Alchemy CATALYST supports the localization, testing and engineering of help systems. Help systems are localised using the visual HTML Editor, while supporting files such as table of contents are localized using ezParse rules, the String Editor or the XML Editor.

Localising compiled help files (ie CHM archives) is far more efficient than working on thousands of individual help topic files.

Localizing hundreds of source help files

A typical help system would be made up of several hundred help topic pages. Each of these pages are stored in a individual HTML file. To localise these files into 10 languages would mean managing and tracking the status of several hundred files. This can be a complex and time consuming task.

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A team of engineers would be used to process these several hundred files, pre-translating them, testing them and packaging them for dispatch to a team of professional translators . When the translation has been completed, the files are then sent back into the engineering team for testing, debugging and fixing. Eventually, these files would be re-built into the single compiled CHM file.

This process is time-consuming, labour intensive and costly!

Localizing a single CHM Help File

In contrast, working on the compiled CHM file reduces the large number of files to be managed down to ONE! This dramatically simplifies the process and reduces the cost of running a help localization project .

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Smaller engineering teams are required to track and manage the project and more languages can be processed simultaneously as the aggregate number of files in the localization process is dramatically reduced.

Basic steps for translating help content