Downloading Xliff files in Rise - different output

Nov 01, 2018

Hello everyone, I am facing some issues exporting the XLIFF files from our courses in Articulate Rise. 

I previously downloaded the same courses in the XLIFF format, however now I get xlf files with the internalised html and the file original code missing. The segmentation in the new downloaded file is also very different and poor.

As we already prepared these courses for translation and they are currently with the linguists, it would be quite problematic if we need to reprepare everything from scratch.

Is there a way to download the same format as before? What is this issue due to?

Thanks!

Valeria

76 Replies
Rory Lavender

Thanks to Craig for that workaround using tranzapp. The other solution proposed by Articulate  requiring Twitter to get the new XLIFF file is totally unacceptable. My company has not jumped into Rise because of its previous issues with Storyline not playing nice with our LMS. That seems to have improved but translation to multiple languages (20+) is key for us. We like the Storyline process for this but were hoping to move to Rise for some newer deliverables. I have to say that jumping in to this fray as from yesterday is very concerning to me. I have seen even older threads were Articulate has seemed to have gone silent on Rise translation issues. Has anyone else used Craig's workaround and decided that was good enough to use Rise with multiple languages? Or, is Storyline the better solution for now? I know - I am asking for a crystal-ball answer, but it seems like quite a few of you have really had issues here. Have you stopped using Rise as a result? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Eckart Fischer

Hi Rory,

I was one of the commentators above.

In the meantime we don't have any issues with export/import anymore. We can import the translated files within a second in Rise.

Currently we handle only 4 languages (German, English, Chinese, Japanese), but it should easily work with 20+ languages, too, due to the high speed of the import/export process.

I can't complain anymore. No workaround needed anymore.

Rory Lavender

That is excellent news. Thanks for clarifying. I need to ask a question on your process if you don't mind. Are you using a website, like tranzapp, to generate the translation or Excel? If Excel, then I must be missing something because when I open the xlf file in excel, I just see one block of mashed up text. What am I missing? Many thanks.

Eckart Fischer

To my knowledge you always need to use a software that can handle XLIFF files (have you googled whether there is an Excel extension that can handle XLIFF?).

We tested Tranzapp only for the workaround (to change the document ending from XLIFF to XLIF), and it worked fine. Our Japanese colleagues used Tranzapp ones to localize an online course. It worked fine, too.

When you open a XLIFF file in Word or a text editor it will always look like in your screenshot.

Our standard process is that we send the XLIFF-file to our translation office. They use Trados which can import and export XLIFF files easily.

Best regards,

Eckart / Germany

Hanneke Portier

Hi Rory:

I used to have translation issues as well with Rise. The .xlf/.xliff problem has been resolved. (Even if it says 'Export XLIFF file', it will export a .xlf file.)

However, I discovered by trial and error that the translated .xlf file can only successfully be imported in the original course. If you try to import the file into a duplication of the course, you get an error message. So, you can duplicate the course, import the .xlf file in the original course, then duplicate the translated course, import the next .xlf file into the original, now translated, course etc. We have 12 languages we do this for.

I am sure there is a technical explanation why it has to happen that way.... Maybe Articulate can add this to their 'Translation' section in Rise?

Crystal Horn

Hello, Hanneke and Rory! To make sure we're on the same page, you'll want to first duplicate your course, and then generate your translation file from the duplicate. You're right, Hanneke, that the translation file will only work for the course from which it was made.

Let me know if I'm misunderstanding you, though!

craig Sumner

When I translated a course into six modules, I duplicated my course 6 times but only had one .xlf export from the original, I then had 6 individual translation .xlf files from the company I used sent back to me and  I used these for all the duplicates I had created, I did not have to produce 6 individual .xlf files and have each translated into something different. 

Julieta Querol

I am having the same issue. My CAT tool gives me an error message when I try to upload the xlf file the client gave me because the file header only contains the source language. I investigated the issue with Wordfast and they found:

An XLIFF file intended to be translated in a CAT tool should specify both source and target languages. This one only specify source language, which is en-US (i.e. US English). It does not include any target language information.

I tried to open it in an en-US > fr-FR project (hoping it would generate the target segments at the same time) in both Wordfast Pro and memoQ, and both rejected the file with error messages related to its structure (see enclosed screenshots). I also tried to open it in SDL Trados Studio, which also rejected the file as invalid (screenshot of error message also included).

I’m afraid you will have to ask your client to supply valid XLIFF files. It cannot be a coincidence three of the major CAT tools on the market all rejected it in its current form.

I need to solve this issue urgently, as it affects two of my main clients.

Help please??

Julieta Querol

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for your response. Do you translate, then copy and paste??

Thx,

Julieta G. Querol
Leap Translations
Proudly, a Certified, Woman-Owned Small Business
Tel: 858-342-8549
email: jquerol@leaptranslations.com
website: http://www.leaptranslations.com
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Julieta Querol

Wow, that is a lot of work for you! As the translator I feel awful for my client, as for now, that is what they're doing. I want to be able to offer something more comprehensive to them. Especially because we had zero issues with storyline files... that is so odd, that Rise will not address this problem.

Thanks so much for your input :)

Julieta

Hanneke Portier

Hi everyone: 
What has worked for us, is to first copy the course, but import the translated .xliff file in the original course, not the copy.  If you have more than one translation, always use the original course to import the .xliff file to, even if it is already translated. We have had no problems when doing it that way.

Hanneke

Alyssa Gomez

Hi Julieta,

I checked in on your case, and I see that Ji Yun recently shared information about how he tested your XLIFF file. Please let us know if you have any questions about what he shared with you.

I also wanted to mention that replying via email includes your signature with contact information in the public forum.  Feel free to edit your reply here.

Julieta Querol

Thanks Alyssa. We sent a video to Ji Yun about how the client exported the file, but it's still not working. I will try the suggestion of the copy into the original that Hanneke suggests above and see if this works! But the problem is still that I am not able to upload the file that the client sends me into Wordfast. I was able to do it by renaming the file as a sdlxliff file, but the segmentation was completely off. In the meantime, I am translating a PDF version, which is less than ideal because the client will have to manually enter the translation into the course.

Julieta Querol

Thanks Hanneke! I will try this and let you know if this works. The problem for me is still not being able to upload the xliff file the client gives me into my CAT tool because the header contains only the source language and not the source and target header as previous articulate files did.