Okapi tools on OSX...

In my "Okapi tools for Mono" post, last November, I discussed the possibility to use Okapi on OSX without installing Parallels/VMWare/WhateverVirtualSolutionYouPrefer and Windows and .NET... Which in the end makes Okapi a very expensive free tool...

Okapi has recently been released to work on Mono, the free (as a bird) version of .NET and I've promised myself to install everything and try the package as soon as I'd have a job requiring it.

This job has come. At last. It is a small set of InDesign files (that will eventually end up being Illustrator files) that are part of a much bigger translation package...

So, at the time of writing, here is the procedure you need to follow to get everything to work:

(Beware, Okapi for mono does not come with a graphical interface and everything must be done in the Terminal, at the command line. It is not terribly hard but not super trivial either for the translator who is not used to that. For people who need an introduction to working with the Terminal on OSX, check this link.)

1. Download Mono (1.2.6 at the time of the post):
   
   http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html


2. Install it by clicking on the package file and following the instructions.


3. Download Okapi for Mono (R00020 at the time of the post):
   
   http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=42949
   


4. Unzip/untar the package and read the ReadMe_ForMono.htm file found in the Tikal folder


5. Do what the file says under "Using the Okapi tools"
   
   (for some reason, I am yet unable to properly set the path to Okapi...)

When this is done, you'll need to take a look at the Mono for OSX page to know how to use the beast.

Basically, it comes down to opening the Terminal and typing:

$ mono ~/bin/OkapiMono/Tikal/Tikal.exe

Here, I've left my path to Tikal because I could not set it properly in the install step. But a proper install should accept:

$ mono Tikal.exe

Running only Tikal.exe without any arguments will have the application display its basic help where you'll see what you need to type to do a few basic things, like:

$ mono Tikal.exe -lf
to list the available filters.

Just for your information, since you can find that on the Okapi help pages too, here are the filters that are directly available from the Mono command line:

• okf_po (Okapi PO Filter)


• okf_properties (Okapi Properties Filter)


• okf_script (Okapi Script Filter)


• okf_netres (Okapi NETRes Filter)


• okf_rc (Okapi RC Filter)


• okf_xml (Okapi XML Filter)


• okf_wordfast (Okapi Wordfast Filter)


• okf_tradostext (Okapi Trados Text Filter)


• okf_illustrator (Okapi Illustrator Filter)


• okf_table (Okapi Table Filter)


• okf_inx (Okapi INX Filter)


• okf_html (Okapi HTML Filter (ALPHA TEST ONLY)
)

• okf_json (Okapi JSON Filter)

If you use the parameter -lu you'll get a list of available utilities:

• oku_set01:extraction


• oku_set01:merging


• oku_set01:rewriting


• oku_set01:encodingconversion


• oku_set01:lbconversion


• oku_set01:bomconversion


• oku_set02:qualitycheck


• oku_set02:update


• oku_set02:rtfconversion


• oku_set02:xsltransformation


• oku_set02:twbanalysis


• oku_set02:rtfsplitting


• oku_set02:alignment


• oku_set02:rtftotmx


• oku_set03:alignment


• oku_set04:dnllistedit


• oku_set04:xliffsplitting


• oku_set04:xliffconcatenation


• oku_set04:tmxsplittingdup


• oku_set04:xliffconversion


• oku_set04:proofreading


• oku_set04:searchandreplace


• oku_set04:uriconversion


• oku_set04:cdataconversion


• oku_set04:xmlpruning


• oku_set04:ttx2tmx


• oku_set04:xmlpartitioning

All the filters and utilities etc require specific parameters to run. Check the Okapi for Mono manual that comes with the download to know how to use all that.

Don't forget that Okapi has a very nice user group managed by Yves Savourel, the developer. It is possible to access the archives without having to subscribe to it.

Et voilà ! That is pretty much everything you need to know to get started... I hope that helped !

Okapi tools for Mono !

The Okapi framework is a set of applications designed to ease the work of the translator:

"The Okapi Framework is a set of interface specifications, format definitions, components and applications that provides an environment to build interoperable tools for the different steps of the translation and localization process.

The goal of the Okapi Framework is to allow tools developers and localizers to build new localization processes or enhance existing ones to best meet their needs, while preserving a level of compatibility and interoperability. It also provides them with a way to share (and re-use) components across different solutions. The project uses and promotes open standards, where they exist. For the aspects where open standards are not defined yet, the framework offers its own. The ultimate goal is to adopt the industry standards when they are defined and useable.

In short, the Okapi Framework aims at being a crucible where we forge common components that can be used in any localization and translation application, providing faster development time and better interoperability, but still allowing for the diversity of solutions."

(quote from http://okapi.sourceforge.net/)

Problem is, Okapi is developed on the .NET platform, basically a Windows only platform.

A few years ago, people on the Linux side have decided that .NET was a valuable platform and decided to create an implementation of .NET for Linux, that could run .NET applications out of the box. Mono was born.

Mono was also made to run on OSX... The problem was that until recently Mono's support for .NET was not sufficient to run the Okapi tools and that the Okapi tools had not been written with the lowest common denominator in mind to run on Mono.

Yesterday, Yves Savourel, lead developer of the Okapi Framework Project, released a first Okapi for Mono package for testing on existing Mono environments (including OSX and Linux). The totality of the tools is not yet available but command line tools are said to work.

As far as OSX workflows are concerned, Okapi can produce XLIFF files (or OmegaT projects, or XLIFF files for OmegaT) from a number of localization/translation formats. It is now relatively trivial for OSX translators to deal with inDesign files, for example, as long as they are saved in the inDesign XML format (.inx). Okapi will convert the .inx files to XLIFF for translation in OmegaT and will convert the target files back to .inx for delivery....

Very good news for translators on OSX and warm thanks to the Okapi team !

ps: I'll post a detailed description of how to install Mono and Okapi on OSX in a few days for the readers who don't feel too adventurous. Meanwhile, here are the respective download pages:

• MonoFramework-1.2.5.1_0.macos10.novell.universal.dmg


• OkapiMono (Test Only)