Troubleshooting Content Being Removed From a Job

 

This article explores reasons why content has been removed from a Job and solutions to recover that "missing" content.

When monitoring translation progress in a project, it can be perplexing to discover strings that were initially in a Job no longer are. The good news is, your content is not lost and can be easily recovered. It all depends on how the content was removed from the Job.

Here are the possible causes for content being removed from a Job, and solutions to troubleshoot.

1. The content was removed from the source file and re-uploaded

The following steps apply to Files Projects.

This reason occurs more frequently in Projects that use source files which are continuously updated and re-uploaded to Smartling. 

When a source file is amended and then re-uploaded to Smartling with the same file name, the new version of the file will overwrite the previous one*. If strings are removed from the source file (outside Smartling) before it gets re-uploaded to Smartling, these strings are automatically removed from the Job that they were in and marked as “inactive”. 

In cases when all strings from a Job are removed and marked as “inactive” due to an update to the source file, the Job is empty.

*File namespace can be controlled if using the Files API. 

How to check 

1. Go to the Job Details and click the History tab
2. Check if strings were deleted from the source file. 
   

Solution: Add removed strings back into the source file

If any strings were deleted from the source file mistakenly, they can be added back into the file and uploaded to Smartling again: 

1. Add them back into the source file locally
2. Save the file under the same filename
3. Re-upload the file to Smartling and overwrite the existing file
4. Ensure to authorize the now new content for translation

Optional: Restore translations of removed strings

For more information on how to restore translations of removed strings, read Restore Translations With SmartMatch.

 

2. The source file has been removed from the Job

The following steps apply to Files Projects.

If all files that were part of the translation Job have been removed (either from the Files tab in the Job details or from the Files tab in the Project), the Job will show up as empty.

How to check

1. Go to the Job Details
2. Navigate to the Files tab in the Job and check if the Job currently contains any files
   • If there are no files listed here, this means that they were removed.
   • Navigate to the Job History tab to find out more information

Solution

To check if the files are still available in your Project and can be added to the Job again:

1. Navigate to the Files tab in your Project
   
   
2. Search for the file which has been removed from the Job
3. Select the file
4. Click Request Translation and add it to the existing Job

Note: If set manually, the Job due date may need to be adjusted to account for the fact that the translation has only now been initiated.

If the file was still not found, it means it is not in Smartling. Simply upload the file for translation.

Tip: If the Job still shows up as empty, this may be due to reason 3 or reason 4.

 

3. The content is part of a different Job

The following steps apply to all project types.

To avoid doubling up on the translation workload, each string can be part of only one Job in a project. In certain situations, this may lead to a Job showing up as empty and containing no content. Usually, this happens when strings are shared across various files or pages

Tip: For more information, read Troubleshooting "No Content".

 

4. The content had previously been translated (and reached the Published step)

If all strings had reached the Published step in a translation Job, but the source file was then removed (see points 1 or 2), those completed strings are marked as “inactive”, but the published translation still exists in Smartling. 

If the same source file is re-uploaded at a later point, the previously published translations will remain outside any Job. In the background, the previously published strings have now been re-activated, and they are no longer marked as inactive. Their status remains “Published” and they are fully translated.

However, they are not associated with any Job. 

How to check

1. Navigate to the Files tab of the project and search for the file
2. Hover over the progress bar to view the status of each string
   • This highlights if the file is actually completed, despite the Job being empty.

Solution

1. Go to the Strings View
2. Use the Job filter and select Not in a Job
3. Use the Status filter and select Published strings
4. Use the Languages filter and select the relevant target language(s)
5. Select the strings > Actions > Change Job
6. Add the strings to the existing Job that you had created earlier
   
7. The completed translations now appear in this Job for you to download as required.

Note: This solution is not necessary for the completeness of the translations, but it can help keep track of where the strings and corresponding translations can be found. 

 

5. The content was previously excluded

If a string that was previously uploaded to Smartling and excluded from its initial Job, it remains excluded even if the source file is updated and uploaded again.

Solution

1. Go to the Strings View
2. Use the Status filter to filter for Excluded strings
3. Select the strings >  Actions > Restore excluded
4. Add the strings to the existing Job that you had created earlier and authorize them for translation
   
5. The previously excluded strings now appear in the Job and can be translated.

 

6. The translation of the content was stopped

You can stop the translation of strings via the Strings View actions. In doing so, you are unauthorizing the translation of those strings. This removes the content from the Job.

How to check

1. From the Job Details, click the history tab
2. Look for the "Content removed" line item to find out more information

Solution

1. Go to the Strings View
2. Use the Job filter and select Not in a Job
3. Use the File filter and insert the filename
4. Use the Languages filter and select the relevant target language(s)
5. Select the strings > Actions > Change Job
6. Add the strings to the existing Job that translation was previously stopped in and authorize them again.
   
7. The strings now appear in this Job and can be translated.

7. Target languages were deleted

(All project types)

Although not as common as other reasons, sometimes target languages can be removed from the Job while it is in progress. The good news is that the content is still in Smartling, and only the target languages need to be added.

How to check

1. Enter the Job details
2. Navigate to the Languages tab to see if languages were removed

Solution

For Files drag & drop and GDN projects:

1. Click Add Languages and select the target languages to add them back to the Job
2. Authorize the Job (adjust the due date if necessary)

For Connector projects:

1. Go to the Assets tab
2. Select the Assets missing languages
3. Click Actions > Request Translation > add to the existing Job

Note: Ensure target languages are enabled on the project and mapped accordingly in the connector configuration.

 

Restore Translations With SmartMatch

Fuzzy Matches are not available.

If a string is removed and later authorized, the previously saved translation is not shown in the languages resources panel of the CAT Tool, unless there is a different string with similar source text in that has a saved translation in TM. To reuse a translation that has been saved to the TM, we recommend using SmartMatch.

If the strings were removed while they were still in progress in the translation workflow, you can recover any translations that are saved in the TM with SmartMatch.

1. Go to Project Settings > Linguistic Packages 
2. Under Leverage Configuration, click the name of the configuration the project is reading from
3. From the Leverage Configuration, under SmartMatch, click Disabled/Enabled next to the TM that the translations were previously written to. This opens the SmartMatch Settings dialog, where you can configure SmartMatch Rules
4. Set the rule "Restore translation: Exact match for previously removed unpublished translations" to a first revision step to ensure the saved translation is approved before it is published
5. Click Save Changes to put the customizations into effect
6. Then, do the following:
   1. Add the removed strings back into the source file locally and re-upload the file
   2. Use the string action "Recheck for SmartMatches" if you had already re-authorized the content
7. Once authorized, the removed strings should SmartMatch to the step they were in before they were removed

Tip: For more information on SmartMatch, watch our video tutorial.