Connecting client infrastructure with Y amagata E urope machine translation using JSON -based data exchange (2022)

Abstract: This document describes how Yamagata Europe enables organizations to connect seamlessly to its MT and TMS infrastructure using a JSON-based data exchange mechanism.

## json protocol yamagata europe's data exchange service is based on the json interchange format to transfer data between translation buyers on the one hand and yamagata europe on the other. the purpose of the service is to provide an easy-to-implement and extensible alternative for other translation data exchange standards such as coti (common translation interface) and tipp (translation interoperability protocol package). translatable objects are contained in a zip package together with a package description file (hereinafter referred to as manifest). the zip packages are compressed programmatically at the client's end, possibly with support of yamagata europe, and subsequently transferred to yamagata europe via for example file transfer protocol (ftp) or cloud storage utilities like amazon s3. package transfers are monitored and confirmed through a proprietary api (application programming interface). once at the yamagata europe premises, packages are automatically decompressed, analyzed and, in accordance with the prescriptions in the manifest, the required workflow steps (machine translation, machine translation and post-editing, etc.) are organized and executed. when the workflow is completed, © 2022 the authors. this article is licensed under a creative commons 3.0 licence, no derivative works, attribution, ccby-nd. the service creates a response package and sends it back to the native repository at the client's end. ## data flow the manifest in a data package is a json file that contains information about:  the required service (e.g., machine translation only, machine translation and postediting with or without desktop publishing work, etc.). ## pitfalls an important pitfall is the insertion of inline xml-style tag mistakes during the machine translation process. inline tag issues might prevent the translation management system from generating translated objects, which will break the automation. for that reason, yamagata europe has developed a smart tag handling algorithm that remembers the content of opening as well as (self-)closing xml tags, converts the tags into numbered placeholders, protects them during the machine translation process and restores them in their original format and position after the process. a second pitfall is related to the supported file types. the current setup foresees support for the following file formats: articulate storyline is an e-learning authoring tool that includes a translation export module to .docx. certain metadata fragments in storyline exports are not supposed to be modified during translation. to distinguish regular .docx files from storyline .docx files, an additional parameter is added to the json manifest. this parameter triggers an additional script in the translation management system to protect metadata in the case of storyline exports. portable document format (pdf) files are generally challenging for translation and might prevent the automation from executing successfully. password-protected and scanned pdf files in particular will result in an empty translated object. only pdf files that can be saved as .docx will go correctly through the process. ## assets the json-based data exchange mechanism allows organizations to integrate their content repositories and self-service portals with yamagata europe's internally developed machine translation infrastructure. the flow automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks at every stage of the translation process -from data transfer to project creation, machine translation and delivery -and therefore enables companies to process more content at a faster pace and a high-quality standard.