What is XLIFF good for?
Thread poster: Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 19:11
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Jun 24, 2005

Some people tout XLIFF as the new industry standard in translation memory formats. So what are the advantages of XLIFF over other formats?

 
Sonja Tomaskovic (X)
Sonja Tomaskovic (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:11
English to German
+ ...
No TM format Jun 24, 2005

Samuel,

XLIFF is not a translation memory format. Actually, it is an interchange file format, i.e. it stores the segmented source text and its translation in an XML-based format that is accessible with (most) CAT tools.

Imagine your client asks you to work on a proprietary file format that would require you to purchase the software application. Instead, he could supply the XLIFF file that contains all the relevant text but does not require you to have that software.
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Samuel,

XLIFF is not a translation memory format. Actually, it is an interchange file format, i.e. it stores the segmented source text and its translation in an XML-based format that is accessible with (most) CAT tools.

Imagine your client asks you to work on a proprietary file format that would require you to purchase the software application. Instead, he could supply the XLIFF file that contains all the relevant text but does not require you to have that software.

Another advantage is that a client can process a certain file with his CAT tool (presegment it) and then provide the XLIFF file. This way, the segmentation will be preserved even if use a totally different CAT tool that segments differently.

I have written a small introduction to XLIFF, although my focus is more on users of Heartsome's tools.
Have a look here:
http://www.medical-translator.de/wiki/index.php?wiki=WhatIsXliff

HTH.

Sonja
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Rodolfo Raya
Rodolfo Raya  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:11
English to Spanish
XML in Localisation Jun 24, 2005

Samuel Murray wrote:

Some people tout XLIFF as the new industry standard in translation memory formats. So what are the advantages of XLIFF over other formats?


Hi Samuel,

I wrote three articles for IBM developerWorks about XML in Localisation. The first one explains the importance of XML standards in Localisation industry. The second one provides deatils on the XLIFF format and the last one talks about TMX.

You can find the three articles together in my web site, at http://www.maxprograms.com/EN/localisation.html

Hope you like them.

Rodolfo


 
Jeff Allen
Jeff Allen  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 19:11
Multiplelanguages
+ ...
2 articles on XLIFF in MLC&T Jun 24, 2005

2 articles in MultiLingual Computing & Technology about XLIFF.

#54 Volume 14 Issue 2

An Introduction to Using XLIFF: Technical aspects and implementation of the XML Localisation Interchange File Format

Click
... See more
2 articles in MultiLingual Computing & Technology about XLIFF.

#54 Volume 14 Issue 2

An Introduction to Using XLIFF: Technical aspects and implementation of the XML Localisation Interchange File Format

Click here.


#46 Volume 13 Issue 2

Internationalization Features in XML and XLIFF: eXtensible Markup Languages and Localization Interchange File Format are powerful tools for multilingual applications

Click here.


Jeff
http://www.geocities.com/jeffallenpubs/
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Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 18:11
English to French
+ ...
Super-fast basic definition Oct 27, 2021

For those that don't understand why we have to cope with xliff and its different flavours in CATs, I challenged myself to create a video explaining it under a minute:
https://youtu.be/cjBOXcHXTkM

At the moment (late 2021) xliff is above version 2. Most proprietary versions (txlf, sdlxliff, mqxliff etc.) use a version under v2. for more, s
... See more
For those that don't understand why we have to cope with xliff and its different flavours in CATs, I challenged myself to create a video explaining it under a minute:
https://youtu.be/cjBOXcHXTkM

At the moment (late 2021) xliff is above version 2. Most proprietary versions (txlf, sdlxliff, mqxliff etc.) use a version under v2. for more, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLIFF
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What is XLIFF good for?







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