Automation

Automated Project Creation - APC (TMS)

Content is machine translated from English by Phrase Language AI.

Available for

  • All paid plans

Available for

  • Project Managers

  • Team, Ultimate and Enterprise plans (Legacy)

Get in touch with Sales for licensing questions.

Note

APC is built on an architecture with better performance and reliability than the legacy version as well as having a simpler setup.

Some of the newly released features supported by the new version of APC are not yet enabled for GIT-based connectors.

APC is close to a full feature parity with the legacy version. The current version supports all the newly released features. Legacy APC is planned for deprecation in 2025. Customers will be supported with migration of their legacy APCs to the new version.

The legacy version is only recommended for use cases that require the service functionality and does not support all features.

Due to continuous improvements, the user interface may not be exactly the same as presented in the video.

Set Up Automated Project Creation

Automated project creation rules allow the configuration of how Phrase monitors specific folders via an integration connector and creates new projects if new or updated content is detected within them.

Project templates:

  • Most APC settings are handled in project templates. The project template defines file destinations, source and target languages and workflow steps. Process and financial details are also defined in the project template such as providers and the generation of quotes and analyses.

Exporting translations back to the repository:

  • Jobs are exported when the project status is set to Completed.

  • Jobs can be manually exported by choosing Download > Export to online repository. Even unchanged files will be exported.

  • Each target file is stored in a target path specified in APC settings.

Re-importing:

  • Jobs can be re-imported from the Download menu on the jobs table.

APC Setup

Prerequisites:

  • At least one connector and a project template in a profile.

  • (Optional) An email template with either New Project via Automated Project Creation or Source update via Automated Project Creation selected as the type.

  • If using Job Sync (Phrase Strings connector), multiple folders or files can be set for monitoring.

Important

Monitoring more than 10,000 files per APC can cause file import errors and performance issues. If an error occurs in the UI, it is recommended to reduce the number of monitored files and manually trigger APC monitoring to retry the import.

A maximum of 10 monitored folders can be set per APC.

Follow these steps:

  1. Create a new APC

    1. From the Settings Setup_gear.png page, click Automated project creation.

      The Automated project creation page opens.

    2. Click New.

      The Monitoring page opens.

    3. Provide a name for the APC.

    4. Set active/inactive status.

      The Save button is active once all mandatory fields are filled.

  2. Monitoring

    1. Click Monitor folder or file to choose a folder to monitor for new or updated content.

      The Connectors windows opens with a list of all connectors configured for the account.

      If the required connector is not listed, it can be added by clicking the plus button Plus_connector.png at the top left of the window.

    2. Click a connector to open the folder list.

    3. Select specific folder or file to be monitored.

      Not all options are available on all connectors

      • If none are selected, the entire folder is monitored for a change or for new files.

      • Include subfolders to enable the monitoring of the selected folder and its subfolders.

      • Move processed files to specified folder can be used for file-based connectors to indicate which files were already used for translation.

      Filter by filename pattern (regexp) lets customers define a regular expression to filter out files to be monitored within the folder. This cannot be used to filter out folders.

    4. Click Save.

      The selected folder or file is listed with name and type of connector and path to the monitored entity. Click Browse to change the selection.

      For some connectors (Strings, Contentful), more folders or files can be added to the list by clicking Monitor folder or file again.

      • Multiple folders or files can only be monitored within one connector.

      • If changes are made to the monitored connector, previously saved settings are deleted.

    5. Click Add monitor to select either a Schedule-based or Webhook-based trigger.

      Provide webhook or schedule (or both) in the monitoring window.

    6. Click Next.

      The Creation & Export page opens.

  3. Set creation & export

    1. Choose how project is to be created.

    2. Select a project template from the dropdown list.

      • Source language is defined in the project template and either all or a subset of target languages can be selected.

      • Select View project template details to preview the settings of the selected project template.

      • File selection in Monitoring (step 2) displays the entries in the default source locale (source locale as configured in the connector). If a project template is selected, the entries are displayed for that template’s source locale. Regardless of the settings and potential discrepancies between the project template and a connector’s source locales, the project template’s source locale is followed and jobs are created correctly.

    3. Select criteria for exporting translations.

      Export translations from is what workflow state translations are in when they are to be exported. User can decide which content to export; examples being translations from the final workflow step or a step before that.

      Up to 5 exports per can be defined. Configure which content should be exported (from which workflow step) and when the export is triggered.

      When completing provides the event that triggers the export.

      • The translations will be exported when a selected workflow step is completed; when a specified workflow step is completed for one target language, this triggers the export for that language without waiting for the rest of the target languages to be completed

      • The translations will be exported when the whole project is completed - i.e. when all the jobs from all the workflow steps are complete.

    4. Click Next.

      The Automations page opens.

  4. Set optional automations

    1. Select required automations.

      • Assign providers from template

      • Analyses and quotes options

      • Notifications

        Email templates with the New Project via Automated Project Creation or Source update via Automated Project Creation will be available in this dropdown.

    2. Select source update options (only enabled for continuous projects).

      If Create a new project everytime has been selected in the Creation & Export part of the APC setup, the APC monitors remote folders for source updates, but a detailed configuration is not necessary, because a new project is created every time a change is detected.

      For a continuous project, specify which workflow steps require reopening when a source update is detected, if new analyses and quotes are to generated, and if project owners are to be notified about a source update.

    3. Select target update options (only enabled for Phrase Strings connector if Create a new project everytime is selected).

      User can monitor the remote online repository for target updates. Any changes made to the target copy in the online repository will automatically update the translation memory.

    4. Click Save.

      The APC is added to the list on the Automated project creation page.

With the automation rules set, content can now be created in the designated folders. Based on frequency checks, Phrase looks into the specified folder and identifies new or updated content (based on file names, metadata, size, etc.).

Set Target File Pathnames

Each target file is exported to a folder specified in project settings.

Disable Automated Project Creation

There are three ways to disable APC:

  • Manually disabled in settings.

  • Automatically disables after 90 days of inactivity.

  • Automatically after the organization profile has been deactivated (at the end of the subscription).

When a connector used as part of the Automated Project Creation rules detects three or more consecutive instances of a project not being created when it should be, notification is sent to affected users.

Zip File Support

  • Multiple ZIP files can be imported to one project.

  • Translated files are exported back to ZIP files.

  • If one ZIP file is imported to multiple targets, the translated files will be exported to multiple ZIP files—one ZIP for each target language—using the target locale code in the ZIP name (for example Pack18.en_us.ZIP).

APC Overview Page

The Automated project creation page provides an overview of currently available APCs.

APCs can be filtered by Type, Status, Last triggered, Next scheduled and APC version.

If a specific APC is selected:

  • Trigger monitor

    Manually checks source files for updates and updates the Last triggered date and time.

  • Force import

    Imports all the files from the remote folder monitored by the selected APC.

    • Selective Force Import

      Choose which files from the monitored folder(s) to import to the selected APC.

  • Delete

    APCs connected to active projects, as well as archived but unfinished projects that cannot be deleted.

APC Settings

Clicking on a specific APC opens the settings page for that APC. From the settings page, it is possible to:

  • From the Configuration tab, review and update the APC settings.

  • From the History log tab, track operations executed by the APC and their status.

History Log

APC history log details all the operations performed by an APC. It enables localization managers to view all APC events, search and filter them, and troubleshoot problems with a specific APC.

Note

The search bar only works for enquiries in English. All data is stored in English so that the logs are useful for Phrase’s engineers and technical support / customer success teams.

The log tracks these events:

  • Project

    • Create

    • Status change

  • Job

    • Import

    • Export

    • Source update

    • Target update

    • Status change

  • Monitoring

    • Folder monitoring

  • APC

    • Create

    • Deactivate

The log does not track:

  • Manual operations (manual file imports)

  • Operations that do not have impact on APC functioning (e.g. updates of project template settings that do not affect the APC)

  • Non-APC-related operations

  • Quote and analysis creation

  • TM updates

  • Sent notifications

  • APC configuration changes

APC Status

The status of an APC is presented on the APC Overview page.

  • Active

    APC is running without any issues

  • Inactive

    APC has been made intentionally inactive

  • Needs attention

    APC is running but requires user’s attention due to possible changes or minor errors which might affect the APC.

    Reason

    Details

    APC check was successful but the file import failed.

    File import from connector failed. Check the monitored file configuration on the APC edit page. 

    Once file monitoring is fixed, trigger Force Import (or Selective Force Import) to re-import the previously failed files.

    Multiple folders monitored in one APC: some of the monitored folders failed.

    APC is only monitoring changes for successfully monitored folders. Check if all monitored folders still exist.

    Once monitored folders are fixed, trigger monitoring to process new/missed changes.

    One folder monitored in an APC: monitored folder failed.

    Check if the monitored folder still exists.

    Once the monitored folders are fixed, trigger monitoring to process new/missed changes.

    Multiple folders monitored in one APC: all folders have some issues, but in the APC check failed only once or twice,

    Validate the folder monitoring settings on the APC edit page. Once the monitored folders are fixed, trigger monitoring to process new/missed changes.

    Connector failure

    Check the connector configuration.

    Workflow step configured for export no longer exists.

    APC is still running but won’t execute any exports. Ensure the project template is correct and APC export settings are correct.

    Workflow step configured for export has been modified.

    APC is still running and will be executing exports from the workflow step which has a number corresponding with the workflow step number configured for the APC. Ensure the project template is correct and APC export settings are correct.

    Some target languages got removed from the project template.

    APC won’t use removed languages in newly created projects.

    File export from APC failed.

    Export the files manually.

  • Stopped

    APC has been deactivated by the system due to breaking errors/failures.

    Reason

    Details

    All source and/or target languages were removed from the project template.

    No source and/or target languages. Add at least one source and at least one target language in the project template, then set the APC status to Active. Once the APC is re-activated, newly created projects will use the updated source/target locales.

    APC check failed three times for all monitored folders.

    Validate the monitoring configuration and connector settings, then re-activate the APC and trigger monitoring.

Translation with Pivot Languages through APC

In multilingual localization, a pivot language can be used as a bridge language to enable translation from the source language to any required number of target languages. The pivot language approach is especially valid when there are limited translation resources available in the source language.

Translation with pivot languages is a APC use case to automate the translation process. The example below summarizes required steps to follow:

  1. Create a folder in the desired online repository to store the source language content.

    In this example, source files in French language are added to a Google Drive folder.

  2. Set up APC monitoring options to monitor content updates in the desired online repository.

  3. Set up APC to create a project with the required source language and the chosen pivot language to use as target language.

    In this example, the APC is set up to create a project with French as source language and English as pivot target language.

  4. Configure the APC export settings to export translated content into the corresponding target language folder on the same online repository.

    In this example, the APC is set up to export the English translations into a target folder on the same Google Drive.

  5. Once the project is completed, the export triggers APC to create another project for translating content from the pivot language into the desired target language.

    In this example, the export triggers APC to create another project for translating content from English into German.

Note

Required connectorsand project templates must be set up to apply the use case.

For large scale projects, translation with pivot languages can also be achieved by custom scripting via APIs.

Automated Project Creation (Legacy)

Automated Project Creation rules allow the configuration of how Phrase monitors specific folders and creates new projects if new or updated content is detected in them. This provides full process automation; analysis, pre-translation, assignment to Linguists/Vendors, and the e-mailing of notifications.

As soon as a project status changes to Completed by Project Status Automation rules, the translated files are sent back to the Online Repository into newly created subfolders identified by language codes (en, es, ja, etc.). If a user triggers the export manually, the completed file is exported to the standard {targetLang} folder.

Exporting Translations Back to the Repository

  • Jobs are exported when the project status is set to Completed.

  • Jobs can be manually exported by choosing Download > Export to Online Repository. Even unchanged files will be exported.

  • Each target file is stored in a target path specified in APC settings.

Re-importing

  • Jobs can be re-imported from the Download menu on the jobs table.

Set up Automation Rules

Automated Project Creation rules allow the configuration of how Phrase TMS monitors specific folders and creates new projects if new or updated content is detected in them.

Prerequisites:

Note

When the service is created, ensure either Analyses only or Analyses and quotes is selected and the Use naming defined in the project template's settings option is deselected in the Financials section. If None is selected, Automated Project Creation will not create a new project for new or updated content in the monitored folder.

Follow these steps:

  1. From the Settings Setup_gear.png page, click Automated Project Creation.

    The Automated Project Creation page opens.

  2. Click New.

    The Create automated project settings page opens.

  3. Provide a name for the APC.

  4. Set active/inactive status.

  5. Select Version 2 (BETA) if required (the following options will change if selected).

  6. Select Run as Continuous Project if required.

  7. Choose the Remote Folder to monitor for new or updated content.

    The contents of the folder are listed

  8. Select specific files to be monitored.

    Not all options are available on all connectors.

    • If none selected, the entire folder is monitored for a change or for new files.

    • Include subfolders to enable the monitoring of the selected folder and its subfolders.

  9. Select where to Export completed file to.

  10. Depending on the pathname of the required target files, set Export completed files to and Target Subfolder Path fields.

  11. Designate a Processed subfolder.

    Imported files are moved to this folder providing visibility on which files are being processed. If disabled, source files stay in their original folder.

    If this option is disabled and File Renaming is not used, original documents can be overwritten by their translations (depending on repository).

    Filter by filename pattern (regexp) lets customers define a regular expression to filter out files to be monitored within the folder. This cannot be used to filter out folders.

  12. Set a frequency for how often Phrase should check for new content in the designated folder.

  13. Choose required Service (with a specified Due Date Scheme if required).

  14. Select the source and target languages that automatically created projects will be associated with.

  15. To differentiate between projects coming from different automation rules, use a Project name to define the automatically generated names of projects.

    The macro {filename} can be used in the Project's title. If multiple filenames are used in the project's name, only the first filename will be used.

  16. Set Project owner.

    Project owner will always be notified when a new project is created using automation rules.

  17. Customize Email Templates used for notifications if required.

Set Target File Pathnames

Relative to the source file the target files can be exported to:

  • Same folder

    If specific files are selected, then select Source file folder for Export completed files to and keep the Target Subfolder Path empty. Not supported if the entire folder is monitored.

  • Language subfolder

    Always keep the Target Subfolder Path empty.

    If specific files are monitored, then select Target language subfolder for Export completed files to.

  • Any folder

    If specific files are monitored, then select Target language subfolder for Export completed files to.

    Specify the folder name in the Target Subfolder Path:

    • Use these macros to represent target language.

      • {targetLang} Based on language codes.

      • {targetLangName} Based on language names.

      • {targetLangRFC}

        • Examples: es, en-US, az-Latn-AZ

        • Based on RFC 5646

      • {targetLangAndroid}

        • Examples: es, en-rUS

      • {targetLangAndroidBCP}

        • Examples: b+es, b+en+US

    • Subfolders can be created within the source folder.

      Available for Amazon S3, Azure, FTP, SFTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, Git, GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket Cloud.

    • For some repositories, an absolute path is available. Begin your path with / to indicate the absolute path.

      Available for Amazon S3, Azure, FTP, SFTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, Git, GitHub, GitLab, and SharePoint. When using Git connector, the leading / is followed by the branch name, and then by the root of the repository where .git folder is located. If the branch doesn’t exist, it will be created. When using other Git-based connectors (e.g. GitLab), the leading slash is followed by the root of the repository where .git folder is located.

    • Use .. to refer to the parent folder.

    Tip

    Examples

    If the source file is /files/loc/ui.properties and the target language is German (Germany):

    • translations/{targetLang} will create /files/loc/translations/de_de

    • /files-{targetLang}/loc will create /files-de_de/loc/<filename>

    • ../{targetLang} will create /files/de_de/<filename>

Zip File Support

  • Multiple ZIP files can be imported to one project.

  • Translated files are exported back to ZIP files.

  • If one ZIP file is imported to multiple targets, the translated files will be exported to multiple ZIP files—one ZIP for each target language—using the target locale code in the ZIP name (for example Pack18.en_us.ZIP).

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