Exercise – Create, review, and regenerate a documentation translation request

  • 15 minutes

For this exercise, you will need one or more documentation files in .docx format to submit for a translation request. We recommend that you upload actual Microsoft Word document files with document content. Do not use a label file saved as .docx.

In this exercise, you will:

  • Submit a translation request for documentation files by using the Translation Service Dashboard.

  • Review the translation output.

  • Edit the translated document strings.

  • Regenerate the translation request with the updated strings.

  • Review the regenerated request.

Create a translation request

To create a translation request, follow these steps:

  1. Access the Translation Service Dashboard from a Lifecycle Services project or the Lifecycle Services home page.

  2. Select the plus (+) icon in the menu bar to create a new translation request.

    Screenshot of the dashboard with the plus icon to add a request.

  3. Enter the details of the request.

    Field Description
    Request name Enter a name for the request.
    File type Select Documentation.
    Product name Select a product name. If you accessed Translation Service from a Lifecycle Services project, this field is automatically filled in and is read-only.
    Product version Select a product version. If you accessed Translation Service from a Lifecycle Services project, this field shows the default product version information from the project. However, you can select a different version.
    Translation source language Select the source language of the files that you’re uploading.
    Translation target language Select one or more target languages by using the checkbox next to the language name.

    Note

    Language names that are shown in bold type are general availability (GA) languages for Microsoft Dynamics 365 products. Dynamics 365 Translation Service uses machine translation models that are customized with terminologies from Microsoft Dynamics 365 products for those languages. For non-GA languages, the system uses general domain models. To take advantage of the Microsoft-trained machine translation models for Microsoft Dynamics 365 linguistic assets, make sure that you select English (United States) as the source language or the target language.

  4. Verify that the request details are entered correctly and then select Create.

  5. Create one zip file that contains all .docx documentation files in the source language that you want to translate from.

  6. Under Upload files to translate, select the plus (+) icon to upload your file.

  7. Under Upload XLIFF or TMX translation memory files, you can optionally upload translation memory files in XLIFF or TMX format to be used for the request. Create one zip file that contains your translation memory files before uploading them. If you upload translation memory files, you can choose to create a custom machine translation system. Select No for this exercise.

  8. After you've finished uploading your files, select Submit to start the translation process.

View the output of the translation request

After you have submitted the request, a new request ID will be created on the Translation Service dashboard and an email notification will be sent. If you submitted the request with multiple target languages, each target language status will be displayed in a separate line with the same request ID.

Screenshot of the dashboard with a new row with the submitted documentation request visible.

  1. Select the request ID of your request. The Request status tab will show the source files list that you uploaded with the summary of the request information.

  2. Select the Request output tab to view the output of your request. After the request has finished processing, you'll receive an email notification from Translation Service, and a (Completed) status will display next to each target language.

    Note

    Documentation files take longer to process compared to UI files. Additionally, if you create a custom machine translation system, the request will require extra time to train the model. In either situation, these documentation requests typically take one to three business days to be processed.

  3. After the request has finished processing for a language, a download link with the files from the output of the request will appear beside the language name. Download the zip file and extract it to view the folders inside. The For translation review, Translated native format, and Translation memory folders will contain the following file types:

    • For translation review - Contains .docx files for you to review and, as required, edit the translations. The file shows the source and target languages side by side.

    • Translated native format - Contains the translations in native format. Native format means that the file is in the same format as the source file that you submitted.

    • Translation memory - Contains translation memory in TMX format. You can upload this file as translation memory when submitting future documentation translation requests.

    Additionally, you can expand the dropdown list next to the language name to view a table that reflects the folder structure of the zip file.

    Screenshot of the request output page showing the completed request.

Review and edit the translations

To review and edit the translations, follow these steps:

  1. In the For translation review folder, open the .docx file in Microsoft Word. The file provides a convenient table view that gives you a side-by-side comparison of the text in the source and target languages.

  2. Make necessary changes to the translations by modifying the text in the Target segment column. Ensure that you observe the following guidelines.

    Screenshot of a Word document with a table of different string segments and their respective machine translations. From left to right, the table contains columns for each segment’s ID, status, source value, and target value.

    Note

    When editing the .docx file, ensure that you follow these guidelines:

    • Edit only the text in the Target segment column.
    • Don't add or remove rows.
    • Don't change the order of the rows or columns.
    • Don't add or remove the red tags. Most red tags represent formatting and styles. If you must move the red tags, make sure that you don't switch a start tag (for example, <116>) and its end tag (</116>).

  3. After you've edited the target translations, save the file.

Regenerate the translation request

After you've finished reviewing and editing a .docx review file, you will need to regenerate the translations by applying the latest translations.

  1. Select the Regenerate button next to the target language section. The File upload pane will open.

    Screenshot of the request output page with the Regenerate button highlighted.

  2. Zip (compress) the edited .docx files and then select Upload. Don't change the file names that Translation Service originally provided.

  3. In the prompt, confirm the upload. The Request output tab will refresh the content.

  4. Expand the target language node that you regenerated to verify the Modified timestamp, and then download the updated output files.

  5. Download the zip again and then extract it. Open the file in the Translated native format folder to view the regenerated translations.