Character Restrictions on GL Strings

Table of Contents

1. Setting Character Restrictions in the Base Language
2. Setting Character Restrictions in the Target Language
3. Working with Character Restrictions in the Editor View
4. Warnings and Filters
5. Character Restrictions and Translation Orders

GL Strings allows users to set a character restriction or Max Length for a string, be it in the base language or in any target language inside a project.

Setting Character Restrictions in the Base Language

1. Open the Project Editor in the Base Language
2. In the page breadcrumbs, ensure the base language is selected as both source and target.
3. Hover over the string then click the information icon under the string ID to open the Detail View.

4. By default, character restriction is deactivated. Use the Max Length dropdown menu to select the manually set to option and enter the character limit in the textbox.
5. Click Save.

Note: For a given string, if there is no restriction on the target language, but there is a restriction on the base language, the target language will inherit the base language restriction.

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Setting Character Restrictions in the Target Language

1. Open the Project Editor.
2. In the page breadcrumbs, select the project’s base language and the target language you want to set the restriction for.
3. Hover over the string then click the information icon under the string ID to open the Detail View..

4. By default, character restriction in the target language is set to equals base language.

   • Note: the equals base language restriction is only enforced in the target language when the character restriction in the base language has been manually set.
   • As is the case with the base language, users can also enforce a character restriction in any target language by selecting the option manually set to and entering the character limit in the textbox.
   • Alternatively, users can deactivate character restrictions by selecting the disabled option from the dropdown menu. This option can be used to deactivate the equals base language restriction that has been manually set and inherited from the base language.

5. Click Save.

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Working with Character Restrictions in the Editor View

When translating or reviewing content in GL Strings, users can view the character limit for a given string to the right of the character count. If the limit is exceeded, the character count will turn red.

This is what it will look like in the base language;

and in the target language:

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Warnings and Filters

When a character limit is exceeded, a red warning will display on the entry. Hovering over the warning will show how much the translation exceeds the max length.

Additionally, users can easily filter for strings that exceed a character limit by clicking on With Issues > Exceeds Max Length.

The Longer Than Base String filter option allows users to filter for strings where the translated string’s length exceeds the base language length. This option will include all strings that meet this condition, even if there are no manually set restrictions.

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Character Restrictions and Translation Orders

When creating a new translation order, users can select All with translations exceeding Max Length in the Select Strings panel. This way, only strings that exceed a manually set character limit will be included in the order’s scope.

This is helpful when translations delivered via the order interface are deemed too long after review. Users can send those translations back to TransPerfect for another review round and the production of shorter translations.

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