Method and system for translating documents using different translation resources for different portions of the documents

• US 5,848,386 A
• Filed: 05/28/1996
• Issued: 12/08/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited, Ricoh Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited, Ricoh Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth, David R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick N.
• Application Number:
  US08/654,207
• Time in Patent Office: 924 Days
• Field of Search: 704/1, 704/2, 704/5, 704/3, 704/10, 364/920.4, 707/513, 707/532
• US Class Current: 704/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/221 Parsing markup language streams streaming G06F40/149
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/279 Recognition of textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/45 Example-based machine translation; Alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/47 Machine-assisted translation, e.g. using translation memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation

Abstract

A system and method for translating a document from one language to another language using different translation resources depending on the document or portion of the document being translated. The original document which is to be translated contains information indicating the dictionary or translation rules which are to be utilized for the translation. The information contained within the document used to indicate different sections is encoded using Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) tags. Documents which have been previously translated can be used to train the translation system. Also, a side-by-side display of the original document and the translated document is presented to allow the user to compare both the original and translated document.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising the steps of:

inputting a document which is in a first language;

analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document; and

translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of selecting the translation resource comprises selecting a first translation resource for a first part of a document and selecting a second translation resource for a second part of the document; and

the step of translating comprises translating the first part of the document using the first translation resource and translating the second part of the document using the second translation resource.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of analyzing comprises analyzing structural information contained within the document.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of analyzing comprises analyzing Standard Generalized Markup Language tags contained within the document.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of selecting the translation resource comprises selecting dictionary information which is used for translating the document.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of selecting the translation resource comprises selecting rule information which is used for translating the document.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of selecting the translation resource comprises selecting dictionary information and rule information which is used for translating the document.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of selecting comprises selecting a data structure which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating the document.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the step of analyzing produces an analysis result which includes a key which indicates the data structure which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating; and

the step of selecting comprises selecting the data structure containing the key which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating the document.

10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

simultaneously displaying a section of the document which is in the first language and a corresponding section of the document which has been translated to the second language.

11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of:

changing the section of the document which has been translated to the second language, after the step of displaying.

12. A system for translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising:

means for analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

means for selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document; and

means for translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for selecting the translation resource comprises means for selecting a first translation resource for a first part of a document and selecting a second translation resource for a second part of the document; and

the means for translating comprises means for translating the first part of the document using the first translation resource and means for translating the second part of the document using the second translation resource.

14. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for analyzing comprises means for analyzing structural information contained within the document.

15. A system according to claim 13, wherein:

the means for analyzing comprises means for analyzing Standard Generalized Markup Language tags contained within the document.

16. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for selecting the translation resource comprises means for selecting dictionary information which is used for translating the document.

17. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for selecting the translation resource comprises means for selecting rule information which is used for translating the document.

18. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for selecting the translation resource comprises means for selecting dictionary information and rule information which is used for translating the document.

19. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for selecting comprises means for selecting a data structure which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating the document.

20. A system according to claim 12, wherein:

the means for analyzing produces an analysis result which includes a key which indicates the data structure which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating; and

the means for selecting comprises means for selecting the data structure containing the key which defines a location of the translation resource used for translating the document.

21. A system according to claim 12, further comprising:

means for simultaneously displaying a section of the document which is in the first language and a corresponding section of the document which has been translated to the second language.

22. A system according to claim 21, further comprising:

means for changing the section of the document which has been translated to the second language.

23. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising:

means for analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

means for selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document; and

means for translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected.

24. A computer program product according to claim 23, wherein:

the means for selecting the translation resource comprises means for selecting a first translation resource for a first part of a document and selecting a second translation resource for a second part of the document; and

the means for translating comprises means for translating the first part of the document using the first translation resource and means for translating the second part of the document using the second translation resource.

25. A computer program product according to claim 23, wherein:

the means for analyzing comprises means for analyzing structural information contained within the document.

26. A computer program product according to claim 23, wherein:

the means for analyzing comprises means for analyzing Standard Generalized Markup Language tags contained within the document.