Exercise – Create a translation memory file
Dynamics 365 Translation Service uses a bilingual XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) file to store pairs of strings between source and target languages. You can use these XLIFF files as translation memory when submitting a translation request so that identical strings are recycled. In Dynamics 365 Translation Service, you can obtain an XLIFF translation memory file in two ways:
Complete a translation request - When a Dynamics 365 Translation Service user interface (UI) translation request is completed, it provides the XLIFF TM file as part of the request output. You can use this translation memory for future UI translation requests.
Run the Align tool - When you have files that were previously translated, and you also have corresponding source files, you can use the Align tool to create an XLIFF TM file.
Note
Currently, the Align tool only supports UI files, but the resulting XLIFF file can be used as translation memory for UI or documentation requests.
Before you begin
To create a translation memory file with Dynamics 365 Translation Service, you will need a previously translated UI file along with its corresponding source file. To create the best XLIFF TM file, make sure that you meet the following conditions before submitting your alignment request.
Both source file and target file have the same number of resources.
Resources are in the same order in the source file and the target file.
No empty strings exist. The following illustration shows examples of empty strings in the source file and the target file.
In this exercise, you will:
Run the Align tool to create an XLIFF TM file.
Review the translations in the XLIFF TM file.
Create a translation memory file
To create a translation memory file, follow these steps:
On the Translation Service dashboard, select Align to open the Align tool.
On the Align page, enter the details for the request and then upload your source and target UI files.
Field Description 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 a target language. Select Align to submit the request. When the alignment is complete, a message will summarize the results and the XLIFF will be downloaded.
Review the translation memory
We recommend that you use the free Multilingual Editor app, or another XLIFF editor, to review and edit the translations in the XLIFF file that Dynamics 365 Translation Service provides.
Open the XLIFF file in Multilingual Editor. If you encounter an error when opening the file, ignore the message and select the Strings tab in the lower-left corner of the window.
When an XLIFF file is created by using the Align tool, all translations are marked as Translated because the aligned translation units are produced from known good translations. Modify any translation that you're unsatisfied with and then mark them as Translated, Final, or Signed off when completed. Now, you can use your XLIFF file in future translation requests as translation memory.
