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Usage of the memoQ w eb 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.
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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
Whatis 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
Whatis 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
Whatis a WS-API? Web Service Java C++ PHP ...
Usageof 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)
Problems andLimitations • API complexity and design • The API is complex; understanding it is time consuming • The design is not always consistent
Problems andLimitations • 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 andLimitations • Updates • Good news! • API is updated automatically with memoQserver • Very few changes in API functions • Only MBDs have been replaced with MQXLZ recently
Problems andLimitations • 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 andLimitations • 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