Translation ordering and parent map identification in AEM Guides

[Ravi_Joshi]

Hi There,

In AEM Guides, when sending DITA content for translation, multiple resources (DITA maps, topics, sub-maps) can be selected together and sent as part of a single translation job.

For example:

Map1
├─ topic1
├─ topic2
└─ Map2
├─ topic3
└─ topic4

If Map1, topic1, topic2, and Map2 are all selected and sent for translation in one job, the translation connector receives all these resources together.

Question / Clarification Needed

1. Is the order of files preserved when AEM Guides sends content to the translation connector?
   • For example, can a translation connector rely on the request order to infer parent–child relationships?
2. If order is not guaranteed, what is the recommended and supported way to:
   • Identify the root / parent DITA map in a custom translation connector
   • Distinguish between a parent map and a referenced sub-map.

Thanks,

Ravi

[DivrajSingh]

@Ravi_Joshi : The order is NOT guaranteed if you are referring to translation_export_summary.xml file in the exported package. It can be co-incidental many times that the first entry may appear as the map on which the translation was initiated while subsequent entries can be topicrefs or submaps (maprefs) - but imagine situations where:

• user does not send the main map itself for translation (then the parent map is never part of the list)
• user may choose only topics (that have changed since last translation) and not the main map or submaps

To answer your question, it depends on what do you want to achieve in the custom connector in order to answer what is the way to identify order:

• if you intend to show the map hierarchy in the translation interface then you may have to parse the ditamap files looking for topicref and maprefs to depict the correct parent map 
• if the idea is to ensure that the order is retained while returning the content to AEM - then that is already taken care by AEM Guides translation workflows (assuming translation is initiated from Guides translation UI - map console)

Hope this helps.