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My company is preparing our main product for sales outside the U.S. To
date, no one has discussed the issue of document translation with me. (As
the sole technical writer, I'm plenty busy with the English version, so I
haven't brought it up.)
A lead developer has just asked me for my winhelp rtf source files, so that
he can send them to our International Sales coordinator. That person wants
to have "his translators" begin working on them. I don't know anything
about the translators' qualifications. I suspect we're planning German,
Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian versions of the software. I also suspect
I'll get these translations back and be expected to compile them.
I told the developer that it would help if the translators knew at least a
little about winhelp. Knowing that's unlikely, I advised that the
translators make sure they don't erase any hidden text, or change any
context strings, macros, and bitmap links.
I'd appreciate any other advice or warnings about translating winhelp rtf
files. (BTW, I "code" help straight up in Word, using my own macros, so I
won't be able to reap the benefits of any HAT's.)
Mitchell Gibbs
Technical Writer
Advantage Software, Inc.
