approved by cross-checks with available databases
• Reference IDs related to terms allow automatic translation of the entries
• The ideal technique for multilingual software in "closed" communications
• The translation is restricted to a certain group of users
• Central, controlled administration is necessary
• Thesauri allow structured use of vocabulary
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Basic Requirements for the Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Database stores only one version or reference keys
• Use of selection lists simplifies access and guarantees exact correspondance
• Translation and transformation is provided by a Pre-Processor
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Basic Requirements for the Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Database stores only one version or reference keys
• Use of selection lists simplifies access and guarantees exact correspondance
• Translation and transformation is provided by a Pre-Processor
ClientClient Pre-Processor
Pre-Processor
Request
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Basic Requirements for the Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Database stores only one version or reference keys
• Use of selection lists simplifies access and guarantees exact correspondance
• Translation and transformation is provided by a Pre-Processor
ClientClient Pre-Processor
Pre-Processor DatabaseDatabase
Request Key
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Basic Requirements for the Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Database stores only one version or reference keys
• Use of selection lists simplifies access and guarantees exact correspondance
• Translation and transformation is provided by a Pre-Processor
ClientClient Pre-Processor
Pre-Processor DatabaseDatabase
Request Key
Value
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Basic Requirements for the Use of Controlled Vocabulary
• Database stores only one version or reference keys
• Use of selection lists simplifies access and guarantees exact correspondance
• Translation and transformation is provided by a Pre-Processor
ClientClient Pre-Processor
Pre-Processor DatabaseDatabase
Result
Request Key
Value
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 55
Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
Selection Lists
10030108
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Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
Selection Lists
10030108
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Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
• Every entry in a selection list refers to a variable which is related to a database field
Selection Lists
10030108
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 58
Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
• Every entry in a selection list refers to a variable which is related to a database field
• Every entry in the different language versions of a list refers to the same variable
Selection Lists
10030108
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 59
Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
• Every entry in a selection list refers to a variable which is related to a database field
• Every entry in the different language versions of a list refers to the same variable
• The database has to store only the numeric reference of the entry
Selection Lists
10030108
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 60
Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
• Every entry in a selection list refers to a variable which is related to a database field
• Every entry in the different language versions of a list refers to the same variable
• The database has to store only the numeric reference of the entry
• Selection lists can be used as single and multiple-choice lists
Selection Lists
10030108
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 61
Selection lists are an easy way to translate information andto save storage capacity
• The list displays a text on the screen related to a database variable
• Every entry in a selection list refers to a variable which is related to a database field
• Every entry in the different language versions of a list refers to the same variable
• The database has to store only the numeric reference of the entry
• Selection lists can be used as single and multiple-choice lists
• Selection lists help to standardize nomenclature in multinational and multilingual organizations
Selection Lists
10030108
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Multilingual Thesauri
• Controlled data entry
• Includes automatic indexing of terms on a higher hierarchy level
• Easy navigation
• ISO standard available
• Multilingual thesauri for several industries and sciences available
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Problems with Multilingual Thesauri
• A direct translation of a term may not be available
• There may be several translations for a single term
• The meaning of the translation may differ slightly
• The same term may appear in different contexts at different hierarchy levels
• One term may be represented as a group or combination of words when translated
• Thesauri are often too complex and too deep in details
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The Term “Water”
• Different position in thesauri for physics, geology, chemistry, geo-sciences and other
• 37 different versions in Icelandic
• "Desert people are glad to have water"
• Used as noun and verb
• Used as prefix and suffix (Waterfall, tapwater)
• Not only used to describe pure “H²O”
• Name
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Thesauri: Hierarchy and Crosslinks
The Hierarchical View of the Thesaurus(Top term, broader term, narrower term)
Unique IdentifierPosition in hierarchical view
10030110
77
66
55
44
33
2211
12201220
12101210
11201120
11101110
12001200
1100110010001000
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Thesauri: Hierarchy and Crosslinks
The Hierarchical View of the Thesaurus(Top term, broader term, narrower term)
The Network Structure of the Thesaurus(Crosslinks independent of the hierarchical position)
Unique IdentifierPosition in hierarchical view
10030110
77
66
55
44
33
2211
77
66
88
44
33
2211
12201220
12101210
11201120
11101110
12001200
1100110010001000
12201220
12101210
11201120
11101110
12001200
1100110010001000
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Thesauri: "Slice"-Model of a Multilingual Thesaurus
German Language "Slice"
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
IDs dec
IDs dec
UniqueIDA1
UniqueIDA2
UniqueIDA3
UniqueIDAn
...
... ...
help texthelp text
help texthelp text
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
10030111
IDs of suc-cessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
IDs of suc-cessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
German
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Thesauri: "Slice"-Model of a Multilingual Thesaurus
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs dec
German Language "Slice"
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
IDs dec
IDs dec
ID´s of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
UniqueIDA1
UniqueIDA2
UniqueIDA3
UniqueIDAn
...
... ...
IDs of pre-decessors
help texthelp text
help texthelp text
French Language "Slice"French Language "Slice"
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
IDs of pre-decessors
help texthelp text
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
10030111
ID´s of suc-cessors
ID´s of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
ID´s of suc-cessors
ID´s of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
French
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Thesauri: "Slice"-Model of a Multilingual Thesaurus
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs dec
German Language "Slice"
IDs dec
IDs dec
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
IDs dec
IDs dec
ID´s of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
UniqueIDA1
UniqueIDA2
UniqueIDA3
UniqueIDAn
...
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
... ...
IDs of pre-decessors
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
help texthelp text
help texthelp text
French Language "Slice"French Language "Slice"
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc. help texthelp text
IDs of pre-decessors
help texthelp text
English Language "Slice"English Language "Slice"
help texthelp text
help texthelp textIDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
help texthelp text
IDs of pre-decessors
IDs of suc-cessors
position inhierarchy
main keywordn
synonyms, ho-monyms etc.
10030111
English
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Automated Translation
of Text
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Basics of Automated Translation
• Contents of databases
Contents of structured, field-oriented databases are easier to translate
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Basics of Automated Translation
• Contents of databases
Contents of structured, field-oriented databases are easier to translate
Full-text needs special interpretation(especially if the full-text database is optimized and context
information is not available)
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 73
Basics of Automated Translation
• Contents of databases
Contents of structured, field-oriented databases are easier to translate
Full-text needs special interpretation(especially if the full-text database is optimized and context
information is not available)
• Contents of text documents
Non-structured texts need specialized interpretation software including grammar, context and distance operators
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 74
Basics of Automated Translation
• Contents of databases
Contents of structured, field-oriented databases are easier to translate
Full-text needs special interpretation(especially if the full-text database is optimized and context
information is not available)
• Contents of text documents
Non-structured texts need specialized interpretation software including grammar, context and distance operators
Structured text documents are more easily to translate, eg. SGML documents
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 75
Basics of Automated Translation
• Contents of databases
Contents of structured, field-oriented databases are easier to translate
Full-text needs special interpretation(especially if the full-text database is optimized and context
information is not available)
• Contents of text documents
Non-structured texts need specialized interpretation software including grammar, context and distance operators
Structured text documents are more easily to translate, eg. SGML documents
Embedded objects of any kind cause problems for translation software
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 76
Linguistic Problems
• Homonyms
• Synonyms
• Context
• Linguistic ambiguousness
• Acronyms
• Declination
• Colloquial language and slang
• Specialized, industry-specific use
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Software
Functionality and Design
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Translating Structured Information
German
The language selector (Lx) in the application defines which resource is used for display and how the information in the datafield is represented.
Screen
Text Field
French
English
Spanish
Language Resources
Please select ...
ApplicationResource Data
Data-base
Thesauri
Trans-formationModules
Screen
LX
LX
LX
Selection Lists
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Characteristics of a Language Interpreter
• Dictionaries provide information for direct translation of terms (Singular, plural, conjunctions, etc.)
• Statistic modules support the interpretation of the term within a text
• Linguistic modules support the interpretation of the grammatical context
• Comparative modules combine the different strategies of interpretation
• Presentation modules display the answer of a query in the chosen language as translated full-text
• Inverted file and cache modules optimize access
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 80
Full-text Database Interpreter
PresentationModules
LinguisticModules
StatisticModules
DictionaryModules
User Interface
Entry Query
Comparison
Inverted File
Database
Display
LanguageInterpreter
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Interpretation of DocumentsUnstructured text
Text
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Interpretation of Documents
LanguageProcessor
Unstructured text
Text
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Interpretation of Documents
LanguageProcessor
Unstructured text
Result: Low QualityLow Quality
Text
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Interpretation of Documents
LanguageProcessor
Unstructured text
Result: Low QualityLow Quality
Structured SGML text
Text SGML
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Interpretation of Documents
LanguageProcessor
Unstructured text
Result: Low QualityLow Quality
LanguageProcessor
Structured SGML text
Specialized dictionaries
Additional resources
Multi-step analysis including structure information
Structure based content analysis
Text SGML
Predefined rules
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Interpretation of Documents
LanguageProcessor
Unstructured text
Result: Low QualityLow Quality
LanguageProcessor
Structured SGML text
Result: High QualityHigh Quality
Specialized dictionaries
Additional resources
Multi-step analysis including structure information
Structure based content analysis
Text SGML
Predefined rules
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 87
Language Interpretation as MiddleWare
LanguageResources
Trans-
formation
Modules
Selection
Lists
Thesauri Language
Interpreter
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Language Interpretation as MiddleWare
Database
User interface (Application)
Application
IRS Information Resources Management / Libraries / Repositories
LanguageResources
Trans-
formation
Modules
Selection
Lists
Thesauri Language
Interpreter
Operating
System
User interface
(Windows, Presentation Manager, X-Windows, etc.)
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Language Interpretation Pre-Processor
User
Interface
User
Interface
Language Interpretation
Services
Language Interpretation
Services
TransformationTransformation
Selection ListSelection List
ThesaurusThesaurus
etc.etc.
DatabaseDatabase IRSIRS
Numeric Requests
AlphanumericRequests
Data,Documents
NumericKeys
Hitlists,Data,
Documents
Data, Documents
Images, Multimedia Documents
AccessData
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1 Application1 Application
2 Interpreter2 Interpreter
3 Database3 Database
4 IRS4 IRS
Module Layers
ServerServer
22
3 3
44
11
ClientClientA
Services in a Client/Server Architecture
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11
22
ClientClient
1 Application1 Application
2 Interpreter2 Interpreter
3 Database3 Database
4 IRS4 IRS
Module Layers
ServerServer
3 3
4 4
B
Services in a Client/Server Architecture
ServerServer
22
3 3
44
11
ClientClientA
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11
22
ClientClient
1 Application1 Application
2 Interpreter2 Interpreter
3 Database3 Database
4 IRS4 IRS
Module Layers
ServerServer
22
3 3
44
11
ClientClientA
ServerServer
3 3
4 4
B
11
ClientClient
CServerServer
2 2
3 3
ServerServer
44
Services in a Client/Server Architecture
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11
22
ClientClient
1 Application1 Application
2 Interpreter2 Interpreter
3 Database3 Database
4 IRS4 IRS
Module Layers
ServerServer
22
3 3
44
11
ClientClientA
ServerServer
3 3
4 4
B
11
ClientClient
CServerServer
2 2
3 3
ServerServer
44
11
ClientClient
DServerServer
22ServerServer
44GatewayGateway
HostHost
Services in a Client/Server Architecture
33
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A Matter of Design
Multilingual features are a matter of software design
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A Matter of Design
Multilingual features are a matter of software design
• Separate resources for all text and display features
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A Matter of Design
Multilingual features are a matter of software design
• Separate resources for all text and display features
• Dynamic screen and windows adaptation
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A Matter of Design
Multilingual features are a matter of software design
• Separate resources for all text and display features
• Dynamic screen and windows adaptation
• Storing references instead of text and figures
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 98
A Matter of Design
Multilingual features are a matter of software design
• Separate resources for all text and display features
• Dynamic screen and windows adaptation
• Storing references instead of text and figures
• Language interpreter as separate MiddleWare service
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AdvantagesModular design with separate language resources has a lot of advantages
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AdvantagesModular design with separate language resources has a lot of advantages
• Storing only references instead of text and figures
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 101
AdvantagesModular design with separate language resources has a lot of advantages
• Storing only references instead of text and figures
• Only one software version, localization can be easy and parallel
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AdvantagesModular design with separate language resources has a lot of advantages
• Storing only references instead of text and figures
• Only one software version, localization can be easy and parallel
• Program maintance and helpdesk become easier
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Application Example
wfBASE wf Schweizer Wirtschaftsförderung
Swiss Institute for Commercial DevelopmentZürich - Geneva - Bern - Lugano
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Application Example: wfBASE
The wf owns one of the largest archives on commercial and political topics in Switzerland.
It provides information to politicians, journalists and its commercial members representing all major companies of Switzerland.
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Application Example: wfBASE
• Optical filing system for press and commercial documents (scanned or created via word processor, spreadsheet, etc. )
• Distributed systems linked via SwissNet 2 (ISDN)
• Access for wf employees and third-party partners via multilingual graphic user interface (ISDN and telephone modem)
• Database with 4-lingual thesaurus for document access
• Access to information independent of the language in which it was entered
• Several million documents stored on M/O jukeboxes (2 x 50 gigabytes)
• Integrated office communication with text processing, spreadsheet, fax, library management, electronic mail, accounting, address database, etc.
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 106
wfBASE System Layout Jukebox
External UseHarddisk Cache
ZürichImages, Files & Descriptors
Read / Write / Create
Harddisk Cache
LuganoImages, Files & Descriptors
Read / Create
Harddisk Cache
GenevaImages, Files & Descriptors
Read / Create
Harddisk Cache
BernImages, Files & Descriptors
Read / Create
wf-User
wf-User
wf-User
wf-User
JukeboxInternal Use
DB Server
Zürich
Archive - Server
Zürich
Communication ServerZürich
External UserHarddisk Cache
Addresses
Library
Dossiers
ISDNTelephoneModem&
ISDN
SwissNet 2
ISDN
SwissNet 2
ISDN
SwissNet 2
Novell Netware
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HYPARCHIV, the Software for wfBASE
Archiving and Document Management Software of German Origin
• Designed for Europe
• Microsoft Windows clients, various network and server operating systems
• Client / Server architecture, object-oriented design
• Triple access strategy: hierarchy with icons, relational database and hyperlinks
• Multilingual user interface, available in English, US-English (with an own version of icons for folders, cabinets, etc.), French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Greek, Spanish, etc.
• User interface, messages and help switchable during runtime
• Multilingual access via controlled vocabulary using selection lists
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Conclusions
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Conclusions• Multilingual Software is an international requirement
• Language interpreters will play an important role as service in Intranet and Internet environments
• Multilingual Software will reduce development, maintenance and support costs
• Multilingual Software will increase user acceptance
• Multilingual Software will create new markets
© Copyright PROJECT CONSULT 1997 Kff / V2.0/ / 04/10/23 / 110
Thank You very much !