Abstract:
A method and system for format checking a translated text in which the method includes displaying the translated text on a graphical user interface, determining whether the translated text is visually acceptable based on the displaying, and validating the translated text. The system includes a graphical user interface, a storage medium having at least one translated text stored therein, and a processor adapted to read the translated text from the storage medium and display the translated text on the graphical user interface as a virtual display.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The present application relates to a system and method for format checking a translation and, more particularly, a system and method for previewing and validating a translation.  
         [0002]     Office equipment, such as printers and multi-functional devices, are typically sold internationally. Therefore, the display panels and web pages associated with the office equipment are typically adapted to display text in various languages. However, in order for the text to be properly displayed, the translated text must meet certain format requirements. For example, the translated text must not exceed a predetermined length in pixels or characters.  
         [0003]     When a text string is translated from one language to another, various factors contribute to format errors. One factor that contributes to format errors is that different languages use different types of characters. For example, the English language utilizes Latin characters, the Chinese language utilizes Chinese characters and the Ukrainian language utilizes Cyrillic characters. Therefore, a text string in one language may have a first length while the same text string translated into another language may have a different (e.g., longer) length due to the different characters.  
         [0004]     Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for checking a translated text to determine whether the translated text is in a proper format.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0005]     In one aspect, the translation previewer and validator provides a method for format checking a translated text including displaying the translated text on a graphical user interface, determining whether the translated text is visually acceptable based on the displaying, and validating the translated text.  
         [0006]     In a second aspect, the translation previewer and validator provides a method for format checking a translated text including displaying the translated text on a graphical user interface, visually inspecting the displayed text to determine whether the translated text is acceptable, and validating the translated text, wherein the validating includes at least one of (1) determining whether the translated text is valid and well-formed, (2) determining whether the translated text exceeds at least one of a predetermined number of lines, characters and pixels and (3) determining whether the translated text includes unrecognized characters.  
         [0007]     In a third aspect, the translation previewer and validator provides a system for format checking a translation. The system includes a graphical user interface, a storage medium having at least one translated text stored therein and a processor, wherein the processor is adapted to read the translated text from the storage medium and display the translated text on the graphical user interface as a virtual display.  
         [0008]     Other aspects of the translation previewer and validator will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a first aspect of the translation previewer and validator; and  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a second aspect of the translation previewer and validator. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , one aspect of the translation previewer and validator provides a system, generally designated  100 , for format checking a translated text  109 . The system  100  includes a processor  102 , a graphical user interface  104 , a translation storage medium  106  and a validation data storage medium  108 .  
         [0012]     A text string to be translated may be sent to a translation vendor as an XML document. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various formats, other than XML, may be used within the scope of the translation previewer and validator. For example, any format capable of storing, sorting and/or presenting electronic data may be used, including, but not limited to, HTML, XHTML or other markup-type languages. The translation vendor may then translate the text string into the appropriate language and store the translated text  109  as a data file  110  (e.g., an XML file) in the translation storage medium  106 . The file  110  may then be format checked, as described herein.  
         [0013]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the format checking process, generally designated  8 , begins at box  10 . The format checking process  8  includes a previewer step (see boxes  12  through  18 ) and a validator step (see boxes  20  through  32 ). The previewer step begins when the processor  102  (see  FIG. 1 ) selects a file  110  from the translation storage medium  106  for format checking, as shown in box  12 . The processor  102  may select a file  110  from the translation storage medium  106  based on a user input or command.  
         [0014]     As shown in box  14 , the processor  102  displays the translated text  109  of the file  110  on the graphical user interface  104 . In one aspect, the file may be an XML file, and an HTML file may be provided for loading the XML file  110  and displaying the XML file  110  (via a JavaScript and an XSL transformation) on the graphical user interface  104  as an HTML document (i.e., in a browser window). In another aspect, the translated text  109  may be displayed in a TrueType font (TrueType is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.). The TrueType font accurately displays the translated text  109  on the graphical user interface  104 , including the various restrictions on each piece of translated text.  
         [0015]     In one aspect, the translated text  109  may be displayed in a virtual display  105  that represents the display on which the translated text  109  will ultimately be used. For example, the virtual display  105  may resemble the user interface of a multi-functional device. Thus, as shown in box  16 , a user may view the translated text  109  and determine whether the translated text  109  is properly formatted for its intended use (e.g., is sized to properly fit within the virtual display  105 ). If the translated text is not visually acceptable (i.e., there is a visually recognizable error in the translation), the user is given the opportunity to correct the error, as shown in box  18 . If the error is corrected, the previewer step is repeated starting at box  10 . However, if the error is not corrected, the format checking process  8  stops, as shown in box  36 .  
         [0016]     In another aspect, a ruler  107  (see  FIG. 1 ) may be provided in the virtual display  105  to simplify the determination of whether the translated text  109  exceeds a predetermined size or length. Thus, when a user visualizes the translated text  109  in the virtual display  105  (see box  16 ,  FIG. 2 ) and determines that the translated text  109  extends beyond the limits set by the ruler  107 , the user may determine that the translated text  109  is not in the proper format (i.e., there is a visually recognizable error in the translation) and may be given the opportunity to correct the error, as shown in box  18 . However, if no visual errors are detected in the translation (i.e., the translation is visually acceptable to the user), the translated text  109  may be validated (i.e., the process  8  may proceed to the validator step), as shown in box  20 .  
         [0017]     During the validator (or validating) step (see box  20 ,  FIG. 2 ), the processor  102  may parse the translated text  109  and flag errors based on data stored in the validation storage medium  108 . For example, the validation storage medium  108  may include bitmap font data  112  (e.g., character length data), character maps  114  (e.g., data specific to the characters of various languages) and format data  116  (e.g., data necessary to determine whether a file  110  is valid and well-formed).  
         [0018]     Thus, as shown in box  22 , the processor  102  may determine whether the translation file  110  is valid (i.e., it meets certain predetermined tag requirements) and well-formed (i.e., there are no syntax errors in the file  110 ), as, for example, defined by the XML 1.0 standard. In another aspect, the processor  102  may determine whether the translation file  110  conforms to the XML Schema defined for the file  110  as stored in the format data  116  of the validation storage medium  108 . If an error is detected (e.g., an element of the file is missing a start-tag or an attribute value is not enclosed in quotations), the validator step stops, as shown in box  24 , and the user may be given the opportunity to correct the error, as shown in box  18 . If the error is not corrected, the format checking process  8  stops, as shown in box  36 . However, if the error is corrected, the process  8  may be reinitiated, as shown in box  10 .  
         [0019]     If the file  110  is valid and well-formed, the processor  102  may check each translated text item  109  to determine whether the text exceeds a predetermined maximum number of lines, pixels or characters, as shown in box  26 . The predetermined maximum values for each item may be stored as bitmap font data  112  in the validation storage medium  108 . Thus, if the translated text  109  includes more lines than specified as the maximum, exceeds a predetermined number of pixels (i.e., longer than a predetermined length) or, alternatively, a predetermined number of characters, the errors may be logged, as shown in box  28 .  
         [0020]     The processor  102  may then determine whether unrecognized characters are used in the translated text  109  based on the character maps  114  stored in the validation storage medium  108 , as shown in box  30 . Thus, only characters present in the character map  114  for the specified translation language may be present in the translated text  109 . For example, when an English to Ukrainian translation is requested and the translated text  109  includes Chinese characters, the errors may be logged, as shown in box  32 .  
         [0021]     The format checking process  8  is complete at box  34 . In one aspect, the process  8  may include the additional step of printing a report of the logged errors such that the user has the opportunity to correct the errors. Once the user has corrected the logged errors, the user may reinitiate the format checking process  8  to ensure that the logged errors have been corrected and the translation is in a proper and acceptable format.  
         [0022]     Although the translation previewer and validator is shown and described with respect to certain aspects, it is obvious that modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the specification. The translation previewer and validator includes all such modifications and is limited only by the scope of the claims.