Bullets disappear after xliff translated import

Mar 25, 2022

Hello, I just imported a translated xliff into my Storyline project. I noticed that all the bullets were gone. The translation agency tried to manipulate the tags in the xliff before and after the bullets, but this doesn't seem to make any difference. 

Looking forward to any advice!

Greeting, Ester

3 Replies
Thor Melicher

I'm going to take a guess that you sent the translation agency a 1.2 version XLIFF file which, in my experience, doesn't work as well as a 2.0 version XLIFF file when importing back into Storyline.

If you didn't export as 2.0, check with your translation agency to see if they would give it another go with an updated XLIFF file.

If you can't go that route, you'll have to manually update the area(s) where the bullets should be.

I hope that helps and good luck!

Thor

Thor Melicher

At this point, most likely yes.  One other possibility, but it's tedious, is to edit the file by hand.  An editor such as Notepad+ may be helpful.  You could also use Notepad but if there isn't whitespace (you'll know right away when you open it), it's going to be very difficult to work with as it will look like one line of text.

Here's a hint though in what you can do:

  • Change the extension from .xlf to .xml
  • Drag and drop the file into a browser of your choice

This will display the file so it's readable.  Now search for your text that had bullets.  The bullets will most likely be placed in some type of tag.  If it's missing here, then you know it was a Storyline issue and not the translator.

Let's go with the assumption that they're there.  Now look below for the <target> tag that contains the translation.  The structure should be exactly the same except for the translated words.  If it doesn't match, then this is most likely why you're missing bullets.

I've attached a screenshot as an example of what you might see.  The bullets in this example are at the top and are in the <originalData> tag.  There are many different ways of representing bullets, so you might see yours differently.

Here's what the translated result looks like in Storyline with the attached example: