translation tool

translation tool, xml, xsl, form,

[andre73]

Hello,
I have an idea of setting up a page (a frameset with 2 frames one left and one right frame) in the left frame I will render a page with xsl, the page will consist of form fields filled with phrases to be translated by a person. The person doing the translations will enter the translations into the right frame with an exact copy of the form in the left frame, except that this form contains no text before the user enters it. I want the user to be able to save the translations he/she has entered, at any time, therefore I'm considering placing a save button after every form field. I'm wondering how to achieve this in an effective way. The rendering is no problem for me, it's the way to save the translations that is new to me. Is it possible to save the translations done into an xml file, (with a predefined structure, or with a desired structure created as the document is saved) and is it possible to overwrite the document as the user has made more changes/additions, and also is it possible to load a, partially finished, saved document if the user has started making translations and then quit to continue at another time? I will be able to give my users a username and password, and the thought was that when they log on their presaved work (if any) would be presented to them.

I would be very grateful if someone can point me in the right direction, as to where I can find info on how to achieve this. Also, it would be great if you could tell me what technology to use and indicate how to use it. I don't expect someone to give me a complete solution, although it would be great ;) if you have something that can achieve what I described above and feel like sharing it I would be very grateful. However, a few tips and pointers on how to achieve this and where to search for more info would be greatly appreaciated!

Thanks in advance!
/André

[macrost]

andre73,
Well this is truly an interesting situation. I can think of a couple of ways to do this, with a database or xml. Let's look at the xml part.

Now if you decided to use say asp, this method would be a bit slow and code intensive, as you would have to use fso.
1. Person logs in, selects what document will be translated.
2. Using asp, create a folder for that person with a recognizable name, and then create a sub-folder that is named notfinished, or what have you.
3. Once the person is doing the translation, each textarea would have it's own form for the saving of unfinished work.
4. Save button clicked, parse the content they have already completed, use fso to write out an xml file with a name of part-i.xml where i is the position or part of the form that they are at.
5. Once the translation is complete, user clicks process button, and the code will pull each xml file out of the notfinished folder. You can then take and rebuild the xml file on the fly, apply the xsl to the finished xml. Note, you might also want to save the finished xml file. :)

I know this is a bit long winded, and yes, really code intensive. I would opt for a .net version as you can then take advantage of the postback,caching, and multi-threading that .net offers. (Just a small bit. :-) )

Hope I have helped a bit!