usage of the memoq web service api by lsp – a case study
TRANSCRIPT
Usage of the memoQ web service API by LSP – a case study
Outline
About think global What is a WS-API? Usage of WS-API through the engineering department Embedding memoQ into automated workflows Common problems and limitations
About think global
think global is a medium size, multilingual LSP Customers are from different branches Software companies are a big and important customer group This leads to rather big and complex projects
• many files
• many languages
• different, complex formats
• frequent updates
About think global
think global has different departments The engineering department
• prepares content for translation
• develops tools for preparation
• uses mainly Java as a programming language
What is a WS-API?
API – application programming interface It provides programming access to software functionality In memoQ: Create projects, add users, ... Advantage: Repetitive tasks can be implemented once but
used several times
What is a WS-API?
A web service is a service that can be accessed through a network
The content is packed in XML files It is a standard that is supported by most programming
languages
What is a WS-API?
Web Service
JavaC++PHP...
Usage of WS-API Through Engineering
Simple tasks used by the engineering department:
• Creation of resources (e.g. TMs for multilingual projects)
• Cloning of resources with slightly different settings
• Multi-step tasks (e.g. clearing TMs)
• Import of huge projects with different filters
• Export to different formats
• Backup of projects / resources
• Control tasks (resource settings, user groups, ...)
Embedding memoQ
Workflow example: machine translation Projects are prepared in memoQ Bilingual export + conversion to machine friendly format Machine translation Conversion + import
Embedding memoQ
Analysis of memoQ projects advantage: all needed analysis are done at once memoQ client is still available
Assign translators to documents very time consuming has to be done twice (in the project management system
and in memoQ)
Embedding memoQ
Problems and Limitations
API complexity and design The API is complex; understanding it is time consuming The design is not always consistent
Problems and Limitations
API functions sometimes differ from GUI functions TM settings are not used in analysis Some project settings cannot be read Setting of import / export path is not possible ...
Problems and Limitations
Updates Good news! API is updated automatically with memoQ server Very few changes in API functions Only MBDs have been replaced with MQXLZ recently
Problems and Limitations
Bugs There are not many bugs, but ... WS-API has few users, bugs are not reported and
resolved as fast as ‘normal’ memoQ bugs Installation of older versions is not possible When problems occur, finding workarounds is difficult Combination with missing features can lead to severe
problems
Problems and Limitations
Example: Export bug Bug description: Some documents cannot be exported Change to older version impossible No workaround via API possible Missing functionality setExportPath()
=> ‘Export to stored path’ via GUI is not possible Every document has to be exported manually to the
correct subfolder
Conclusion
The usage through the engineering department saves time and costs (and can be fun!)
It avoids human mistakes and raises quality Automated usage through third parties (like project
managers) can be a huge benefit, but has to be introduced with care
Carefully define the functionality you want to implement Think about performance
Thank you!