How do translation tools handle DITA-specific elements and attributes?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Translation tools have evolved to handle DITA-specific elements and attributes effectively, ensuring the accurate and context-aware translation of DITA content. Here’s an overview of how these tools manage DITA-specific elements and attributes:

Element Identification

Translation tools are equipped to recognize DITA-specific elements, such as <topic>, <section>, <title>, and others. They understand the hierarchical structure of DITA documents, allowing translators to work with these elements as distinct units. This identification enables precise translation management for DITA content.

Attribute Preservation

Attributes associated with DITA elements, like <conref> or <keyref>, are preserved during the translation process. Translation tools retain the attributes’ values, ensuring that references and key associations remain intact in the translated content. This attribute preservation is essential for maintaining the integrity and functionality of DITA documents in different languages.

Example:

Here’s an example of how a translation tool handles DITA-specific elements and attributes:


<topic id="product_info" translate="no">
  <title>Product Information</title>
  <body>
    <section id="overview" translate="yes">
      <title>About the Product</title>
      <p>This is an introduction to the product.</p>
    </section>
    <section id="features" translate="yes">
      <title>Product Features</title>
      <p>These are the features of the product.</p>
    </section>
  </body>
</topic>

In this example, the translation tool recognizes the <topic> element and its attributes, such as “translate.” It also retains the attributes within <section> elements, ensuring that the translation process is context-aware and respects the intended behavior of DITA elements.