translation theory question

[Dimitris Glezos]

O/H Karsten Wade έγραψε:
> On Tue, 2007-03-13 at 20:06 -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
>> On Tue, 2007-03-13 at 23:43 +0000, Dimitris Glezos wrote:
>>> So, I think some translators would appreciate the diff file, or a list of
>>> msgid's from the POT that have had only minor changes.
>> So, that diff file is automatically created by CVS commits.  How abo'tut
>> using that to seed the solution for this problem, then?
> 
> Feature request for our new system, then ...
> 
> ... presuming it sends email alerts of changes in the POT and that it
> has been automerged with the PO ...
> 
> ... then we can filter the incoming stream of the SCM diff, looking for
> special characters as the only change (punctuation), and so forth. 
> 
> Is there any logic or algorithm we can apply to the stream of changes to
> look for larger meaning changes v. minor corrections (spelling,
> punctuation, minor grammar)?
> 
> If not, perhaps part of the WUI gives writers a place to tag a bunch of
> msgids as having minor changes.

I'd say to go with the automatic way. Let's have in mind here that this feature
is probably only relevant to the Release Notes.

Also, another thing to have in mind is that translators like 100% translations.
So, in most cases the above would be useful to sort the file so that important
translations are made ASAP.

A plan would be to diff and count the character changes for each string and sort
the messages in the PO file wrt to the number of diffs. A plus would be a
checkbox to enable "smart" diffs (lower the weight of punctuation diffs for
example).

> Only if the writer did a commit for every change with a keyword (minor,
> major, etc.) could we get a granular, per-msgid stream of the type of
> change.  However, with a smart editor, you could do this fairly easily
> (background SCM commit).  That's a lot of tools and process to require
> of writers.

Sounds too much for me. Even the first suggestion is probably a bit too
special-purpose. Let's just make one step at a time. If we see we need such a
system, we can plug it in the existing one.

Definitely sounds like a do-able WUI tool.

-d

PS: Glad to see some people understand the pain a translator is going through... :)


> We're likely to only get to be so granular.
> 
> Would that level of detail be useful?  Sounds like it.  Should we add
> this somewhere on the "new Web UI wish list"?



-- 
Dimitris Glezos
Jabber ID: glezos at jabber.org, GPG: 0xA5A04C3B
http://dimitris.glezos.com/

"He who gives up functionality for ease of use
loses both and deserves neither." (Anonymous)
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