Need to modify XLIFF XSD

Question

I am converting DITA to XLIFF. In my technical solution I have to specialize (modify) xliff-core-1.2-strict.xsd to accommodate few DITA attributes. It means some attributes will go along with "g" tag. For Example:

  <g id="00001" newAtt="this is new attribute" xid="009"/>

From the translation side I am not sure how it will work, so my questions:

1. Is it general practice that LSPs will get different flavor of XLIFF XSDs from different companies?

2. And is it possible for them to use it in their XLIFF editor by updating updated XLIFF XSD? I tried to explore “Transolution” but did not find any place where to place modified XSD. Please let me know if you have any thought on this.

   Thanks.

Answer 1

Here are my answers to your two questions:

1. I work for an LSP and I've seen all sorts and flavors of Xliff. Most of them try to stick to OASIS 1.2 transitional schema. Some of TMS/CAT producers added their own extensions. These producers normally provide an XSD so you can validate their Xliffs by adding that XSD to OASIS schema; e.g. SDL extensions to 1.2. When I'm customizing Xliff for a client, I normally do namespaces and provide a simple additional XSD; e.g.:

   <trans-unit id="0" translate="yes" resname="msg_foo">
       <superduper:uri>http://foo.bar/iJKLM9</superduper:uri>
       <source>This is supposed to be a <superduper:g id="00001" newAtt="this is new attribute" xid="009"/> example.</source>
       <target state="new"></target>
   </trans-unit>
   

2. Most of the TMS/CAT tools are very basic (and closed) when it comes to their Xliff filters (or any of their filters for that matter) and I'm sorta kinda sure that they ignore your customized XSD.

Transolution is a very nice tool and my favorite Open Source translation tool. Unfortunately it's been long abandoned and has plenty of defects and shortcomings.

Anyway, if you provide a sample file, I can tell you what happens to non-conforming tags when it's imported into one of common, major CAT tools.

One final note; <g> seems to be retired in Xliff 2.0.

Answer 2

Forget about Transolution for one thing. I would try it with Trados, MemoQ or MemSource. Those are some of the big tools used in the translation business. Personally I never got an XLIFF with a XSD, nor do I think Trados can handle it.

What do you need to change in the XLIFF?