Due to the number of changes that
we’ve made to the spec that forced us to revise our specification to 1.2, our TC
must recharter. Our most recent charter revision is posted at the
following URL->
http://www.oasis-open.org/archives/xliff/200502/msg00000.html
We’ll discuss and attempt a ballot
(or agree to a ballot) on the proposed re-charter at tomorrow’s
meeting.
Below is the draft I’ve authored –
note there are minimal changes from the original.
Regards,
Tony
XML Localisation Interchange File
Format (XLIFF)
Statement of
Purpose
The purpose of the OASIS XLIFF TC is
to define, through extensible XML
vocabularies, and promote the
adoption of, a specification for the
interchange of localisable software
and document based objects and
related metadata. To date, the
committee has published two
specifications - XLIFF 1.0 and XLIFF
1.1 - that define how to mark up
and capture localisable data that
will interoperate with different
processes or phases without loss of
information. The specifications are
tool-neutral, support the entire
localization process, and support
common software and document data
formats and mark-up languages. The
specifications provide an
extensibility mechanism to allow the
development of tools compatible with
an implementer's data formats and
workflow requirements. The
extensibility mechanism provides controlled
inclusion of information not defined
in the specification.
The state of software and
documentation localisation before XLIFF was
that a software or documentation
provider delivered their localisable
resources to a localisation service
provider in a number of disparate
file formats. Once software
providers and technical communicators
commenced implementing XLIFF, the
task of interchanging localisation
data was simplified. Using
proprietary and/or non-standard resource
formats force either the source
provider or the localisation service
provider to implement costly and
inefficient pre-processing of
localisable content. For publishers
with many proprietary or
non-standard formats, this
requirement becomes a major hurdle when
attempting to localise their
software. For software developers and
technical communicators employing
enterprise localisation tools and
processes, XLIFF defines a standard
but extensible vocabulary that
captures relevant metadata for any
point in the lifecycle which can be
exchanged between a variety of
commercial and open-source tools.
The first phase, completed
31 October 2003,
created a 1.1 version committee
specification that concentrated on
software UI resource file localisable
data requirements. The next phase
consists of promoting the adoption of
XLIFF throughout the industry
through additional collateral and
specifications, continuing to
advance the committee specification
towards an official OASIS standard,
contributing to the development of a
standard localisation directives tag
library and consuming it when
available, and revising the XLIFF
spec to 1.2 version to support
document based content segmentation
and alignment requirements. To
encourage adoption of XLIFF, the TC
will define and publish implementation
guides for the most commonly used
resource formats (HTML, Window Resources,
Java Resource Bundles, and gettext
PO Files).
XLIFF TC work and deliverables
adhere to OASIS IPR policy.
List of
Deliverables
- XLIFF 1.2 Specification and XSD to
support Segmentation & Alignment - December 2005
- XLIFF 1.2 XHTML/HTML
Representation Guides - December 2005
- XLIFF 1.2 Java Resource Bundle
Representation Guide - January 2006
- XLIFF 1.2 Windows Resources
Representation Guide - January 2006
- XLIFF 1.2 PO File
Representation Guide - December 2005
- XLIFF 1.2 XML Representation guide
- January 2006
- Submit XLIFF 1.2 for public review
and consideration as OASIS Standard - February 2006
In addition, the XLIFF TC will
endeavour to deliver the following as
time and resources
permit:
- XLIFF 1.2 ResX Representation
Guide
- Review and input to development of
Standard Localisation Directives
Tag Library
- IGNITE Certification
Programme
Tony
Jewtushenko
Director- R&D -
Product Innovator Ltd. (Ireland)
P: +353.1.8875183; M:
+353.87.2479057; W: www.productinnovator.com