Translation import inconsistent!

Sep 20, 2016

I have an English course.  I've exported the translation file to a word doc with a translation column.  When I go to import the translated file, the import says complete but there are several empty text boxes in the SL2 file where there should be translated text.  As a test, I've imported the exact same translation file into the same SL2 file and the next time it says its successful, but DIFFERENT text will be empty and without translated text.  Very upset with the inconsistencies i'm seeing.  This happens with different language imports, and I'm doing 11 languages...  What is the solution here?

20 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi JP,

A few initial things to check:

If you've checked into all those things and are still struggling with the behavior, are you able to share a copy of the .story file and one of your translation docs so that we can give it a test as well? You can share here using the "add attachment" button at the bottom of the reply window or feel free to send along to our Support Engineers here. 

J P
  • Yes I am working with Update 10
  • Yes, I am working local on my hard drive
  • Yes, there are only letter and numbers in my file names, they have less than 20 characters and there are no spaces in the file names
  • The files are being translated by a company but we have gone back to them and are sure they are not tampering with the formatting, etc.

I am a contractor for this company and I need to check and see if I am able to share the SL and translation files.

 

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi JP,

I took a look at your case and I see that Wilbert was able to confirm that you were working on a network drive and therefore could be causing issues with how the translation items aren't working correctly together. You'll want to confirm that all your project files and those that the translation company are working with are located on a local drive when they are opened and edited.

J P

No I am not working on a network drive, as your tech stated.  I am working 100% from my desktop.  Side question:  Why does the location of file matter - can you provide data on how your system breaks the integrity of a shared network file?  

I open my SL file from my desktop, exported a word doc and save the exported word doc to a network.  I sent the file to the translator.  I received the file back - over a network - placed it on my desktop.  Opened SL and my native English file from my desktop, imported the translation from my desktop and I can import that file multiple times and the import result is DIFFERENT every single time.  The location of the file is a cop-out answer.  I am not working on a network, which is a pain by the way, but I've jumped through 100's of hoops with this software to figure out what the problem is.

 

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi JP,

The network or shared drive can cause latency issues with the file and therefore introduce corruption into the file causing issues at that point or even later.

I see that you and Wilbert are still working through the file and he isn't able to replicate the issues you shared. The network issue could have also come from the translator as you mentioned it was placed on a network to access it- and they could have not downloaded it locally and working on it from the network. 

I also see that Wilbert shared some updates of your file and also wanted to confirm that you were using the latest update of Storyline 2 Update 10. 

J P

For anyone following this case, it's a mess and still on going.  Articulate is now having me remove files from my computer that they say interfere with Storyline.  I've been told that this  HP Active Health running on my computer causes Storyline problems.  I can't find this file on my computer but they say that's the problem and it's causing my translations to not import correctly...

 

John Say

Hi JP,  really sorry that the translation issue is still happening on your HP computer.   I do think we are having some progress with narrowing down what is causing the issue since you confirmed that the translation worked on your non-HP computer.   We don't necessarily need to remove all files related to HP support software,  I would like to try having "HP active health" disabled or removed to confirm whether this is causing the translation to fail.  Since it's not listed as a specific program that you can uninstall then it may be part of a larger HP support application.  Thanks for your patience with this.  I have sent you a reply in your case as well.  

Iain Culkin

Hello chaps. I may have a solution - which is not perfect, but which I have found quite actionable. When I get a translation file back from a company, I go back to the original Storyline 2 file that requires translation. I extract the Word Doc and Reference Column again, then I copy and paste the content received from the translator into the right hand column.

It can cause a few headaches- particularly when ensuring all of the boxes etc line up, but I've had a fairly good success rate so far.

Now, if we can only get Articulate to fix the issue of hyperlinks breaking, the translation function might be less frustrating!

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Thanks Iain for sharing those steps here. I'm curious if you've been able to compare the two Word docs (the one you've exported and the one from your translation company) to confirm what could have changed or been different between them? That would help isolate where the issue is a bit further and it's useful information for our QA team to have. If you'd like to share a copy of them with our Support Engineers we're always willing to dig in and do a bit more testing on this - as you can tell from this forum discussion the behavior can be inconsistent across systems and devices and makes tracking down the root cause that much more complicated.

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